Another day in the life...

Where to begin? Friday was a decent day. I realize that now it is actually Saturday, but close enough. Let me give you just a snapshot of today, and realize that this is pretty much the story for the past couple of weeks. It goes like this: Thursday night, I set ALL 3 of my alarms to go off at 7am (phone), 7:15 (radio), and 7:30 (more phone). This was at about 1:30am. So it was a short night. I woke up to my first alarm. Went back to sleep until the second one. Changed the third on to go off at 7:40. finally get up at 7:40. Now realize that class starts at 8. So I had 20 minutes to get up, get ready, find everything, get out to the car, scrape the ice off of it, and drive to school before class started. But, lo and behold I made it there just at 8:00. I looked at my clock, and it said exactly 8. So yeah, the point is, I was tired.
I got through the lecture time for the day (4 hours), and then it was time for lunch, and more studies afterwards. Ironically, I actually tried to take a nap when I cam home for lunch, but I couldn't sleep. Possibly all of the coffee that got me thru lecture had something to do with it.
So I spent the majority of the afternoon and evening and night at school reading about biochemistry. I also was introduced to some drink from Starbuck's called, say, Cafe Americano or Late Americano, or something "Americano". Supposedly it had a lot of caffeine in it. I believe it. But it helped me study for a while. They say that caffeine stimulates your brain in a similar way to drugs like Ritalin, and that helps you focus. Well, I think they're right, cause I was FOCUSED. Seriously, I was on a roll, until it wore off. Although come to think of it, maybe it hasn't totally worn off yet. I'm kind of on a roll right now.
Actually, I did have a really productive day, after I finally go up. Tomorrow, though, I'm not setting an alarm (let alone three). And I'll probably try to be productive, but Notre Dame plays Navy, and I have a ticket, and I'm probably going. Actually I am going. So there goes being productive tomorrow.


A closing story: Two micelles were dropped in a bucket of cream. The first micelle did nothing. But that second micelle got stirred around, and around, and around, until it engulfed the first micelle. I AM that second micelle!

How is it October 31st already?!?

Happy Halloween!
In other news, yours truly is hard at work with biochemistry. We've got about 2 and a half weeks left of it, and I cannot wait to put this behind me. Sounds a little familiar. I have a feeling I'm gonna be saying that quite a bit for the next couple of years...
Alright, I've got to go--the Krebs Cycle calls... actually, it just cycles. And actually, now that I think about it, I'm not even doing that part right now. Although, in one sense, I AM doing that right now...

I'm not sure WHY it happened, but I'm glad THAT it happened

So, since we last met, I've been a little busy. There's just a lot of stuff going on. And its not even ALL school! Actually, I should say, it isn't even all studying. I even went to the USC game on Saturday.
But there's a lot of that going on too. I just had my first biochemistry test this afternoon, for example. I should mention right now, biochemistry isn't easy, but so far it's not as bad as anatomy.
But that's not what I want to write about. Actually it is kind of about school, but not biochemistry. I have a "Behavioral Medicine" class. And sometimes we have guest lecturers. We had one today. I actually had met him a week ago (and he seemed like one of those people that talks a LOT, like a salesman or something), and so I knew when I walked in the room that it was going to be quite the lecture. Anyway, this man is an ER doc, and like I said, I really don't now what he was there to tell us about. He talked about a couple of cases, one of which was a relative of his. But the entire time, he kept making jokes about the "9 clinical competencies", the stoplights in Kokomo on your way to Indianapolis, the neighbors, etc. Maybe you had to be there. He also told some people in my class they were "too combative", and "too serious", which was funny, cause they didn't like it.

That was at 8 am. It was one of those days, when you don't want to wake up (name that tune... for $1). The point is, it wasn't at all what I was expecting, and it was hilarious. And I was glad I went to class.

Good News

So it is that we come to the end of another weekend... Almost time for Monday! One real good thing that happened this weekend was that I got my score for the national Gross Anatomy test. I won't tell you what I got on it, but I can say that I'm now just about positive that I passed Gross Anatomy! Which is great. 'Cause, like I've said before, it was the one class that I REALLY wasn't looking forward to (and now it's over).
But that doesn't mean that now I get to slack off. My prof sent us this quote along with the email telling us to go get our scores, and I liked it. It goes:

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
- Winston Churchill

I liked it. Its a good reminder that no matter what happens, there's no reason to get too down about things, but at the same time, if things go well, you shouldn't get too complacent or lazy either. So at this point the goal is just to keep working hard, and doing the best that I can.

Tangentially, another interesting quote from anatomy is; "Gentlemen, damn the sphenoid bone!" - Dr. Oliver Wendell Homes, Sr. (Professor of Anatomy at Harvard Univ., and father of the Supreme Court Justice, OWH, Jr.)

When I Look in the Mirror, All I See is the Face of Organization

Well, I finally gave in and got one of those PDA's you may or may not have heard of. For those who don't know, PDA stands for Pretty 'Danged' Amazing, and what a PDA does is, the minute you start using it, it makes everything in your life run smoother. Your IQ goes up at least 60 points, if not more. You never forget, or forget to do, anything (cause its all in the PALM OF YOUR HAND!). You get a raise, a promotion, and a new car within the first week, and if you're not making 6 figures by the end of a month, you better check your warranty, cause I bet that's covered. In addition, you instantly gain the respect of your friends, you attain Nirvana, and you think of the solution to world peace.

Actually I did buy one of those things. So everybody keep on the edge of your seats. Something huge is gonna happen...

Coming back to reality, fall break is over tomorrow, and its time for 5 and a half weeks of Biochemistry! I've been reading for that all day, and I even went over some parts of my old chemistry books to try to get back into the swing of molecules. Right now, I feel like I understand chemistry a little bit. My prediction is that after tomorrow, I will feel like I do not understand it at all. But that's life.

The Calm Before The Storm

As of this weekend, I am done with my first class in medical school, and I am currently enjoying a LONG weekend (that's as opposed to a long Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.)! I've been back at the lake since Friday evening, and it's been good to finally leave the "Bend". Of course, I'm going back tomorrow, but I've still got a couple of days to kill before Biochemistry starts. Speaking of which, the joke that has kind of developed in my class during the time we were doing Anatomy was that for basically anything that anybody wanted to do, but didn't feel like they had time for, we could just say something like 'I'll have time for that once Biochem starts...' Well, we'll see if that pans out... At any rate, it will be something totally different.

Its great to be putting some 'water under the bridge', if you will, and get a whole class out of the way. I think I've said this before, but I really am starting to get used to what I'm doing, and getting better at it as well.

Thank You, and Goodnight

Earlier today I was subjected to the harrowing experience of lab clean-up. While not a fun experience, lab clean-up really means that I am done with anatomy lab! Of course, it also means that I am done with anatomy lab... (in a bad way). I enjoyed anatomy lab. In fact, I spent about 5 hours extra time yesterday on my own looking at things that we didn't have a chance to see in the scheduled lab time.

Dissection is a rewarding activity, and though it was a stressful thing at times to HAVE to dissect and do other studying at the same time, there is no replacing the experience that real-live dissection can provide.

I suppose now it is time for me to 'wax poetic' about donating your body to science, and how great that is. Obviously it is not for everyone. Having done what I have now done, I don't think that I would want to do it, nor would I advise anyone else to do it unless they really wanted to (donate their body). But, that said, I am really grateful that someone was willing to let some stranger (me) use his body in the pursuit of learning medicine.

This evening, as a class, we went over to the "Grotto" at Notre Dame, and lit a candle for each of our cadavers, and had a moment of silence to honor them. I was glad that we did that, even though it took away time that could have been spent studying for the big test of Friday, because it gave a sense of closure to the whole experience.