Posting 'cause that's more appealing than pre-reading Pharmacology
G'morning everyone.
So, the year's almost over; I've posted in LJ maybe 4 times this year. I've been around, but god have I ever been pre-occupied. Now that Christmas (and a marathon 8 hour blitz on Boxing Day) are over, I can reflect on how time's been spent recently. Finals were kind of insane. I thought I dominated Path, but yet again I just came in on the good side of a pass... honestly, I don't even know sometimes. You pay diligent attention all term, give the course due time and respect, start studying for the exam covering a 5 week period of study 3 weeks in advance of the exam proper... and you still barely squeak through. Seriously, fuck this school sometimes. It was yet another term of people dropping like flies all around me; decelling or flat-out failing. At the least, my CPD (clinical skills/physical diagnosis) class went well; which basically means I look good in a white coat, I can put my stethoscope in my ears the right way around, and I know all 5 (painful) tests for appendicitis. That's an understatement, but it's fundamentally accurate.
Frankly, I'm just happy that fourth term is over. The end of the Grenada leg is finally in sight; fifth term is jus as hard but apparently much more relaxed than fourth, but now the spectre of the dauting USMLE step 1 board exam is looming. Despite what I thought previously, the MCAT was not the most important exam of my life. The Step 1 will be. If I fail, I'm screwed for residencies. If I pass poorly (and if one passes there are no re-takes), I'm screwed for residencies. If I want a shot at orthopedics at all, I'm going to have to make damn near the 95th percentile. I have to be BETTER than the US continental med students. ...joy. (why am I writing this; I should be studying Pharm)
So far, winter break's been good. As I'd mentioned last post, Swat came up with me to spend a week in Canada before going home to LA. Aside from the flight in (long delays at Newark and lost luggage in Toronto and bags that didn't come for another 3 days), we had a good time. While held up at Newark we went in to Manhattan for a little bit of shopping. After getting home and getting our bearings a bit, we got to have lunch at The Works (nom). We caught a Cirque du Soleil show in Kingston, shopped and ATE (OMG DELICIOUSGASM) and walked in Montreal, then came back to Ottawa for a bit of "tourism" and one more good meal before I went broke. The morning he left we caught a matinee of HP7 pt.1, which, I must say, was one of the better HP movies by a large margin. Since then I've been shopping and getting things in order for Christmas, mostly. I missed Matt and Carly's party last night because I said I'd take this shift at the front desk at my Dad's office that started at 9 (Been here one whole hour already and I'm hella bored...Not cut out for a desk job at ALL, me). In sadder news, it looks like my grandmother, who's already dealing with severe spinal osteoporosis and lumbar fusion, not to mention a slow-growing non-small-cell lung carcinoma AND diabetes, has had a minor MI, so her heart's not in the best of places either. I'm not sure how much longer she'll make it, exactly, so it's really imperative that I get to go see her tonight with the family.
I was supposed to hang with Tim from Kingston yesterday, but for whatever reason he decided not to show. To say I am dissapoint would be to put it very, very mildly. My other disappointment for this holiday is not being able to go see Carlee. I was really, really looking forward to that.
Going forward, the rest of the break will be spent getting tuition in order (AUGH FUCK), but before that, spending New Year's in New York with mithrigil, puella_nerdii, and lindensphinx, not to mention odifen and some other guests of theirs. I can't wait! I just hope the flight in to Newark is unremarkable this time around. :/ I'm heading there on the 30th... kind of my last hurrah before I'm poor as hell for like a decade. The only other trip I have planned so far is to Kansas City for my friend's wedding at the end of July, and possibly a southwest roadtrip out to LA from there... at most, we'll go all the way up the west coast and I'll fly home from Vancouver. A girl can dream.
I really want to go to Australia before my cousin moves away from there... 4 years until she's out of postdoc work. I've gotta make it somehow.
I guess the rest of this is a Year in Review kind of thing. This year I learned a lot about myself, and I fell in love in the most ridiculously intense way I've ever felt (for someone I would never have thought I would--yay for tasting the rainbow, so to speak), been loved back by several parties (an overwhelming first), been screwed by people I thought I could trust (sadly NOT a first), made some amazing (beyond amazing, even) friends online, put on 10 lbs (fuuuck), done more shopping than is strictly wise given my anti-budget (Salvation army, open your shipping doors; I've got a bunch of stuff for you), realized I still mourn the passing of my pet cat (It's been over a year, but I still think I see her around every corner), noticed my first faint wrinkles (AUGH), and found three persistent gray hairs (AUGH AUGH AUGH), and made significant strides on the road to becoming a doctor.
Long story short; I'm not the person I was this time last year. I'm stronger, better, and definitely... older. It's a decent end to a decent year overall, this Year of the Tiger. I guess it's fitting; this is my year after all. I won't get another one until I turn 36. 2011 will bring new challenges; finishing up in Grenada with no certainty of where my clinical placement will be afterward, taking the Most Important Exam of My Life, moving to unknown locales, most likely in the Northeast, but not guaranteed, and trying to figure out my love/romance situation so I can actually figure out what I'm doing, here. It's getting to be about that time. Also, I hope to get back on track with eating more cleanly, and shrinking up a bit. I'm not much BIGGER at all, and I still have a firm composition, but I'm definitely heavier and I don't like it. Stress and prolonged sitting do a number on a person, even if they still work out most days. It's time to start fixing that.
I hope every one of you who still chances past LJ entries from time to time has had a wonderful holiday season so far, and that the new year brings you everything you hope for and more.
o/
So, the year's almost over; I've posted in LJ maybe 4 times this year. I've been around, but god have I ever been pre-occupied. Now that Christmas (and a marathon 8 hour blitz on Boxing Day) are over, I can reflect on how time's been spent recently. Finals were kind of insane. I thought I dominated Path, but yet again I just came in on the good side of a pass... honestly, I don't even know sometimes. You pay diligent attention all term, give the course due time and respect, start studying for the exam covering a 5 week period of study 3 weeks in advance of the exam proper... and you still barely squeak through. Seriously, fuck this school sometimes. It was yet another term of people dropping like flies all around me; decelling or flat-out failing. At the least, my CPD (clinical skills/physical diagnosis) class went well; which basically means I look good in a white coat, I can put my stethoscope in my ears the right way around, and I know all 5 (painful) tests for appendicitis. That's an understatement, but it's fundamentally accurate.
Frankly, I'm just happy that fourth term is over. The end of the Grenada leg is finally in sight; fifth term is jus as hard but apparently much more relaxed than fourth, but now the spectre of the dauting USMLE step 1 board exam is looming. Despite what I thought previously, the MCAT was not the most important exam of my life. The Step 1 will be. If I fail, I'm screwed for residencies. If I pass poorly (and if one passes there are no re-takes), I'm screwed for residencies. If I want a shot at orthopedics at all, I'm going to have to make damn near the 95th percentile. I have to be BETTER than the US continental med students. ...joy. (why am I writing this; I should be studying Pharm)
So far, winter break's been good. As I'd mentioned last post, Swat came up with me to spend a week in Canada before going home to LA. Aside from the flight in (long delays at Newark and lost luggage in Toronto and bags that didn't come for another 3 days), we had a good time. While held up at Newark we went in to Manhattan for a little bit of shopping. After getting home and getting our bearings a bit, we got to have lunch at The Works (nom). We caught a Cirque du Soleil show in Kingston, shopped and ATE (OMG DELICIOUSGASM) and walked in Montreal, then came back to Ottawa for a bit of "tourism" and one more good meal before I went broke. The morning he left we caught a matinee of HP7 pt.1, which, I must say, was one of the better HP movies by a large margin. Since then I've been shopping and getting things in order for Christmas, mostly. I missed Matt and Carly's party last night because I said I'd take this shift at the front desk at my Dad's office that started at 9 (Been here one whole hour already and I'm hella bored...Not cut out for a desk job at ALL, me). In sadder news, it looks like my grandmother, who's already dealing with severe spinal osteoporosis and lumbar fusion, not to mention a slow-growing non-small-cell lung carcinoma AND diabetes, has had a minor MI, so her heart's not in the best of places either. I'm not sure how much longer she'll make it, exactly, so it's really imperative that I get to go see her tonight with the family.
I was supposed to hang with Tim from Kingston yesterday, but for whatever reason he decided not to show. To say I am dissapoint would be to put it very, very mildly. My other disappointment for this holiday is not being able to go see Carlee. I was really, really looking forward to that.
Going forward, the rest of the break will be spent getting tuition in order (AUGH FUCK), but before that, spending New Year's in New York with mithrigil, puella_nerdii, and lindensphinx, not to mention odifen and some other guests of theirs. I can't wait! I just hope the flight in to Newark is unremarkable this time around. :/ I'm heading there on the 30th... kind of my last hurrah before I'm poor as hell for like a decade. The only other trip I have planned so far is to Kansas City for my friend's wedding at the end of July, and possibly a southwest roadtrip out to LA from there... at most, we'll go all the way up the west coast and I'll fly home from Vancouver. A girl can dream.
I really want to go to Australia before my cousin moves away from there... 4 years until she's out of postdoc work. I've gotta make it somehow.
I guess the rest of this is a Year in Review kind of thing. This year I learned a lot about myself, and I fell in love in the most ridiculously intense way I've ever felt (for someone I would never have thought I would--yay for tasting the rainbow, so to speak), been loved back by several parties (an overwhelming first), been screwed by people I thought I could trust (sadly NOT a first), made some amazing (beyond amazing, even) friends online, put on 10 lbs (fuuuck), done more shopping than is strictly wise given my anti-budget (Salvation army, open your shipping doors; I've got a bunch of stuff for you), realized I still mourn the passing of my pet cat (It's been over a year, but I still think I see her around every corner), noticed my first faint wrinkles (AUGH), and found three persistent gray hairs (AUGH AUGH AUGH), and made significant strides on the road to becoming a doctor.
Long story short; I'm not the person I was this time last year. I'm stronger, better, and definitely... older. It's a decent end to a decent year overall, this Year of the Tiger. I guess it's fitting; this is my year after all. I won't get another one until I turn 36. 2011 will bring new challenges; finishing up in Grenada with no certainty of where my clinical placement will be afterward, taking the Most Important Exam of My Life, moving to unknown locales, most likely in the Northeast, but not guaranteed, and trying to figure out my love/romance situation so I can actually figure out what I'm doing, here. It's getting to be about that time. Also, I hope to get back on track with eating more cleanly, and shrinking up a bit. I'm not much BIGGER at all, and I still have a firm composition, but I'm definitely heavier and I don't like it. Stress and prolonged sitting do a number on a person, even if they still work out most days. It's time to start fixing that.
I hope every one of you who still chances past LJ entries from time to time has had a wonderful holiday season so far, and that the new year brings you everything you hope for and more.
o/