A Tour Of PSM
A quick update while I am still motivated about writing!
So…
For those of you who are not familiar with my school (and even for those of you who are), I would like to present:
A TOUR OF PSM
Or, at least, what I consider to be the highlights.
AKA… my five favorite things about my school:
1. The color:
Apparently back in 1977 (the year this school was founded) someone decided it would be a good idea to paint every single building in this school a ragingly bright AQUAMARINE color.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ll all about obnoxious and gaudy feminine colors (ex: this journal)… but aquamarine?? For a med school building?? Seriously?
However, the more I think about it, the more I have decided that I like it, and here is why:
2. The “fishbowl”:
There’s a particular room in the school library that is colloquially known as the “fishbowl” (or, as we say in Spanish, “el físhbol”). The room is not shaped like a bowl, nor does it contain any form of fish at all. It earns its name because the windows and doors are all transparent to passersby in the hallway, and so the poor unsuspecting souls who go here to study are a little bit like trapped fish waiting to be devoured. Because when you try to study there, EVERY single student (WITHOUT FAIL) who passes through the hallway sees you through the glass, opens the door, and stops in the fishbowl just to “say hi for a minute”. Which would be fine, if it were just a minute. But the thing is that hundreds of students pass through that hallway every day, and if every single one of them comes in for “just a minute”… well… it makes it a little bit difficult to get any work done. So, in other words, the “fishbowl” tempts with fish bait of the absolute worst kind: distraction. Which is the Number One Most Evil Terrible Deadly Sin Of Medical School That Must Be Avoided At All Costs.
So naturally, it is my favorite place to study. Don’t ask, I don’t understand it either.
3. The drink vending machine:
This is probably my favorite. Sometimes I buy stuff just because it offers the biggest source of entertainment in my day (pathetic, huh?).
So… this particular machine offers the typical variety of beverage choices:
Coke: $1.00
Diet Coke: $1.00
Sprite: $1.00
Water: $1.00
Gatorade: $1.25
Vitamin Water: $1.25
But, unlike a typical vending machine, this one has an added bonus: a built-in coin slot machine.
For example: yesterday, I went downstairs to buy a Gatorade. I put in $1.25 and depressed the button labeled “Gatorade.”
Upon which the machine spit out a bottle of water. And $2.00 in change.
It’s like a daily taste of Las Vegas, right here at school. And they say we’re not supposed to gamble… ha!
Of course, it can be risky. Sometimes the machine will outright steal your money. Or… God forbid!... gives you regular Coke instead of the Diet kind (*cue horrified gasps*). But you can strike it big too; once I got two sodas for only fifty cents. Living large!
4. The fire alarms:
Like everything else here, the fire alarms are very set in their ways of doing things and seem quite reluctant to change them. And, like everything else here, those “set ways” consist mostly of chaotic inefficiency and…well…not really doing their job.
The fire alarms go off unpredictably, maybe once a week or so. And despite the fact that this probably violates at least ten fire safety regulations, it’s lost all of its novelty. No one even pretends to care anymore, or makes even the slightest effort to get up. I just really hope there’s never a real fire. Except, then again, maybe it would force them to finally renovate this place.
5. The dry erase makers:
…Which don’t exist and have not existed at all since I started here. I wonder if they even had dry erase markers in 1977 when they first bought the white boards.
So there you have it. My school in a nutshell. Surprisingly, I have developed a lot of affection for it in the past year… ghetto fire alarms and all. Sure, it’s unattractive, and it’s got none of the abundant resources and vivacious school wide energy I experienced in undergrad. But I think I actually prefer the more cozy, personable environment of a small school… it makes me feel like it’s really mine. And I’m proud of it anyway. :)
So…
For those of you who are not familiar with my school (and even for those of you who are), I would like to present:
A TOUR OF PSM
Or, at least, what I consider to be the highlights.
AKA… my five favorite things about my school:
1. The color:
Apparently back in 1977 (the year this school was founded) someone decided it would be a good idea to paint every single building in this school a ragingly bright AQUAMARINE color.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ll all about obnoxious and gaudy feminine colors (ex: this journal)… but aquamarine?? For a med school building?? Seriously?
However, the more I think about it, the more I have decided that I like it, and here is why:
- It’s ballsy as hell. The person who designed these buildings back in 1977 was pretty much saying “screw you” to every single other medical school ever. I like to think it’s making some sort of weird statement, like the freedom of artistic expression among scientists. Or maybe it was just a really terrible practical joke that cost way too much money to fix. Either way, it is incredibly ugly. But still kind of cool.
- It gives the school personality. I know that usually when people say something has “personality” it’s more like a pity statement because you’re looking for something good to say about it. But in this case, I think it’s actually kind of true. My school has “personality” because what other medical student is capable of color coordinating her clothing with the BUILDING she is about to walk into? Also, it feels a little bit like I am attending class every day in the Disney Little Mermaid kingdom, minus the singing sea creatures and people with fins and all that. So in my opinion, that is REALLY FREAKING AWESOME.
2. The “fishbowl”:
There’s a particular room in the school library that is colloquially known as the “fishbowl” (or, as we say in Spanish, “el físhbol”). The room is not shaped like a bowl, nor does it contain any form of fish at all. It earns its name because the windows and doors are all transparent to passersby in the hallway, and so the poor unsuspecting souls who go here to study are a little bit like trapped fish waiting to be devoured. Because when you try to study there, EVERY single student (WITHOUT FAIL) who passes through the hallway sees you through the glass, opens the door, and stops in the fishbowl just to “say hi for a minute”. Which would be fine, if it were just a minute. But the thing is that hundreds of students pass through that hallway every day, and if every single one of them comes in for “just a minute”… well… it makes it a little bit difficult to get any work done. So, in other words, the “fishbowl” tempts with fish bait of the absolute worst kind: distraction. Which is the Number One Most Evil Terrible Deadly Sin Of Medical School That Must Be Avoided At All Costs.
So naturally, it is my favorite place to study. Don’t ask, I don’t understand it either.
3. The drink vending machine:
This is probably my favorite. Sometimes I buy stuff just because it offers the biggest source of entertainment in my day (pathetic, huh?).
So… this particular machine offers the typical variety of beverage choices:
Coke: $1.00
Diet Coke: $1.00
Sprite: $1.00
Water: $1.00
Gatorade: $1.25
Vitamin Water: $1.25
But, unlike a typical vending machine, this one has an added bonus: a built-in coin slot machine.
For example: yesterday, I went downstairs to buy a Gatorade. I put in $1.25 and depressed the button labeled “Gatorade.”
Upon which the machine spit out a bottle of water. And $2.00 in change.
It’s like a daily taste of Las Vegas, right here at school. And they say we’re not supposed to gamble… ha!
Of course, it can be risky. Sometimes the machine will outright steal your money. Or… God forbid!... gives you regular Coke instead of the Diet kind (*cue horrified gasps*). But you can strike it big too; once I got two sodas for only fifty cents. Living large!
4. The fire alarms:
Like everything else here, the fire alarms are very set in their ways of doing things and seem quite reluctant to change them. And, like everything else here, those “set ways” consist mostly of chaotic inefficiency and…well…not really doing their job.
The fire alarms go off unpredictably, maybe once a week or so. And despite the fact that this probably violates at least ten fire safety regulations, it’s lost all of its novelty. No one even pretends to care anymore, or makes even the slightest effort to get up. I just really hope there’s never a real fire. Except, then again, maybe it would force them to finally renovate this place.
5. The dry erase makers:
…Which don’t exist and have not existed at all since I started here. I wonder if they even had dry erase markers in 1977 when they first bought the white boards.
So there you have it. My school in a nutshell. Surprisingly, I have developed a lot of affection for it in the past year… ghetto fire alarms and all. Sure, it’s unattractive, and it’s got none of the abundant resources and vivacious school wide energy I experienced in undergrad. But I think I actually prefer the more cozy, personable environment of a small school… it makes me feel like it’s really mine. And I’m proud of it anyway. :)