By the numbers: The undergraduate experience
I'll admit first and foremost that this post was inspired (meaning it's a total rip-off) of a post my oldest brother made when he got his undergrad degree from OSU in 2004. I feel I am allowed to steal the idea simply because I actually succeeded in remembering AND finding a specific entry that is 5 years old and from 3 abandoned blogs ago. Here's his:
http://leebert1981.deadjournal.com/2004/06/10/
Another disclaimer - this will sound at points like I'm boasting. You would be correct. I worked my ass off for 4 years and I feel I have earned the right to matter-of-factly make it rain hubris. Hot and steamy hubris.
Jake's Undergraduate experience:
The Basics:
Degree earned: BSPS = BS of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Major: What's a major?
Minor: What's a minor? I honestly don't know if I officially had either a major or minor. Nobody can explain my degree to me.
Credits needed to earn BSPS: 181
Credits actually earned: 251 (Boo!)
Credits of those 251 that count both for my BS degree AND eventual Pharm.D. degree: 106 (Woohoo!)
Credits still needed for Pharm.D.: ~80
Years thus far: 4 (2005-2009)
Years that were strictly undergrad coursework: 2 (2005-2007)
Years that were strictly graduate-level coursework: 2 (2007-2009)
Years of graduate-level coursework to go: 2 (1 lecture-based year, 1 year of just rotations)
Quarters thus far: 12.5 (the 0.5 coming from the "Organic Chemistry Summer of Hell")
Final GPA: 3.719 (3.854 undergrad, 3.598 Pharm.D. )
In the classroom:
Total classes: 54 (plus another 8 from AP/exam credit)
Total science classes: 42
Total number classes directly related to chemistry in some way: 27 (exactly 50% of all my classes taken… no wonder my social life has suffered.)
Lowest class level: Psychology 100, Pharmacy Survey 100
Highest class level: Pharmacy 779
Easiest class: Science of Human Nutrition 210. Still wondering how my Pharm.D. advisor accepted that as a professional elective, but I’m not going to complain.
Most work-intensive class: Chemistry 211 - Quantitative Analysis. Take an awful chemistry class, combine it with an awful statistics class, add in lab reports that took between 6 and 12 hours to complete each week.
Most intellectually challenging class: Pharmacy 731, 732, 733 - our pharmacokinetics course series. Basically, if somebody takes this size dose of a drug, and they weigh this much, and once it gets dissolved, absorbed, distributed, metabolized through the liver, metabolized systemically, excreted through the kidneys, bound by circulating proteins, bound to tissues, and after accounting for ethnic, gender, menstrual, pregnancy, disease, BMI, drug interactions, and compliance differences, how much of that dose of drug is actually hitting the target receptors. Bonus- lengthy calculations for every single step! Surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed this class.
Greatest “Oh this looks like it will be an easy class” followed by “Holy shit, I might not pass this class” followed by “Praise Jesus for the bell curve” moment : Math 152 - There was nothing in this class that I hadn’t learned before. It was supposed to just be a review of things from AP calculus…
Problem: 2.5 years since the last math class I’d taken.
Solution: Nobody else remembered/ever learned calculus either. Enter the bell curve, taking my C- and turning it into a B+
Best quarter: Spring 2009 - I had figured out that if I kicked my ass I could raise my GPA just enough to get Magna Cum Laude. It literally came down to the last tests of the last quarter of 4 years, but I studied my butt off and crushed them. Academic ego = boosted.
Worst quarter: Fall 2007 - First quarter of pharmacy school. It was a wakeup call of the worst kind, and it took me awhile to adjust to the suddenly ridiculously higher standards and work ethic required. I’d have to honestly say that each quarter of pharmacy school takes about as much out of me as each year of undergrad did. Honorable mention: The organic chemistry summer of hell.
Best exam grade: 120% on a pharmacokinetics 733 test, earning me zero friends.
Worst exam grade: 55% on the math 152 final. Me no remembered derivatives.
Estimated amount of money I should have spent on textbooks: A conservative estimate for all the books, notes, etc., claimed to be “required” by professors would be around $6000. I, being a cheap-ass, haven’t spent more than $1000 on all books, note packs, and print-outs combined.
So shouldn’t I have like an extra $5000 lying around?: Yep, still wondering where that all went.
Extracurricular activities:
Nights dressed as a large pink Pokemon: 1 - The famous JigglyPuff Halloween - This costume was designed to be a full-body outfit for a 3-5 year old child. I fit at least the majority of my upper torso into it.
Nights spent partying with my parents on campus: 1 - Neilfest 2007
Parties we served the drink “pink panty dropper” (PPD) at our first apartment: 2
Number of parties in which people got publicly naked at our first apartment: 2 (The PPD legend = confirmed)
Times I was “Knighted” at Joe’s apartment: Twice. Being “knighted” means you kneel and have somebody blow an entire beer bong into your face (elephant style). I can’t recall why I allowed this to happen not just once, but twice.
Times I caught Raymond with a calculator in his pocket outside of the house or classroom: 2
Times I found Raymond napping in unusual places: 4
Trips to Hocking Hills with Megan: 3
Trips/plans Megan and I have made that went horrendously wrong: Many, many, many.
Horrendously haywire trips/plans that I still enjoyed: Many, many, many.
Times I’ve been to Florida in the last 4 years: 3
Times I’d been to Florida the previous 19 years: 1
Books read outside of class: Roughly estimated at 120
Books accumulated from Half-price Books: Like 200. I’ve still got a pile to get through someday. Megan and I share the ambition of eventually owning an entire library.
Jobs held: 2 - Always Painting for one summer, CVS/Pharmacy for about 3 years now.
Hours worked at CVS since being hired: 2673.4 (Yes, I keep track diligently)
Hours worked at CVS that I should have been able to report to the State Pharmacy Board but never filled out the paperwork, and are now considered ineligible to count towards my licensing: 2599.4 hours- Oops.
Relative increase in hourly wage from being an untrained technician to a 3rd year intern: 75% increase over 3 years, not shabby at all.
Relative increase from my initial wages, once I’m a full-fledged R.Ph.: 725% - This is why I subject myself to 6 years of punishment.
OSU football games attended: A shitload
OSU football championships witnessed: Zero since I’ve been here. I demand a refund on all tuition!
OSU men's basketball/men's hockey/lacrosse games attended: A couple
Games/matches attended for the other 39 varsity programs at OSU: none
Drunken Crew games with D$: 1
Times “Columbus ‘til I Die” was sung with D$: Enough times to embarrass Joel
Other colleges visited: Regrettably just 2
Times I have acted shamelessly at OU: Numerous
Seasons playing club lacrosse: 0.5 (Stupid chemistry labs were always in the way)
Seasons coaching high school lacrosse: 1
Seasons playing intramural ice hockey: 4
Seasons of hockey where I knew how to ice skate or play hockey: none. They were 4 very fun seasons anyway.
Sheltered living:
Dorms/Apartments lived in: 4
Apartments where I lived in fear: 2
Nights in poorly-insulated apartment #1 where my room got so cold that a bottle of water froze: 2 (That was a long, long, long, sad winter)
Blinding multiple-feet of snow blizzards through which I still had to walk to class: 2
Snowmen built: 1
Average daily walking commute to and from classes (years 2 and 3): 5.2 miles round trip
Pounds lost during years 2 and 3: 20
Pounds regained since moving further out and getting a parking pass: 15
Times I had to shoo bugs off the produce at the High Street Kroger (Kroghetto): Every time I wanted produce.
Increase in joy since moving out of the hood: Bajillion - there’s something nice about going to sleep without feeling the need to be on high alert.
Arguably frivolous purchases: 2 - the first was a Playstation 3 as a self-reward for finishing the first year of pharmacy school, the second was the cruise as a self-reward for graduating. Otherwise I’ve been rather financially disciplined - no fancy new phones, iPods, computers, and even the TV I got was second-hand.
Time I’ve wasted since making frivolous purchase #1: Errr…
Frivolous purchases planned for August 2011, when I get licensed: Ohhh I’ve already got about 20 in mind.
Dogs acquired: 1 - The most adorable doggy woggy ever, Guinness.
Fiancés acquired: 1 - The most adorable meggy weggy ever.
Nights I’ve spent sitting on the couch with dog and fiancé and being perfectly content with life: Countless
Things I will realize I forgot to mention the second I post this: Probably a whole bunch
Times I started, stopped, came back to writing this post: 7 or 8 times. This was started before I graduated. Better late than never?