Where I'm at now
Wow, seeing how it's been a month since I last wrote...I should probably do this by subject...then you can pick what you want to read.
School:
Graduated on Saturday, June 18th, 2005 from UC Irvine with a B.S. in Biology and minor in History. My overall GPA could've been better, but this past quarter, I got an A in neurobiology lab, an A in history, and an A- in Criminology. So I'm quite happy with that, especially the lab grade...that was a tough class! Had a little graduation party afterward...saw some old friends and family. My brother and his family came to town..yay! I got close to $600, an awesome top of the line mp3 player (Creative Zen Nano,1GB flash memory, fits in the palm of my hand, etc.), a couple of pens (one engraved with my name), and a couple free meals, as well as some sentimental stuff from my Dad and family. Not everyone was able to come, but some really special people were there, and that's all I needed. I officially get my degree certified in July, and my diploma in November.
Job:
For now, still at Disneyland. I applied to a Pathology lab Assistant job at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. It's really the perfect job for now..in my field, straightforward, get to see some really cool, interesting stuff, get a behind-the-scenes look, etc. It'd be full time, M-F, 830-5, making a little more than I do now, but with benefits. I will know by the end of this week if I got it or not. I may try to work both jobs for the summer, but by Winter, I'm going to most likely be gone from D-land. No biggie, since most of the people I know well are leaving anyways..more and more every week. I met people there that became good friends...of course including my bestest buddy, and so I'll always have them and that's all I need to take away from that place. So I'm really hoping I get this job and that it turns out to be a great experience.
Shelter:
I'm renting a room out of a nice semi-luxury home in Tustin, CA. It's a brand new house and community..still being built in fact, and it's on the border of Irvine and Tustin...I actually lived in an apt. about a mile down the street in Irvine during my 2nd year at UCI. The house is right by the old Tustin MCAS. For those of you who care, it's 69 Stratus, Tustin 92782. Go down Harvard, left on Edinger, right on Aviator, immediate left, then 1st right, then 1st left, then turn into long driveway at the end of the Stratus. It's right by the Jamboree highway, the 5, the Tustin Marketplace, and tons of shopping centers...great location. Of course, take one guess who, as usual, was looking out of me and got me that. Thanks dude...can't say that enough. So yeah, so far, the people are really cool. They haven't been around much. The guy, Huy, is a support engineer at a engineering-software company, the lady is a pharmacy tech at Savon. She was a bio major at UCI also..grad. in 2001. She has a good friend who is a D.O. from Western U, which is exactly where I'd want to go for D.O. med school...so I met him and he's gonna give me some of his old MCAT material. The area is nice...basketball court, huge pool (with free-play area and two lanes for laps), a park, bbq's, and a community center we can use for functions. Anyone ever want to come swimming, lemme know...i have a key! High speed internet, cable TV (both in my room also), and all for a flatrate. So far so good...I'm sure I'll get along fine with them (the guy does have an interesting sense of humor..he describes it as a typical engineer sense of humor). But they give me full house privileges, including inviting people over anytime, which is awesome. They're never here on Friday and Saturday nights, so they said those are mine to have the house.
What's next?
Well..I'm going to apply to both D.O. and some M.D. med schools in about 2 years. I need to take psychology classes for D.O. school, so I will most likely be doing that at Irvine Valley College this fall. So the studying is not over..I'll have to find a nice place to do that. I'm going to most likely take it online. Also, I was recently told that many med schools combine GPA's from different schools...including J.C.'s. So, in addition to the 2 psych courses I need, I might also take one or two GPA booster courses..something that might help me out..like anatomy. We'll see though...
So for the next few years, I will be working, taking some extra courses, AND studying for the MCAT. Not sure how yet, but I'll think about that after summer. For now, I'm taking the summer "off"..in that I'm only going to worry about work. I need to buy a desk for my room, and still unpack stuff, and set it up the way I want it..that'll be done this week.
Lastly, I'm really looking to start anew in many things. In a weird way, I want feel reborn. I'm out of college for now, ready to start on a whole new path. I want to meet new people and make new friends, of course never forgetting about or losing my old ones...cuz that'd be impossible and I don't know what I'd do without my friends. But in addition to those, I want to meet more, ya know? I want to find new opportunities to meet people also, so I'll be looking at that. And of course...part of me is telling me to make more of an effort to find a girlfriend. I've been pretty passive in that regard my whole life, but with two years off, it gives me a little more time. If I could establish a relationship well enough before I apply to med school, maybe it could even survive if I get accepted and I go off to school for 4 years. That's alot to ask for, but that starts by making a little more effort to meet more people. So we'll see...it's still not #1 priority yet...that'll be AFTER I'm out of school completely.
So that's it for now. I hope to keep up old relationships with people and my friendships with the ones that mean most to me..the lifelong friends that I'd die for (you know who you special people are). But it's time to start anew in other aspects of my life also. I hope to get this job, take the extra coursework, and start studying for that MCAT. I might join the UCI Alumni Association to gain library access. I also gotta get letters of rec from some professors over there...gotta setup meetings this week in fact..eep! But now I feel I have a clearer view of what I want and how I need to get to it. Now it's just a matter of doing it. Take care all...hope we can all keep in touch. See ya around
School:
Graduated on Saturday, June 18th, 2005 from UC Irvine with a B.S. in Biology and minor in History. My overall GPA could've been better, but this past quarter, I got an A in neurobiology lab, an A in history, and an A- in Criminology. So I'm quite happy with that, especially the lab grade...that was a tough class! Had a little graduation party afterward...saw some old friends and family. My brother and his family came to town..yay! I got close to $600, an awesome top of the line mp3 player (Creative Zen Nano,1GB flash memory, fits in the palm of my hand, etc.), a couple of pens (one engraved with my name), and a couple free meals, as well as some sentimental stuff from my Dad and family. Not everyone was able to come, but some really special people were there, and that's all I needed. I officially get my degree certified in July, and my diploma in November.
Job:
For now, still at Disneyland. I applied to a Pathology lab Assistant job at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. It's really the perfect job for now..in my field, straightforward, get to see some really cool, interesting stuff, get a behind-the-scenes look, etc. It'd be full time, M-F, 830-5, making a little more than I do now, but with benefits. I will know by the end of this week if I got it or not. I may try to work both jobs for the summer, but by Winter, I'm going to most likely be gone from D-land. No biggie, since most of the people I know well are leaving anyways..more and more every week. I met people there that became good friends...of course including my bestest buddy, and so I'll always have them and that's all I need to take away from that place. So I'm really hoping I get this job and that it turns out to be a great experience.
Shelter:
I'm renting a room out of a nice semi-luxury home in Tustin, CA. It's a brand new house and community..still being built in fact, and it's on the border of Irvine and Tustin...I actually lived in an apt. about a mile down the street in Irvine during my 2nd year at UCI. The house is right by the old Tustin MCAS. For those of you who care, it's 69 Stratus, Tustin 92782. Go down Harvard, left on Edinger, right on Aviator, immediate left, then 1st right, then 1st left, then turn into long driveway at the end of the Stratus. It's right by the Jamboree highway, the 5, the Tustin Marketplace, and tons of shopping centers...great location. Of course, take one guess who, as usual, was looking out of me and got me that. Thanks dude...can't say that enough. So yeah, so far, the people are really cool. They haven't been around much. The guy, Huy, is a support engineer at a engineering-software company, the lady is a pharmacy tech at Savon. She was a bio major at UCI also..grad. in 2001. She has a good friend who is a D.O. from Western U, which is exactly where I'd want to go for D.O. med school...so I met him and he's gonna give me some of his old MCAT material. The area is nice...basketball court, huge pool (with free-play area and two lanes for laps), a park, bbq's, and a community center we can use for functions. Anyone ever want to come swimming, lemme know...i have a key! High speed internet, cable TV (both in my room also), and all for a flatrate. So far so good...I'm sure I'll get along fine with them (the guy does have an interesting sense of humor..he describes it as a typical engineer sense of humor). But they give me full house privileges, including inviting people over anytime, which is awesome. They're never here on Friday and Saturday nights, so they said those are mine to have the house.
What's next?
Well..I'm going to apply to both D.O. and some M.D. med schools in about 2 years. I need to take psychology classes for D.O. school, so I will most likely be doing that at Irvine Valley College this fall. So the studying is not over..I'll have to find a nice place to do that. I'm going to most likely take it online. Also, I was recently told that many med schools combine GPA's from different schools...including J.C.'s. So, in addition to the 2 psych courses I need, I might also take one or two GPA booster courses..something that might help me out..like anatomy. We'll see though...
So for the next few years, I will be working, taking some extra courses, AND studying for the MCAT. Not sure how yet, but I'll think about that after summer. For now, I'm taking the summer "off"..in that I'm only going to worry about work. I need to buy a desk for my room, and still unpack stuff, and set it up the way I want it..that'll be done this week.
Lastly, I'm really looking to start anew in many things. In a weird way, I want feel reborn. I'm out of college for now, ready to start on a whole new path. I want to meet new people and make new friends, of course never forgetting about or losing my old ones...cuz that'd be impossible and I don't know what I'd do without my friends. But in addition to those, I want to meet more, ya know? I want to find new opportunities to meet people also, so I'll be looking at that. And of course...part of me is telling me to make more of an effort to find a girlfriend. I've been pretty passive in that regard my whole life, but with two years off, it gives me a little more time. If I could establish a relationship well enough before I apply to med school, maybe it could even survive if I get accepted and I go off to school for 4 years. That's alot to ask for, but that starts by making a little more effort to meet more people. So we'll see...it's still not #1 priority yet...that'll be AFTER I'm out of school completely.
So that's it for now. I hope to keep up old relationships with people and my friendships with the ones that mean most to me..the lifelong friends that I'd die for (you know who you special people are). But it's time to start anew in other aspects of my life also. I hope to get this job, take the extra coursework, and start studying for that MCAT. I might join the UCI Alumni Association to gain library access. I also gotta get letters of rec from some professors over there...gotta setup meetings this week in fact..eep! But now I feel I have a clearer view of what I want and how I need to get to it. Now it's just a matter of doing it. Take care all...hope we can all keep in touch. See ya around