That's a long time between drinks...
So it's been a few months since my last update.
From memory it was all about the GAMSAT and stresses caused plus stresses caused by planning a trip to Europe. A double plus stress situation I do believe.
A fair amount has happened in the last few months, but like some kind of bizzare inverse law the more that's happened the less I care to write about it. However, I paid (read: signed up) for this account, so I may as well use it and not fall victim to the Facebook quick update that appears to have befallen so many.
GAMSAT - Didn't sleep well the night before the test, sat it and felt an enormous weight lifted from me. The readjustment period was interesting, the wait for the results less emotionally turbulant than I was expecting and the results themselves somewhat disappointing but made me happy none the less. Long story short, I passed but won't be becoming a medical doctor for the next few years. I did much worse on the language and essay sections than I was expecting (based primarily on lack of sleep + nerves) but did much better on the science reasoning that expected. The follow on is that I'll be doing a lot more chem and physics in the future because I found them enjoyable.
Travel - Have went and come back from a five week jaunt around the old world (Italy, Austria, Germany, France, England) and South East Asia (Sri Lanka and Thailand). The trip was fantastic. I'm loaded up with all the experiences I could handle, saw some amazing works of art, architecture and European culture, plus ate some great (and not so great) food. Well worth putting our lives on hiatus for a few months to save up the last of the cash. The jetlag however is a bitch. Highlights - St Peters in Rome, Vatican Museum, Venice, meeting my family in Germany, Musee D'Orsay, being the first of the public to see both the Mona Lisa AND the Venus De Milo on the same day, Les Mis in London, a romantic beachside dinner in Sri Lanka with swing music in the background, a luxury hotel in Bangkok with drinks and a life of excess costing no more than 500$ Australian for 3 days including accomodation. Lows - Italian food / customer service, not having long enough in each place, not having long enough with my family, 72 hours with little sleep in Sri Lanka plus a crazy tour guide, getting sunburnt on the second day of Thailand.
Employment - Have left ConnectNow and won't be returning. Am no long licensed to be a security guard so will not be making a return to bouncing.
Education - Having said that I won't be becoming a doctor of medicine anytime soon, I will be taking up a four year position as a Ph.D candidate doing a Doctor of Neuroscience. Somehow I was able to get the fees waived AND get paid a scholarship so I'm quite chuffed about that. The study I'll be doing is the same one I've been waffling on about since third year which is examining the pathogenesis of a type of depression and how the immune system is involved. After living a life of leasure for the last few months I'm looking forward to devoting my time examining questions that simply may not have a clear answer and trying to tease them out. Granted, I say this now...
Health - Quite good, however I can't move much at the moment from getting a horrible sunburn from sitting around the pool in Thailand. It's been 4 days and the pain is only now beginning to subside. I do however have quite a nifty sunburn patch that looks like the sun gave me a giant hug... and I was wearing culottes at the time. Otherwise, carrying around suitcases and the large amount of walking toned my body quite nicely. The Melbourne winter will do it's dardest to remove that however.
And so, that's the last few months in a nut shell. Good times.
From memory it was all about the GAMSAT and stresses caused plus stresses caused by planning a trip to Europe. A double plus stress situation I do believe.
A fair amount has happened in the last few months, but like some kind of bizzare inverse law the more that's happened the less I care to write about it. However, I paid (read: signed up) for this account, so I may as well use it and not fall victim to the Facebook quick update that appears to have befallen so many.
GAMSAT - Didn't sleep well the night before the test, sat it and felt an enormous weight lifted from me. The readjustment period was interesting, the wait for the results less emotionally turbulant than I was expecting and the results themselves somewhat disappointing but made me happy none the less. Long story short, I passed but won't be becoming a medical doctor for the next few years. I did much worse on the language and essay sections than I was expecting (based primarily on lack of sleep + nerves) but did much better on the science reasoning that expected. The follow on is that I'll be doing a lot more chem and physics in the future because I found them enjoyable.
Travel - Have went and come back from a five week jaunt around the old world (Italy, Austria, Germany, France, England) and South East Asia (Sri Lanka and Thailand). The trip was fantastic. I'm loaded up with all the experiences I could handle, saw some amazing works of art, architecture and European culture, plus ate some great (and not so great) food. Well worth putting our lives on hiatus for a few months to save up the last of the cash. The jetlag however is a bitch. Highlights - St Peters in Rome, Vatican Museum, Venice, meeting my family in Germany, Musee D'Orsay, being the first of the public to see both the Mona Lisa AND the Venus De Milo on the same day, Les Mis in London, a romantic beachside dinner in Sri Lanka with swing music in the background, a luxury hotel in Bangkok with drinks and a life of excess costing no more than 500$ Australian for 3 days including accomodation. Lows - Italian food / customer service, not having long enough in each place, not having long enough with my family, 72 hours with little sleep in Sri Lanka plus a crazy tour guide, getting sunburnt on the second day of Thailand.
Employment - Have left ConnectNow and won't be returning. Am no long licensed to be a security guard so will not be making a return to bouncing.
Education - Having said that I won't be becoming a doctor of medicine anytime soon, I will be taking up a four year position as a Ph.D candidate doing a Doctor of Neuroscience. Somehow I was able to get the fees waived AND get paid a scholarship so I'm quite chuffed about that. The study I'll be doing is the same one I've been waffling on about since third year which is examining the pathogenesis of a type of depression and how the immune system is involved. After living a life of leasure for the last few months I'm looking forward to devoting my time examining questions that simply may not have a clear answer and trying to tease them out. Granted, I say this now...
Health - Quite good, however I can't move much at the moment from getting a horrible sunburn from sitting around the pool in Thailand. It's been 4 days and the pain is only now beginning to subside. I do however have quite a nifty sunburn patch that looks like the sun gave me a giant hug... and I was wearing culottes at the time. Otherwise, carrying around suitcases and the large amount of walking toned my body quite nicely. The Melbourne winter will do it's dardest to remove that however.
And so, that's the last few months in a nut shell. Good times.