Anatomy is Aging Me!

First, I am IN LOVE with my Ipad2 for studying. Visible body is a great way for me to get a 3-D view of ligaments, muscle attachments, etc. I have all of my anatomy notes on there. It's just amazing and I love it!

Second, WOW. This has been SUCH a tough semester. I have been feeling pretty down about the whole thing. A lot of my friends who submitted their applications at the same time as me have gotten interviews. Others in my class have even gotten their acceptance letters. I don't even have an interview yet. I check my email incessantly waiting for that email saying "Please come talk to us". I feel like if I get an interview I have a decent shot of getting in. . . it's just getting that interview. Ugh. Honestly that interview has been on my mind constantly.

I have a back-up plan. I will graduate in May, and then spend one more year where I am, getting my Masters in Biology Medical Sciences, and then try again next year.

I have been trying to figure out a way to balance a very challenging class with spending time with my family. I would not say that I have been entirely successful. :( And apparently my brain is so full of anatomy that other things are falling out. I forgot to lock my car and someone stole my purse out of it. So I stopped carrying a purse and kept my debit card in my pocket, and now that is missing as well. Eek. I am such a mess!

Anyway, back to Gross. I only have 4 hours till I have to go to work so I need to keep plugging away.

Applications and Anatomy

This semester has blown my mind. The AMCAS application was a beast. I still have one letter of recommendation on the way. . . .Ugh. Ready for secondaries. Ready to know where my life is leading me.

Anatomy. Gross Anatomy makes me want to crawl under a rock and cry. SO hard. SO much information. SO much to learn in a short period of time. I spend so much time studying that I rarely see my family.  This past week I was gone every night until late. These late nights make me wonder if I made the right decision trying to go back to school to be a doctor when I have three kids. And then I wonder - if you become a doctor first WHEN do you have the kids? ugh. There's no really easy answer. I know in my heart that I will never regret spending 10 years at home with my angels. I know that I would not have been a stay-at-home mom with a doctorate. And i know that in the end I will get the best of both worlds - a demanding career AND that time with my babies.

But sometimes it is so HARD.

Wow What a Slacker!

Yeah so summer school kicked my butt --physics was no joke. And then the MCAT. What can I say about the MCAT? I took that monstrosity of a test Friday and it was LONG. And HARD. And LONG. But now that it is over i have such a sense of relief. I was a basketcase the week leading up to the MCAT. The week before my whole family went to the beach. The hubby, the kids, my mom, friends of the family....while I stayed behind and took physics and spent 100 hours of my "free" time studying for the MCAT. The week that my family returned I was on the verge of tears all the time, barely felt human. I had a physics test that Tuesday, my physics final Thursday, and the MCAT Friday so it was a tense week for me. I was incredibly stressed out and felt like studying physics was affecting my MCAT study time and studying for the MCAT was lowering my grade in Physics. I managed to pull out a B in Physics and hopefully did okay on the MCAT. We'll see. But I was a mess.

And now? Now I am trying to finish up my application. I am trying to get some volunteer hours in. I am trying to find someone to shadow. And I am trying to RELAX!! I was going to volunteer for hospice today, but couldn't because my youngest child woke up this morning and threw up all over the place. So much for that great idea. Tomorrow is my birthday - 31!! Eeek. Friday I am planning on going to hospice for a little while to visit with my patients. I really need to get those hours in!

While I am off, I have been re-reading the Harry Potter series. :) I am excited to read for pleasure. My local Borders is having a Going-Out-Of-Business sale and I have spent SO much money re-stocking my reading material, and yet I am re-reading a series I have already read? Too weird. Soon enough I will have my head buried in books once more. I am taking Gross Anatomy, Biochem and Adolescent Psychology this fall, and classes start in about 2 weeks. I am excited about these classes but worried I won't do as well as I need to.

Monday I am leaving for the beach for a few days. I am bringing a chair, a towel, and books galore, I am going to sit in the sand and read all day...:) Looking forward to it!

A Break!

Today marks Day 1 of my break. :) I have 6 days until my next class begins - DNA Forensics. I am very excited about that class. But I am also excited about this break - I need to go to the eye doctor and the dentist at some point this week. I want to read. I want to take long hot baths. I want to study for the MCAT, clean out my car and my backpack, and celebrate this sweet sweet break.

Yesterday I found out that I scored in the 79th percentile nationally on the American Chemical Society Organic Chemistry standardized exam. Honestly I thought I had done better than that. I don't know why Organic is so difficult for me. Inorganic was SO much easier for me. But excited to be DONE with organic. . . except for MCAT studying.

Took my calculus final yesterday and feeling really good about it. Hoping to pull out an A in calculus. I will have a B in Organic, but an A in Immunology, A in Cell Bio, and an A in Cell and Genetics Lab. I am feeling pretty darn good at the end of this semester!!

I received the book This Won't Hurt a Bit by Michelle Au yesterday. I preordered it from Amazon.com. I am really looking forward to reading this book this week! :)

ALMOST DONE!! :)

I survived the ACAT and the ACS exams. I finished Cell Biology and Immunology. All I have left is a killer calculus exam Monday at 11. .  .and I am DONE with this semester!

I spent 6 hours doing calculus today - until I got dizzy and twitchy. :P I think 6 hours in a row is about all of the calculus I can handle!

Finals, Lab Reports, Busy Busy Busy!

Seems like all I am doing these days is working on projects and studying for finals. Last night at 11:30 I finally finished my lab report for Cell and Genetics Lab. Ugh. So glad that is over.

Tomorrow I take the ACAT, Friday I have the ACS final for organic chemistry and Monday is my Calculus final . . . . and then I am DONE! :) WOO HOO!! One more semester down, 3 to go!

The stress is starting to get to me. I have been trying to go running every evening to try to relieve some of that stress, but it isn't working so well. I know that in 6 days that the stress will be a LOT better - but it's surviving these 6 days that is the trick!

On a brighter note - today is Sushi Tuesday - a ritual for me and my friends, and 2 of our professors have agreed to go to lunch with us and eat sushi! Looking forward to a great lunch with my friends - and the last Sushi Tuesday of the semester.

Undergraduate Research Symposium...

I was really nervous about the Undergraduate Research Symposium last night, but now that it is over I am really glad I did it, and REALLY excited to have something else to put on my CV. :) I was there with 2 others who were both listed on my poster, so I didn't have to talk too much if I didn't want to - and I didn't.

I chose to wear heels - not comfortable heels, but HORRIBLE, tortuous heels. I think I have learned a lesson about footwear; I am not a heels person. My feet hurt so bad and it was so uncomfortable. Luckily a sweet friend who was wearing cute flat sandals offered to trade shoes with me! What a nice person!