Today’s inane image of the day:
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| Even while on “vacation” in California, I need to keep up with studying! At least the sun makes every subject so much brighter and more fun to study [plus, it doesn’t hurt to have Mike around to keep me smiling!]. |
Greetings from the Starbucks in Duarte, California! You didn’t think I’d forget about you during my extended weekend, did you?
Yesterday flew by in a dizzying haze. I woke up slightly earlier than normal to ensure that I could leave early enough to get a prime parking spot near O’Dowd [since the rest of Oakland University started classes on Thursday, we haven’t had a problem with parking… but Dr. Sabina warned us about how it can get frightening to fight for a spot during the first couple of weeks when students still attend class] and to give myself some time to review the various biological tools of molecular biology [e.g., Northern/Southern/Western blots, PCR, gel electrophoresis, etc] that our TBL was on. One of my classmates’ wife baked us a billion cookies, which was a pleasant and much needed treat [more reasons to love my peers… and their significant others!].
The TBL was… what I expected. The questions in the IRAT were definitely more clinically-oriented and not just, “What does a Northern blot do?” While I cannot say I am thrilled with my performance on the IRAT, I did well enough. Plus, our group did fantastic on the GRAT… which made up for our poor performance on the application exercise portion. Although I hate to admit it, I’m starting to understand the reasoning that pass = MD. Plus, the TBLs aren’t worth a huge portion of our BFCP grade, so I’ll just see this as a learning experience and make sure to improve next time.
After the TBL was over, I hurried home to take care of last minute packing and eat a quick lunch before heading to the airport for my flight to LAX. Happily, there wasn’t much of a line at security, I had an exit row seat on the plane and I purchased internet on the plane so I was able to at least start a to do list. By the time I made it to Duarte last night, it was already somewhere around midnight EST [which is so late for me now!].
Although I’m happy to be with Mike, it has been hard trying to balance my study needs with wanting to spend every waking moment in his presence. I was slightly distraught earlier because I felt like I had wasted the day away, but I think I just need to keep reminding myself that by taking things one small step at a time, I can get a lot done.
We have a reflective writing assignment due on Monday and our first exam is a week from then. To say that I’m slightly stressed is an understatement, but generating unnecessary cortisol never did anyone any good. With that, I need to get back to biochemistry…
I hope you’re having a fabulous long weekend!