Freedom! (Well, sort of...)

We've now officially seen the light at the end of the tunnel and emerged (relatively) unscathed, walked through the valley of the shadow of death (and survived), made it through the rain, found the promised land, etc, etc, etc... We are the champions! Victory is ours! Hail to the victors valiant! (Okay, maybe not that far)... But at least we are now officially considered "capable" in gross anatomy. We are done with roughly 2% of our medical school education... A time for celebration?...

Luckily, we have now moved into the Cell Block (a very fitting name, don't you think?). So far, everything is a very basic review of various undergrad classes- Biochem, Histology, and Cell Biology to be exact. Since these are all things I've taken at some point or another, I'm hoping this block will be a little less taxing than last block. We'll see...

Roughly 40ish people have decided to choose the independent study pathway, so the number of people in the lecture hall has noticeably diminished. Not to mention the people that have chosen to continue in the integrated pathway but will choose never to come to lecture- the proverbial IP/ISPers... Definitely considering this option after seeing these first couple lectures of this block. More updates on that at a later...

So, what have we been doing with the less than 24 hours of freedom that we've had since this last exam you ask? Well, for one thing, Post Gross Toast, the annual celebration of the end of Gross Anatomy, was on Monday night. We went out and had a few drinks at a bar downtown with our class, TAs, and professors. It was a good time and a nice change of pace for those of us who live by the mantra, "Staying in is the new going out..." We roommates collectively decided that we deserved a mental health break after "Rocking that bitch" of an exam. Therefore, we IP/ISPed the first lecture, as did a nice chunk of our classmates and... we went shopping, of course!

2 pairs of shoes (Pumas and Clarks), a puffy vest, a sweater, a long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of PJ pants later, I felt sufficiently re-engergized. Unfortunately, it was back to the grind when we got home because 2 of us had a practice physical examination where we worked with a 4th year medical student to make sure we "know" how to give a complete physical. It was a worthwhile endeavor for me, but not for everyone... ("We're just going to skip femoral pulse...") However, we are carving pumpkins tonight, and that is always fun! Friday, we are going to Dr. Hull's house for dinner. He is an OB/GYN that worked in the Congo at a hospital there for 25 years. Kristine met up with him earlier this year because she visited that same hospital this summer. And since she "has connections," we roommates can piggy back on her networking. We are hoping Dr. Hull will be able to point us in the right direction as far as where to go abroad this summer... More on that in a later post...

We're celebrating my pseudo-birthday/Halloween this weekend and meeting my parents in Mansfield for dinner on Sunday, so there's definitely some things to look forward to that will get me through this week. I should probably get back to paying attention, but hooray for not having to use real microscopes and for having a lecture where everything was a review thus far!

Until next time...

LG

Remember...

I was feeling a little overwhelmed today and needed a little positive reinforcement- hence the following...

Hope it helps, even if just a little...

When you don’t want to get out of bed,

Remember that today may be the fresh start you needed.

When you are tired,

Remember that only by continuing will you find the motivation to focus.

When you want to give up,

Remember that you are here because someone had faith in you.

When you want to cry,

Remember that you are surrounded by people who are there to support you in your endeavors.

When you want to stop,

Remember that tomorrow just means you are one step closer to your goal.

When you don’t think you are good enough,

Remember to take comfort in knowing that many others have been in your place and succeeded, just as you will.

When you would rather be doing a million other things,

Remember that you are doing this one thing so that you can eventually be doing something you truly love.

When it seems like it couldn’t get any worse,

Remember how blessed you are, and will be, to touch the lives of so many.