When the Wind Blows

So, I have a broken drafty window which means it sounds much windier in my room than it is actually and it took me a week to come up with a way to plug it by stuffing a pillow case and creating a semi-seal. But I digress. It seems in Grenada (and at SGU) things change rather quickly. You can be having a fabulous day full thinking you are prepared for small group while the sun is shining, the birds are chirping... and then the next minute the sky is dark, the wind blows and rain falls, you are being berated for knowing nothing, your professor call the class a disgrace (half of us failed the Biochem Unified) and you want to go crawl under the covers and hide. 

My confidence, I think they are out to steal it. Medical school is humbling, you are reminded how much you do not know (a lot) EVERY SINGLE DAY. Which is hard when you feel like all you do is study, and still you know nothing. And worse yet, you begin to realize how much you don't know and thus how much more you must study... But then, when you are least expecting it the rain stops, the sun comes out and your friends rally around you. Another productive day of studying and you feel caught up and happy to be here, for the moment. Until the wind blows again. And so it goes. This first month has been full of many ups and downs, more than I thought possible in such a short amount of time, but things here change quickly. And I think it is important to remember that. It is easy to feel sorry for yourself but then you look around and realize in the big picture that the wind has to stop eventually and it might even stop sooner than you expect.

This morning I woke up to rain pelting on my window and wind blowing into my room and I thought it might be hurricane season already... But now the sun is out and the sky is blue again. Right now the day looks promising and I've already put in an hour worth of studying, had my coffee, read the New York Times online and said good morning to boyfriend. I still hear the wind  blowing (maybe a work order to fix my window would be more effective than the pillowcase, I'll have to work on that) but only time will tell what today will bring.... maybe I'll keep my confidence from blowing away.

After the Unified

So, the first exam (well quiz) of med school has come and gone. They call it the Unified because it is a quiz worth 5-6% of your grade for each class and covers anatomy, histology and biochemistry. Oh and we had our Bioethics Final today too! I won't know how I did until tomorrow, or whenever they put up our grades but in the meantime it is nice. Nice to NOT have 4 hours worth of lectures to digest tonight, nice to be able to go out without Gray's or BRS, nice to have a reason to take a break. So I am off to Bananas (the local bar/club) and its Bananas in Pajamas night so it should be interesting... classes resume tomorrow and only three weeks until midterms, but for the moment I am enjoying Grenada. Cheers!

The Rumor Was True!!!

So I woke up at 6:15am (after going to bed sometime after 1am) to drag myself to lab. On the plus side I did manage to make a pot of coffee and down 2 cups... so at least I'm caffeinated, not the same as awake, but its something. I notice on my walk to lab that it is awfully quiet this morning. Normally I see others in scrubs making their way from down the hill but today, I see no one. I know this is a sign and I start to think... that rumor I heard on Monday- my classmate heard from someone that lab was Friday this week instead of Thursday, maybe I should have investigated it? hmm...  I assumed it was a rumor since no announcements were made in class, no post on Angel (our web server for each course), etc. So, I checked my master blue schedule and it says lab groups C/D 7:45am Thursday 2/12/09. I am not hallucinating,  but WHERE IS EVERYONE? I see another person following behind me and another coming up the hill. I start to feel better but yet I also know that something it just not right. Sure enough I open the door to dry lab and no Dr. Brahim, no one at all... Its 7:37am so I'm early but not that early... I walk back outside and now there are 4 of us. No lab? No lab! Well, yes we have lab, but not until tomorrow. lol! And so it goes. The group slowly grows to about a dozen. I go back inside and find someone official to collaborate my theory. Today is a clinical meeting day so all the professors have to be in meetings and thus are not running lab. Go figure. Sigh. Its now almost 8am and I've had my two cups of coffee, so what to do?  Not a single one of the dozen wants to go into lab with me. I figure I'm already up and in scrubs so why not go in and figure out what I'm suppose to know for tomorrow. Luckily Dr. D (visiting prof from UK, excused from meetings) was there and he gave me the guided tour of the forearm and hand. Then another student showed up and I was able to show him everything I learned and then another friend came in and we showed him and so after 1.5 hours I felt confident in what I was doing.... So not a complete waste, but still... I guess next time I'll believe the rumor! 

Speaking of rumors, if you are a possible or current med student and want the BEST BLOG ever re: SGU you should check out The Rumors Were True by Topher. He has long since left SGU but has some good advice and entertaining posts if you are looking for that.... Or if you just want to watch someone solve the Rubix cube in less than a minute. It is pretty impressive!

So what did I learn today? Maybe the rumors are true after all, at least some of them.... Okay, time to study. Only 4 days until the Unified Quiz!  

Around Campus

This past week just flew by but I did manage to take a few photos... The third one below is from the top of the hill and it is my favorite view on campus.

I love how I can see the water in the distance and the campus below. I try to walk this way to class every day and appreciate that I am in Grenada.  The other views are not bad either...

This last picture is a shot of the Bell Tower lecture hall and the place I spend a min of 4 hours every day. Good times! (There are officially 417 first term students, in case anyone was wondering.)

Another Week

So, I cannot sleep again... I don't know if it was the 2 hour nap after lecture (thank you migraine and Relpax for that!), the cup of coffee at 8pm or the fact that I'm feeling a little guilty for the amount (or lack thereof) of studying I accomplished today but here it is, after 2am and I am wide awake. I tried Netter's anatomy flashcards, they usually put me to sleep but to no avail... but maybe I can name all the muscles of the thenar now.

In more exciting news (oh wait, I'm in medical school, my life is class and studying, there is no exciting news, sorry to get your hopes up) this marks the start of my third week of classes... time is going by so quickly! DES study groups stated this week and I went to a biochem review tonight, it was pretty decent and since there were three tutors and only three students we got one-on-one time so that was good. I also looked at 50 epithelium slides via Histotime in my least favorite place, the library.  (Too bad I can't figure out how to run it on my computer- not very Mac compatible. If anyone know any tricks please do tell...)  But there was no one at the library so I did get to print about 100 pages of notes and BRS material, yay! What else can I say?

Run down of my weekend:

Saturday- I met with a small anatomy study group and that was good.  Afterwards we headed to IGA for groceries and then stopped for dinner at some bar/restaurant, the name escapes me, near the rotary. It was my first experience of true Grenadian service. Menus were already on the table when we sat down and after 20 minutes one of girls I was with asked if someone would help us. Within 5 minutes our orders were placed and we had food within 15 minutes so overall, not too bad. And it was cheap: I got a fish sandwich ($11 EC) fries ($8 EC) and diet coke ($3.50EC) so with tip my meal cost around $28EC or $11 US! No complaints here...  That really was the highlight of my weekend. I had planned to go to the beach in the morning, just for an hour or so but it was raining and thus I stayed inside with my books.... (I am sad to report that I have yet to go to the beach. It is not far but it seems that every time I try, it is either raining or I'm in the middle of studying.) Sunday was anatomy lab-small group where I realized just how much I need to study after which I headed to Mocha Jumby for my usual.

So now another week of classes...  and only two weeks until the Unified Quiz (its only worth 5% of our grade but it lets us know how we are doing, kind of a check system to make sure your study methods are working before you take the midterm three weeks later.) 

That is about it, sorry I can't be more exciting. But I promise more pictures soon!