Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Something New -- Studying

I really do mean to post more often but I keep forgetting/getting distracted/not having time...all the usual excuses.

February was quite a month. On my last post I talked about the Respiratory and Structure exam we had that day....honestly going in, I felt more prepared than I had for any other exam in medical school thus far! Well, apparently pride really does go before a fall, because I was so confident that I knew everything that was being tested and talked about that I'm embarrarssed to say, I rushed through it and did worse on this test than I have done on any test since starting medical school! Though it was definitely a disappointment, it was a good lesson (TAKE YOUR TIME IN TESTS) and thankfully, I still passed :)

The first weekend of February was DO Day on the Hill where we went to Sacramento to talk to our state representatives to support legislation reversing the merging of the Osteopathic and Naturopathic licensing boards in California. It was a really neat thing to be a part of, and all the people I talked to seemed to be super supportive of our cause!
How could you resist that smiling face?? :)

That weekend was Nourah's birthday and a trip back to Southern California for a much-needed weekend home with the fam to celebrate my birthday and run my Half-Marathon!
The birthday glasses were obviously essential.

Sunday was my Half-Marathon! It was a beautiful day and a beautiful run (though a little boring at the end), but awesome because I had a whole cheering squad there! I feel so blessed to have people in my life who will wake up early and/or drive many hours just to see me run by and cross the finish line :) It was really really great.
Gennaya and Matt ran it too :)
Cheering Squad! :)

After my relaxing weekend home, it was time to hit the books. Hard. I have spent so much time at the library, I'm pretty sure everyone knows that this table (ironically, where I'm sitting now) is MINE. The thing about spending all your time at the library is that your actual home tends to suffer and by the end of blocks, I could hardly see the floor of my bedroom since I was pretty much only there to sleep....
Case in point: my room DURING block week.
....and after Block week :)

As indicated by my room, these blocks took a lot of studying....we actually had 6 exams -- 3 theory (OMM, Doctoring, and Cardio/Respiratory/Renal), and 3 Practicals (OMM, Doctoring-Physical Exam and Anatomy Practical). It was quite a long week :( But thankfully, I passed!!!! I feel like every time I check my grade and see that I passed, its such a prayer of relief, after all the stress of exams.... The weekend after exams, Angela and I relaxed and it was AMAZING. We went to Napa and Sonoma, and caught up on the last 3 weeks of The Bachelor......so wonderfully mindless and relaxing :) The next week after blocks was also pretty chill considering we had just had 6 tests the week previous. Tuesday we went to free Pancake Day at IHOP and had cake for Angela's birthday :)
Note the BYOPB (bring your own peanut butter ;))

Wednesday was Angela's birthday, so we went out to dinner at this yummy sushi restaurant in Alameda
Practicing my cultural competency skills ;)
The view of SF (and us) from Treasure Island!

Thursday was our big game against Touro-Nevada (where we lost miserably) -- but still had fun cheering!
Cheering!

After the big game, it was time to go to the airport to fly to DC for my birrrrrrrrrrrth-dayyyyy!! :) It was SO fun to see Megy and Evgeniya (Jenny) even flew out as my birthday surprise!!!! Best birthday surprise ever!!! And my old roommate, Peaches even came down from Jersey City!!! I am so blessed to have best friends to fly out and spend my birthday with :)
Blowing out the candles on my HOMEMADE, sugar-free (Megy gave up sugar for Lent), AMAZING birthday cake!!! WOOOO HOOOO 23!!!! :D
Megy and my two birthday surprises!!! :) SPC Girls <3 style="text-align: left;">We spent my birthday in DC, but the next day we drove to Philly to see our good friends Sarah and Matt and celebrate my birthday with them too :) and eat cheesesteaks :)
Waiting for our cheesesteaks :)

Evgeniya, Me, Sarah, and Megy.
Dear Saint Peters, thanks for bringing me such amazing best friends :)

After my birthday and getting back to Vallejo (on the way to which, I was bumped up to first class! happy birthday to me! ;)), it was the usual, back to the library and intensive studying, in preparation for my next weekend where Holl came to visit!!!! SO amazing! Two weekends in a row of best friends?? I'm so so blessed :) It was so fun to have her here! Friday we went out for sushi and fro yo in Alameda, then drove through SF and the Golden Gate Bridge.... Saturday, we went wedding dress shopping at this amazing bridal salon only like 20 minutes from my house, and lunch at WHOLE FOODS (um amazing!), then spent most of our day exploring Berkeley and buying 50 cent books at the library bookstore :) That night a bunch of my friends from school came over and we played 'Apples to Apples' which I have never played before but was super fun!! And then we watched "The Hangover"...so funny! :) Sunday, Holl and I went to the Jelly Belly factory (yummmmm) and then to Napa and Sonoma, then to the airport :( all in all it was an amazing weekend though!!! But now its reallllly back to the grind. I'm spending all my time in the library so I can be super hardcore now and have the day off for St Pattys Day (Parade in SF!), then blocks are in 2 weeks! Eek!! But after that is Spring Break and I am coming homeeeeeeeee (and can drink Diet Coke again! ;)) Can't wait!!! :)

Thats all for now; hopefully its not another month til my next post ;)