Procrastination

It is, what it is...

Finals are upon us. Studying is starting to drive me crazy! Had our final lab exam yesterday... SOOO great to be done with that! It went pretty well. I made some stupid mistakes, part because I didn't think a couple ?'s thru well enough, one or two because the second question threw me off. Overall, I passed it (I hope anyway) and that takes a lot of the pressure off for the theory exam for Anatomy. We have Anatomy on Monday from 3-5 (cumulative... with an emphasis on what we just recently completed and haven't been tested on) and then we have our cumulative Histology exam from 6-8 on Monday.
Yes. The admin must hate us for scheduling our exams like that. Same day and one from 6-8?!?!? Really?

I'm worried about Histo. Everyone keeps telling us that this final is a sleeper test. Its 50 ?'s from the block 5 material and 50 cumulative images where we have to answer questions from the pictures. Sounds easy enough, but apparently it isn't! Sooo, I'm devoting almost all of my weekend to Histo... focusing mostly on the new material because that is half of the test.

I am so sick of Histo slides and the weekend isn't even half over yet! (Which is a good thing and a bad thing all at once)

I've studied hard for Anatomy all last week, so I'm not focusing on it as much. The Anatomy exam is 16% of our grade and then on Thursday morning we have the NBME shelf exam which is 20% of our grade and is supposed to bump everyones grades up because they prepare us sooo well for it. Basically we learn everything so in depth that each individual class has consistently scored multiple points over the average for US med schools. I guess that is the reason that we have been pushed sooo hard over the past 3 months!

Speaking of which... I better get back to studying! 1 week from today I will be on my way HOME! Can't wait to see my family and friends! That is gonna be the shortest 2 weeks of my life!

P.S. This is what I have been looking at for the past 3 weeks... fun stuff!

Into the Deep Blue Sea

Block 4 is over! It was a pretty good block! I aced Anatomy and I'm in good position in both Anatomy and Histo going into the last block of exams (which are cumulative) and makes up about 32% of our grade! Block 5 in Anatomy is only 16% just like a regular test, but then we have to take the NBME shelf exam 2 days later that is 20% of our grade.

I spent the first half of the weekend finishing up my Scuba Diving certification. Saturday morning we went to the pool and finished the rest of the closed water skill checks and then went out diving in the afternoon. We went to Ladder Labyrinth and Hot Springs for our two dives and when we surfaced on the second one... we were officially certified divers (minus the paperwork). It was awesome! On our first dive, after doing some of the skill checks, we were exploring around and happened upon a nurse shark sitting in the sand. My buddy saw it first and quickly showed me, which was funny because since you can't talk while you are underwater, I had to picture what his reaction would have been if he could!

On our second dive, we saw another nurse shark swimming around and it was soon joined by another nurse shark. Of course they were curious who we were and came over by us! It was awesome! One of them starting chewing on one of my friends fin then came over and tried to hide under mine! The other one swam so close to me that i just reached out and touched the dorsal fin!!!

This isn't the shark we saw, but it looked just like it! It was so cool! 

It's crunch time for school... we have 2 weeks and then finals are here! I'm ready for it to be over so that I can have a break! That 2 week break is going to be amazing! I'm planning on playing some golf with my dad, going on a trip with friends to Branson, MO for one weekend, playing some spades, relaxing, and not doing anything school related! Oh yes... I can't forget one of the best things about going home.... Chick-fil-A!!!! If they opened a store on Saba, I think I could keep them in business by myself! haha

Well, I should probably go to bed so I can be well rested for the upcoming week and the beginning of the crunch!

Down Under The Sea

So, I have finished going over today's lecture and I'm having a hard time motivating myself to do more work. I figured that I would blog about the recent past then!

Hmm... let's see! Well, last week was the 3rd block of exams for Anatomy and Histo. They went pretty well for me. Did good in the Anatomy lecture test and just like everyone else, bombed the lab exam. BUT got a decent grade overall for the block so I am happy. I'm not sure why our class is having such a difficult time with the lab exams.. they are just killing us! We have not had 1 lab exam where the class average was a passing grade. Come to think of it... we haven't had an overall exam where the average was a passing grade. There were 100 students who took the first Anatomy exam and 45 failed the whole block. Second block yielded 2 dropouts and 56 failed the whole block. This is where the chains fell off the tractor... We were down to 89 who took the 3rd block exam and still had 40 F's. As we currently stand, approximately half of the class is failing Anatomy and that's just no bueno! We all have our theory's as to why this is, but I'm glad I'm not one of them! *knock on wood*

After blocks, I went with a few friends up to Queens Garden (a small little hotel overlooking The Bottom and the ocean) and we had lunch then hung out at the pool all afternoon! It was soo great to relax with nothing to do! Problem was... I continued to relax the next day... and the next.... and the next... and then went Scuba Diving on Saturday. We will pick this up in a few.......

I am working towards getting my scuba diving certification and started it this past weekend. It's really cheap for students here and after diving twice on Saturday, it is my new favorite activity on Saba! We met at a pool at one of the hotels in the morning and did some of the confined water skills and went to the ocean in the afternoon to do open water dives.

We went to a place on the west side of the island called Torrens Point. It was about 30-35 feet deep and had a sandy bottom. It was really awesome to swim to the bottom and go around and above all the soft coral and cool fish! We didn't see a lot of big, exotic fish like sharks and eels, but we did see a squid and manta ray. I have completed 2 of the 4 dives required for my scuba certification and hope to get those done soon... latest will prolly be after 4th block (which is only 2 weeks away - yikes). 

So, here we are... almost 11 o'clock on Monday and I need to finish catching up from my previous week of relaxation and I'm having trouble motivating myself to do more than just today's work. I'm gonna try to get a little in, but the bed is calling my name and I don't like to disappoint it by not going. We shall see who wins out!

I leave you with a picture of The Ladder. This used to be the only entrance to Saba until the Cove was built. The house you see about halfway up the picture is the old customs house. Everything that came on or left the island had to go up those steps to the customs house... then up a big hill after that!

               

4 things I hate about Saba...

1. Goats
2. Chickens and Roosters
3. Ants
4. Cockroaches

And recently to creep into the top 4, Bed Bugs.

Luckily, I have only seen 1 of #4 in our dorm room and the new arrival is not in our dorm *knock on wood*

Block 2... Check!

Block 2 is done! It didn't come without its problems tho! Histo was over epithelial cells, connective tissue, cartilage and bone. I had a good background on that stuff from undergrad and wasn't too worried about it during the weeks prior, but the night before the exam, I spent about 5 hours studying the material and then started practice questions to gauge my understanding... this is where it all went downhill. I was missing half of the questions and I started to lose it.

I had studied for so long and expected for my scores to be at least at 75% or higher on the practice questions, but they weren't. Long story short, I had a panic attack. Never had one before in my life and I would love to never have one ever again! It was bad. I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest and just had this horrible feeling in my gut. Well, all I could do was sleep, so I did (after laying there for about an hour or more). Woke up in the morning and did the questions again. I was doing better, but not near as well as I expected to be doing. Went to the exam and had no idea how it would go. Finished the exam in 20 minutes and pressed the "proceed" button and waited for my score to show up. Not only did I pass, but I passed with a fairly high mark which I was sooo happy about!

Then comes Anatomy. I knew my stuff for the lab exam the day before (my grade didn't reflect it). So, I studied a little for embryo and went in to take it. Now is when it all went downhill. I started to blank. My mind just went blank! I couldn't answer the easiest questions I was asking myself to come up with an answer... and to make matters worse, the test was HARD! To put it in perspective: the average for the lab exam in our class of 97 was a 57% (passing is 75%); the average for the whole block was a 70.3% (once again, failing is <75%, and 56 of 97 failed the block). So, I am blanking on information I know on a crazy hard exam... not a good combo. Finished going thru the test once and answered everything I left blank the first time and those that I flagged, then I decided that I would go back thru and check my answers with about 10 mins left. I started and changed about 3 of the first 10... several questions that I changed, I asked myself, "What was I thinking when I answered with this choice??" Then, I ran out of time before I could get past 25 (of 100). My heart skipped a beat or two and the score showed up... My fears were confirmed. It wasn't good.

Averaging that score with my first block (which I did good on) puts me in an ok position. I can bring it up easily and (technically) still make an A in the class... now, that is a little bit of stretch because that would mean I would have to do well on the lab exam which seems to be impossible to do (ok, I know its not impossible, but its dang hard!)

All that to say, I have changed the way I approach the classes and my studies! I am spending more time on my weak areas and trying to use my time more wisely! (It's somewhat difficult sometimes and I'm pretty sure that I have ADD on the days that I NEED to study... Reading over PowerPoi .... Did you hear that noise? Hmm.. sounded like... ) <-- that sort of thing.

Soooo, I'm glad the block is over, I know what I need to work on and know things I need to change!
Other than that, not a whole lot has changed... Saba is still a big rock in the middle of nowhere and there isn't a lot to do here, but that's good for me because it cuts down on the distractions! Now, if only I could get rid of the stinkin roosters and goats! I am convinced they are possessed and are evil!

Today, I missed the commissioning service for the Ecuador Mission Trip Team! :( I'm soo sad I can't go back this year, but I have to keep reminding myself that in a few short years, I can go back on that trip as the Doctor and not the nurse. I'll be thinking about all my Ecuador family while they are down there in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen... The Amazonian Jungle.

Well, it's 11:00 and I'm gonna review a little more then go to bed! (Been keeping up with the Hogs in their Super Regional game against Arizona St., but it's not looking good right now.)

Until next time... Woooooooo Pig Sooie!

Ohhhh... One more thing! Found out at the end of this week that we have bed bugs at Saba. Apparently its only the second time ever that they have had it here, but it just so happens to be in Hillside (the dorm complex I live in). Right now, its in Hillside 2 which is down the hill a short ways from our dorm... not connected. But we kinda flipped out and had a little cleaning party in our suite, so those dang things better stay away! Are you itching yet, just thinking about it?