Brachial Plexus Craziness

SO many muscles in the upper limb, who knew!?

Last week in anatomy, we completed the back – discussed muscles, innervations, blood supply, and all that jaaz. I spent the majority of last weekend feeling so overwhelmed with the amount of information on the back alone, only to enter this week in upper limb! There's so much happening everywhere, even in the hand!! Although I must say, I think I've got a pretty good handle on the back so I'm comfortable moving onto a different section. Last week in biochemistry, we learned about acid/base disorders and its clinical relevance. It was all so interesting – I LOVED practicing problems! This week however, SO much more information! I've gotten a little behind in my lectures and practice problems, but I've made a schedule for this weekend – so hopefully by Sunday evening, I will be all caught up and a little more relaxed.

Even though it's a LOT of material, and extremely difficult, I'm enjoying the studying. Of my 4 classes, biochem and anatomy definitely take up the most time understanding and remembering. I've realized that I don't study well in my room. I don't know if it's the fact that I went to college out of state, but I've come to associate "home" as a place to "relax." Even at my REAL home, if I need to seriously get some work done, I have to go to Starbucks or the library. And I've realized the same thing here as well. I'm not too sure what it is – but I need to keep pushing myself outside my room to actually get some studying done. Although it's really irritating having to carry all my books that I need, and when I come back to my room for lunch/dinner I get lazy to go out again, and then I'm not as productive. Ugh! It's a horrible cycle.

Oh well, I'll definitely be out of my room this weekend; I have to be! I have so much to do! Hope yall have a great weekend =)!

One Week Down

Well I definitely survived my first week of medical school, but it's been a challenge. In one short week, SO many things have changed:

• I like to keep my inbox as cleaned as possible with only emails needing immediate attention show up. I have folders for everything! I even a folder for "need replies", which seems pretty obvious what it's used for. In less than one week, my entire inbox is flooded with emails and I have no idea who I need to respond to. I sometimes refuse to open my inbox just so I don't get frightened at how much correspondence I need to get done.
• Google Reader – even longer list of titles I need to read.
• I'm the odd girl who isn't a big fan of chocolate – but all of a sudden, chocolate is my new "must-have".
• I don't really drink tea/coffee too much. But all of a sudden, I need all this caffeine to keep myself awake!

I know as the time progresses, I'll learn how to manage "life" around school. But it's an instant shock for me at the moment. I'm really enjoying my classes and it's extremely refreshing to be learning about things you're actually interested in. Labs start this upcoming week – here's when the real fun begins!

Change in Identity

I recently took a trip to my alma mater, which I had not seen ever since I graduated in May 2010. As soon I stepped off the plane and onto the floors of the airport, a brush of memories came into life. I made the same phone call to my mom, reassuring her that I arrived safely and I would call her after reaching my sorority. I took the same train back to campus. And, here’s the cherry on top, I stayed at the same sorority house I lived in during my junior & senior years of college. But this time, as a guest, not a resident. Rewind about two years, I was doing everything I would have been doing as a student, however you can’t go back in time and I wasn’t an undergrad student anymore.

During my time there, I visited many of my college friends, spent time at my common hang-out places, and tried a few new ones. I had an interesting conversation with FRIEND A, and how he declined a job offer out of state in fear of losing his identity & friends that he had created in college. And in a professional setting, it’s difficult to create or even have the same relationship with your co-workers that you have with your friends out of work. He was very involved in campus activities, so everyone practically knew him. It’s interesting that when you meet someone new, they have NO idea of your past (which could be a good or bad thing :-p), but sometimes we have certain expectations that they should know. How did you not know I like to dance? How did you not know I’m a vegetarian?

Just a couple weeks ago, we moved from the house that my brother and I had most of our life-changing events at and pretty much the only house my brother remembers living in. During this moving process, we would make several trips back to ‘old house’ to pick up odds & ends that the movers did not. And I would ALWAYS find a reason NOT to go. I couldn’t do it; it was just too painful. I couldn’t imagine how quickly a spot where my family shared a meal less than 24 hours ago has now become space; I couldn’t imagine how quickly a home became a house so quickly. This house represented so much more than a home, it was our identity. So in essence, I was doing the same thing as FRIEND A.

Yes, I resist change.

But actually, going to college out of state was a huge change (something I definitely wasn’t planning at all) – I was put into a completely new location, environment, and school. I didn’t know a single person in that state, let alone in the university. I left my identity back at home and maybe recreated the same one or grew on it. Additionally, I was fortunate enough to study abroad during college – but I didn’t know anyone. But part of that allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and do things light years ahead of my time, like act in a play! And while no one knew anything about me, I was able to experience something new. I think, part of the reason why experiences such as studying abroad are so refreshing, is it allows us to leave our identity behind and do something different.

It was a break from, being me.

FRIEND A eventually got a job in town and is doing his masters simultaneously. So maybe it was good that he stayed local, or maybe the move could have also been beneficial to him – I guess we’ll never know! It’s natural and often times easy to take the path of least resistance, but it’s not always the best path. Sometimes, maybe study abroad opportunities are thrown at us, or we’re thrown into situations we didn’t seek out that make us change. But as we get older, I think we need to consciously push ourselves to “grow”. I’m really going to miss the ‘old house’. But, I’m also looking forward to what this new house brings to my family. As I sit here, on the eve of my medical school career, I know I’m not going to be the same person four years down the road. And I’m extremely nervous, but very excited to learn a whole new world and make some amazing new friends. But most importantly, I’m excited to see how I change into the best doctor I can be for my future patients, which is the main reason for creating this blog! =) My identity is what I make of it, and I am going to continue to do things to where I’m always evolving.  

Packing, Unpacking

Summer 2012 consisted of packing, unpacking – and repeat x4. I traveled to Tampa Bay, FL for one convention, and then to Chicago, IL for another convention, changed my permanent address, and finally my current address! I arrived at medical school on Wednesday night and I am all unpacked and organized! The school provided some fun orientation activities and I was able to meet some really interesting classmates and potential study buddies =). There are a few more orientation activities this weekend – and then school starts Monday! Really excited to FINALLY start this new chapter in my life!

Test Post via Word

I was playing around through MS Word and I saw this option of "New Blog Post." So I registered this blog, and just trying out to see if I can post via Word. Let's see!