Oh hurricane Earl

As we get ready to start the new semester hurricane Earl has decided to descend upon SXM! The water just went out, thank goodness for water bottles and cost-u-less bottled water, and i'm assuming the power is going to be quick to follow. There has been so much hype for this dang thing that it should be interesting to see once it passes.....1st hurricane! The school has done a good job of keeping the students informed and setting up a shelter at school for those who wanted to go there instead of staying at home. Maybe i'll have a chance to get some pictures tomorrow when it's light out....we'll see! School decided to close tomorrow because of Earl but I still think i'll head there presuming our power and water will be out by morning! I'm just glad that i'm already here and not stuck in one of the many airports across the US and Puerto Rico like a bunch of the other students who have had flights canceled and delayed!

No worries

Noxolo

It all has to come to an end

Only a few more days of break...and actually I'm kind of ready for it to be over?....weird, I know. It's been nice having no real worries other than which beach to go to, or where to go for dinner, but I'm ready for a set schedule again! It's kind of funny seeing new 1st semesters on campus and a majority of them look just as lost as we all did a few months ago. It's crazy how much you can progress in a short amount of time!

Noxolo

Loving break!

So I decided to stay on island over break and i'm loving it! The island is nice when i'm in school, but I never really had a chance to go out and enjoy it. However, the last two days have been a blast just hanging out on the island relaxing. Yesterday we had people over for a bbq at our place and then hung out at the pool....real fun. Today a few of us went to Orient Beach for the day, rented chairs on the water and just hung out....amazing. Then for the low price of $45? my roommate and I decided to rent Jet Ski's...WOW...amazing. Probably one of my favorite things I've done in quite a while...ripping through the water on jet ski's, beautiful day, great beach....perfect!..and I will be doing that again sometime before I leave the island!

All in all it's been a fun past two days and it's nice to get my mind of studying/school to just reset! Yet 10 days from right now my 1st day of 2nd semester will be in the books!

Noxolo

I hate moving

I am officially all moved into my new place and wow do I hate packing and moving! Although I've only been down here for a little over 3 months I've somehow compiled an impressive amount of "stuff." I guess when you compound the amount of stuff + the Caribbean heat and humidity + moving in one of the smallest cars known to man = a long, drawn out process! No worries though, it's all done...at least for another year!

I'm looking forward to the next 10 or so days filled with nothing but no worries, Saint Maarten beaches, our pool, and grilling out!...plus throw in a little jet skiing....a trip to Anguilla or St Barts?...or one of the countless other touristy things to do in SXM!

oh...and all the grades are in for the semester and it looks like I made deans list...yippee

Noxolo

DONE DONE DONE

...1st semester is officially in the books! I'm still waiting on our anatomy shelf results but I had already passed going into the final...such a good feeling! It's kind of been a weird culmination....what do I do now? I'm trying to pack so I can move in the next few days but what else? It's weird not really having anything to study or any real plans....but i'll take it while I can!

Two weeks from today 2nd semester will begin....WOW

Noxolo

just...a....little...bit....more....

9 hours and 10 minutes from now the MCB final will be officially over....but hopefully i'll be done a little early per usual! I CAN NOT WAIT TO BE DONE! Studying for finals has sucked! I can't believe it's been 3 1/2 months since I first started here but wow am I ready to have a break from studying!  Hopefully all goes well and I can start off my 2 week break on a good note...

Wish me luck

Noxolo

Days like today

Days like today are the ones I'm thankful I live a 5 minute walk away from a nice beach. I woke up, grabbed some food and went to the beach to do a little MCB studying. Even though we were only there for an hour or two it was really nice to just get outside on a beautiful day.

Of course the rest of the day has pretty much been me trying to study but my mind not wanting to follow suit! Hopefully tomorrow and Monday I can hit MCB hard and end the semester on a high note!

Noxolo

Done with Anatomy!

We had the Anatomy Shelf exam this morning from 8-1030am and I am official DONE with anatomy. Since I had already passed the class before even taking the test it was a no pressure situation which helped alleviate any stress with taking such a big exam. All in all I think it went well but we'll see in a week or so when the grades come out.

Now i'm left with MCB as my last test on Tuesday. I really don't think it's going to be THAT bad either. A lot of the upper semesters said that it focused on the last 2 blocks of material and those were 2 of my best tests.

Noxolo

Shelf can NOT be over soon enough

Study and reading and studying and reading...blah blah blah I'm sooo ready to be down with the anatomy shelf exam! Nothing is difficult...it's just a matter of going back and reviewing everything from the semester. Which, weirdly enough, doesn't even seem like that much information as I review it..oh well...moral of the story is that I'm ready to be done with it!

On a more happy note...I picked up the 2nd set of keys to our new apartment. Although the dorms are really nice and if given the opportunity i'd probably stay in them my whole time here....i'm really excited to move to a new place. Hopefully i'll be all packed up by the 17th and move on the 18th.

Back to studying....

Noxolo

Anatomy Shelf

In two days we'll be taking the anatomy shelf exam as our anatomy final. Essentially the shelf is a collection of old USMLE step 1 anatomy questions...should be fun. I have 2 days to study for it so here we go....and only 6 more days until 1st semester is done!

Noxolo

On to the next one, on to the next one

Block 4 grades are up...and i'm happy to say that I have officially passed anatomy (even though we still have the Shelf exam on Friday)! Now it's just a mater of if I honor the class or not. Also, MCB went well and I should be on track to honor that as well pending any major mess up. Even though block 4 was a success I still need to keep it in study mode for another week! I really want to do well on these last 2 tests, the MCB 1 final and anatomy shelf.

So here it goes...

Noxolo

Block 4 is in the books

3 tests between 8am and 12pm and I am finally DONE with block 4! I'm anxious to see how they turn out....I thought MCB was a fair test, anatomy written will be my worst of the semester, and anatomy lab was as expected. By the general consensus from a bunch of people in the class....i'm going to say these will be our lowest class averages yet...! Oh well, I guess we'll see tomorrow!

On a more happy note....i'm taking the rest of the day off from studying! A few of us are going to go grab some lunch (I literally have eggs, frozen veggies, and some chicken and that is ALL), then i'll probably reorganize everything so I can be productive studying for finals. Finally, we have our first semester fundraiser tonight....should be fun.

Noxolo

23 hours and counting

Final day of studying before block 4....of course its beautiful out! Plan for the day...review MCB til noon, take a break for lunch, and then review anatomy until 9 with some potential lab time in there if I feel up to it. It's kind of crazy but these days are some of my most productive since I usually have some pressure.

Here we go...23 hours and counting til block 4!

Noxolo

Why is it that the days that you need to get up early to study you rarely do, but the days you can sleep in you can't? Well....my plan was to get up a few hours ago and start studying....too bad that didn't happen as planned. Oh well, 10 days from now 1st semester will be done with!

Noxolo

Home Stretch

The end of the semester is now right around the corner! The 9th is block 4, the 13th is the Anatomy Shelf exam, and the 17th is the MCB final! Let me tell you, these can not be done soon enough! I'm really not stressing about any of the tests at all. On one hand it feels good because it's less stress, but I really hope it doesn't hurt me in the end. It's kind of funny how much easier it is to understand material when you take away the stress of the situation. When you actually learn to learn instead of learning for tests it all seems to flow a whole lot easier...I might need to adopt this for good?

I know I keep saying that I want to blog more but have yet to really follow through with it...my bad. However, since I just finished a 50 day photo project I know that I can easily take 30min out of my day to post SOMETHING...big or small. So from here til the end of the semester I'm going to post everyday.

Now back to studying?

Noxolo