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

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

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

Crunch Time

Block 4 is right around the corner...(2 weeks away)..and I NEED to get in gear! I've been lacking motivation or real incentive to actually hit the books hard this past week. Well, that and being sick isn't really conducive to quality studying. I realize that doing well should be incentive enough to stay on top of my studying, but in reality, I need some pressure to maximize my studying! Plus I just don't feel the information we are covering now is overly difficult....oh well. Hopefully something will click and let me get the ball rolling....tomorrow! That being said, the past few days have been really fun. On Thursday night a bunch of students from my class went and saw Inception in Simpson Bay. First off, it WAS a great movie, however, it was way over hyped for my liking. Yes, I will see it again, and I will buy it when I get back home, however, it was kind of hangover-esque in that everyone said it was amazing so it built up my expectations too much...oh well, still a good movie. Yesterday was another day filled with fun. We first had some pledge class team building at Mullet beach followed by cliff diving! I really wish my ankle wasn't messed up so I could have felt comfortable jumping yesterday...oh well, hopefully we'll go over break! There were 3 heights people jumped from. The first was 15-20 feet, the 2nd was 40 feet, and the 3rd was around 80 feet....crazy. We then had our initiation into the Sigma Chi Mu chapter of Phi Chi followed by dinner and drinks at Khush...it was a blast. I finally made it out to Tantra for the first time last night too. I had a blast but my ears are still ringing!

All in all it's been a real fun past few days. I'm thankful for the good friends I've made here so far. The number one thing to do if you want to be successful in med school is make good friends! Everyone studies, that's a given, but you have to have a release and people to take your mind off of everything.

Now....lets study....well, starting tomorrow!

Noxolo

and here comes the RAIN

For the past few days it has been nothing but bucket loads of rain here...and looking at the forecast, it doesn't look to get any better anytime soon! So for all of you who think that it must be nice to be living in St. Maarten right about now....well, think again! You're only missing out on flooded streets, leaky buildings, and always being wet. At least the beaches and amazing food haven't washed away, yet!

Noxolo

1 month, and 4 days....let the count down begin!

Block 3 is official OVER as of today....with that, Histology is a thing of the past! I managed to do really well in the class, but I won't be sad to no longer have to go to histo lecture! Tomorrow starts another new cycle...but in reality I'm already behind because of anatomy! I think it's time to buckle down, strap in,  and get ready for the last push of this last month or so!

Noxolo

Album of block 3

Riding with the King...Clapton and BB King! Histo is done! We thought we were going to get our grades back on Friday, but I guess we're not getting them until Monday or Tuesday now....don't ask. After another good 10 hours of studying today I will be DONE studying for block 3. Everything is going well so far but there is simply a ton of information! There are over 1300 slides for MCB and Anatomy combined....but if you thrown in all of the tutor slides it's closer to 2000!....I'm just glad histo is done...and knowing that this will all be done 30 hours from now!

On a good note...True Blood, Hung, and Entourage all have new episodes tonight! I was pretty bummed that entourage started 2 weeks ago and then took a week off! Oh well, it'll be a good night cap after a long day of studying!

Noxolo

wait, what happened these past 3 weeks!?

It seems like just last week I was worried about block 2, it came and went, and then I thought I had an eternity before block 3 would be here....wait, block 3 is in a week! These past 3 weeks have absolutely flown by and I have no idea how! I've stayed up on studying...well, for MCB and Anatomy at least! I'm thinking lock down will start tomorrow and i'll be back into the swing of block week...ie lots of studying, little sleeping, eating out...and then some more studying. Oh well I guess, it's all a day in the life.

Also, a good friend of mine is heading off to Ghana in August with Unite for Sight and is trying to raise money for the program. If you are interested in helping out, which I think you SHOULD, here is the link to his page...

Brandon's Unite for Sight Donations

Go check it out, it is a great program, and I'm sure he would appreciate all of the support!

Noxolo

A patient-ish experience

On Saturday our Phi Chi pledge class volunteered in Phillipsburg doing free HIV testing in conjunction with the SXM Aids Foundation. I thought it was a great event and am really glad I had an opportunity to be a part of it. I hope I can continue to work with the foundation in some way shape or form during my time in SXM.

It was a good run

These last few days have been beyond the norm. First, I had my bday, the world cup started, we had block 2 today, and I signed a lease for next semester!

I think block 2 went well, but we'll see after all the grades come back. I realized I got way to comfortable after doing really well on 1st block and found myself slacking on block 2....well, not slacking but just not putting in as much time as I had first block. However, I think having anatomy lab has a big part to do with that. After class from 8-1130 and then lab from 2-5 the last thing I want to do is study for a few more hours!

Oh World Cup!....it's kind of bitter sweet now for the simple fact that if I wasn't here in SXM right now I really wanted to be in South Africa for the world cup! I'm loving every minute here, but some of me really wishes I was back in Cape Town watching some soccer!

Finally....I don't have to worry about housing anymore! After a final run through with our owners we signed! The owners were extremely nice which helped alleviate some worry about signing on for a place that is double any rent I ever paid in MPLS! Arbor Estates is our new home....pool, 24 hour security, 5 min walk to school...what more could I ask for?

My bday was quite uneventful really since we had blocks today....lots of studying....a little USA/England soccer and that's about it! I'm planning on going out to dinner this weekend but we'll see what happens!

I think that's about all for now...back to classes tomorrow! It's only now that I can really appreciate the extra day we had off after block 1!

Noxolo

Nothing new on the home front

A week from now block 2 will be over with and I'll be a happy camper! Until then life=school and school=studying, therefore life=studying?

 This past Sunday we had our first mock anat practical. Essentially the TA's set up a bunch of questions for those in the class that wanted to come in and take a glorified practice test with test conditions. I thought it went well...or it went well for how much studying I had done, but there are obvious gaps that need to get filled this week!

Also, supposedly there was an earthquake here on Sunday? I don't believe it because I didn't feel a thing but I guess you never know!

Back to studying!

Noxolo

1 month down

Believe it or not, I've been in SXM for just over a month! On one hand it seems like it has gone by really fast, yet at the same time I would have sworn it's been a year! My life is made up of school, sleep, a little bit of food, and even less gym time. Since we started anatomy lab it seems like the days just drag on and on. The worst part about lab days is that by the time you are done with classes for the day all you want to do is go home, grab some food, and relax....but that's not an option. Another week and a half until block 2!

Noxolo

and it begins again...

Block 1 is done, grades came out, I did well on all 3 tests so no complaints. I figured this would be the point I would tweak my study habits to accommodate and readjust to what I feel needed to be changed but really...I think ill just keep it the same! It's kind of crazy but block 2 is just around the corner even though we just finished block 1. Oh well, back to studying....every subject, every day!

Noxolo

BLOCK 1 IS DONE

As of about 1130 today...block 1 is done! The morning had some ups and a few downs but time will tell. We got our MCB grades back already...I did pretty well. I'm not really looking forward to getting Embryo back though....time shall tell.

I don't know what i'm more excited for, not having to study for a day and a half, or actually being able to go outside in the beautiful weather instead of just looking at it!

Noxolo