Halfway through the lecture that first day I remember being overcome with as much anxiety that I could ever remember feeling in my life. I knew I had to calm myself down, and I did it by thinking about the only thing I've ever been somewhat good at - golf. I remembered my days as a junior golfer, walking onto the driving range before tournaments and looking at groups of players I was going to compete against. I remember looking at some of the kids very superficially, thinking that for example, because one guy had a white belt that he had to be better than me and that there was no way I could beat him. There would be the kids with the nice clubs or nice clothes and nice bags. No way I could beat them either! In the end though, the only thing I could control was myself. And I knew that if I went out and played my own game and played well that nobody could beat me.
My mentality throughout the year was similar to this. I told myself that if I gave 100% effort and didn't cheat myself, that I would do well. All I could do was take it day by day and work hard. I knew I would have no distractions as I stated in my previous post. All I had to worry about was studying.
And studying is what I did. Our first class was Molecular and Cellular Biology, or MCP for short. This class was a flashback to us SMPs of the biochem we all hated studying for in undergrad. A lot of the class was biochem review, but unfortunately for me I actually had to learn it this time.
It was during the second half of this class that I experienced my first episode of something that would plague myself and many classmates throughout the year - insomnia. Before moving to DC, I had never had a problem sleeping in my life. Now all of a sudden, I didn't sleep for days on end. I dreaded having to go to sleep at night because I knew I was not going to be able to fall asleep. I watched my clock tirelessly as the hours clicked by. Each passing hour brought more stress as I knew I needed sleep in order to study my best the next day. I don't know how I did it, but I somehow survived the second and final test and was rewarded with labor day weekend.
Or so I thought. I caught a cold right before my final, and it lasted throughout the weekend. This was perfect timing as my parents flew into town. They both saw the sites of DC while I emptied out my kleenex boxes in my basement apartment.
My next class, Metabolism Nutrition and Endocrinology (MNE), went by without a hitch. The amount of information I needed to memorize for the class was painful, but it was interesting. I memorized the Krebs cycle for the 18th time. I know it won't be my last, aka Step 1. Dohhhhh. During this class I made a surprise trip home for an interview at Rosalind Franklin University/Chicago Medical School/I don't know what this school is really called. It was great to come home, but they ended up rejecting me after putting me on a post-interview hold for what seemed like forever.
After finishing MNE, I took a road-trip to Richmond, Virginia for another interview, this time at Virginia Commonwealth University. It was my first real big-boy road trip, albeit only a couple hour drive. Richmond was the former capitol of the Confederacy. Cool stuff. I took a picture from my luxurious hotel (thanks for the free breakfast!) and one of the capitol building. The school was cool, but Richmond was BOAT chaos. I was crossing my fingers for something else.
The end of MNE meant the end of our medical classes for the time being. Our next two months would be filled with graduate level classes, which were supposedly going to be a break. We took Medical Immunology and Microbiology (MIM), Principles of Gross Anatomy (PGA), a genetics course (???), and some physiology forum class where we had to read a bit of literature and write a response to a question (a true blow-off class). MIM was not easy. PGA was my worst grade of the year. I barely squeaked by genetics. The classes were not as much of a break as I had hoped, but it was a minor break nonetheless. I did get to watch "The Exorcist" for the first time during this break. It was filmed on Georgetown's campus back before I was born, but it was still creepy. Especially too because I watched it around Halloween, the exact time it took place during the movie. A couple guys fell down these stairs and died in the movie. Ouch. Apparently due to lack of special effects in the 70s, real people had to tumble down these bad boys. Don't worry, they were padded.
Our next class brought as back to the M1s, and they were all very glad to see us (not). Our first day of Cardio-Pulmonary (CP) was the last day before Thanksgiving break. After a nice day with seven hours of lecture, I grabbed my suitcase, took a trip on the Metro to DCA airport, wiped the sweat off my forehead (it was about 65 degrees, very nice!), and headed home. CP was the class we were all warned about, so the trip home would not be as sweet as if I were coming home for summer. Oh well.
In between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I worked as hard as ever knowing that the CP was going to be hard. The truth was that the class itself was not overly difficult. The lectures were all clear and interesting. My test before flying home for Christmas however, was NOT easy. I also flew back home for break knowing that I was going to have to study for my first anatomy practical. Could I just get a break G-town??? Apparently not. I did get to make a cool indian out of marshmallows though. Pretty cool.
I suppose this would be another good time to call it a day. Peace out (Kip).
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