Day 1871: Happy April 11th!

Yes, it is April 11th. What makes it so special? Uh, hello! 4-1-1. Today is the day I am going to cram information into my petite little brain. (Fuuunn fact, I made up this entire statement but it sounded pretty natural, non?)

Anyhoo, I had a very strange Tuesday (April 10th). I learned stuff in neuroscience, then had to perform my medical interview (have I told you all about this class? It is a class where we have a standardized patient (aka an actor who has a script to follow about their medical symptoms (i.e., back pain) but can act it out however they want (i.e., screaming in pain or just sort make achey-looking-faces)) and we have to interview them...kind of like real life), then was critiqued more than my fellow classmate who also interviewed the same standardized patient/actor (which set me off to a weird mood), then fell asleep in a study room that had the heat blasting, and then woke up in a very strange state. I woke up feeling very very anxious. And generally fuzzy. And completely not with it. I then had to study a tad, then go to Spanish (where I was late because I forgot seventy-five different things) where I was completamente unfocused-ado, then I ate my paltry meal for the day because I have not gone grocery shopping yet this month (paltry = 3 carrots, hummus, greek yogurt + strawberry preserves, SunChips I bought from the vending machine), and then I was still in a weird unfocused mood. After talking to Dannykins, where I was still in a terrible mood, I finally, slowly, near the end of our conversation, got my sh!t together.

So, I bailed on working out because I was feeling sleepy and wanted to get a good night's rest so that I could attack 4/11 with a ton of 4-1-1, and instead, I have found some weird second wind and am still awake. I refuse to thwart this streak of learning, so...I'm not sure what I am going to learn right now but I am going to learn something. I'm sure this will mess with me tomorrow but. BUT! The mind is mightier than the body so I am going to try this willing thing people talk about and I am going to will myself into staying awake/learning/exercising/learning more/not dying from information overload.

Sounds fun, eh?

P.S., this intensity for the Day of Information is because I have exams next week...in case you couldn't figure it out from the sheer everywhere-ness of this post.

OKAY.ILOVEYOUALL.GOODBYE.

P.P.S., expect some picture posts soon. Words are so boring.

Day 1280: Hello, I am a medical student.

I want to tell you about my sleeping tactics. Before most of my block exams (I can't remember, have I described what block exams are? In case I haven't, here it is. Unlike normal undergraduate semesters/quarters, with midterms and quizzes and final exams, we have blocks. Blocks usually range about 3-4 weeks in length. We learn so much information that unless you are in medical school it's hard for me to describe and have you understand fully. The depth and detail with which we are required to regurgitate information is flabbergasting. Anyway, at the end of each block, we have an exam. So, depending on when the professor chooses to end that block, we have exams roughly every three weeks. No, this is not a quiz. This is an exam. That usually runs for three hours. This is no joke.) ... anyway, where was I? Oh yes, sleep.

Before most of my block exams, I am doing one of two things. 1) I am studying in bed and eventually fall asleep with the light on, or 2) I actually choose to sleep the days leading up to the exam instead of learning things late into the night.

I am praying for sleep tonight (before my human development and anatomy exams tomorrow). I studied from, no joke, 11am yesterday (Sunday) to about 2:30? 2:50am(?) this morning. I took one nap from noon to 12:40pm. I went to the anatomy lab to look over some last structures today (/last night) from 12:15am to 1:40am. I came back and got ready for the night (brushed my teeth, washed my face, put on pajamas) and got back into studying. I kept falling asleep on my couch until who-knows-when and decided to actually lie down, take a quick nap and then wake up again to finish drilling this information into my head. I opened my eyes to see it was light outside, which means I fell asleep with the living room light on. I woke up, turned off the light, checked the time (7:49am) and have been awake studying ever since. My desired late-night/all-semi-nighter became Jessica's 5-hour sleep and now I am back into it until I take my lab practical at 1pm today. After that? More learning until my 9am exam tomorrow (AND THEN HOME).

It's official. I am finally a professional student. I have begun to have late nights. Not because I have a deadline (like my parents who have real jobs), but because I have exams (which is sort of like a deadline). I used to sleep on a normal schedule. Now, I just get sleep when I can.

My living room/bedroom/current place of studying-residence