Day 687: A trend

As I'm sure some of you have noticed, 2010 has not been my year for blogging. A lot of it has to do with my feelings of ineptitude, which really aren't that big of a deal. I want to thank those of you who took the time out to check in with me and make sure I wasn't in terrible shape. I'm not. I just needed to get those feelings out there (in the blogosphere) so they wouldn't be in here (points to my stomach). I have to make room for food, not feelings :P

Anyway, to be more true to the subtitle of this blog, things that are happening that are med-school related...

• Still interning. Lately there has been a lull in my duties, which was fine when I had exams but is currently not-so-fine now that I'm feeling rather useless in my life.
  
  
• With the help of the most amazing best friend in the entire universe, I'm going to shadow a physician in the upcoming month(s).
  
  
• I have a new biochem professor who I liken to the devil. She is very different from my first professor (who went and had a baby boy) and not in a good way. She's rather Socratic about her teaching style, asking the students lots of questions and expecting responses, which works for liberal arts subjects but not for science. We're not a chatty class, so I don't enjoy wasting time waiting for someone to answer, then having students guess incorrectly, then have Professor #2 pseudo-admonish us for guessing/not-knowing, then she moves on, and then the entire cycle repeats itself. She's going to be a, pardon my French, hard-ass, which sucks because Professor #1 was the most laid-back professor ever. So, all in all, crappy change.

I have more to say, but I feel like this post is text-heavy as it is. I'll save it for another post and try to be as regular about updating as I have been in the past.

Day 465: I am so mad I could...

...do something mean. Or bad. Or both.

I went to a make-up MCAT-class. I will not be attending the last class since it is the day before my actual MCAT so I needed to make it up. Well, let me tell you, it was the worst 2.5 hours of my life. The teacher was crude and rude and completely incompetent. I could give care less if you're a post-doc student at Stanford. You're a terrible freaking teacher.

So, today, I am still pissed/annoyed and now I have to relearn the entire lecture. It also doesn't help that he taught me everything incorrectly and now I have to back-track and compare if what he told me agrees with the text (it usually doesn't) and ... UGH! I wish I could express how livid I am. I have less than a week to go and this is the last thing I need -- a ridiculously awkward-wannabe-cool-Asian loser who may be actually be intelligent but it's difficult to see past his vulgar, uninspiring, completely pitiful teaching. As a result, I have to lose precious studying/homework time to relearn the material he so improperly taught.

Day 300: Exam Results and Physics Frustrations

Exam results. I did well in Organic (not quite perfect but close) so that was good. Talked with Dr. Red about my test and we just chatted for a bit. It was nice.

So my low A in Physics? Uhh, apparently there were only 8 A's in the entire class. Here's the breakdown:

• 90 - 99 : 8
• 80 - 89 : 23
• 70 - 79 : 33
• 60 - 69 : 23
• 60 > : 10

So, with only 8 A's. I'll take it. Honestly, Physics is becoming extremely frustrating because, for this last exam, I did at least 75% of the odd problems for each chapter. I did the practice test. I went over the results/answers and figured out what I did wrong. I proceeded to study the parts of the practice test I didn't understand (concepts, problem solving, et al). And I didn't have much to show for it.

I'm completely sure that my professor just throws all the exams up in the air and decides what the curve will be from there. Seriously! The curves he comes with are, pardon the pun, real curve balls. He's all about standard deviation...which is really freaking annoying.

A possible standard deviation equation
(umm...okay...)

He uses different curves for each exam to create said standard deviation. It's just a guessing game because none of the points correlate with anything that makes sense.

Anyhoo, the first real school week in two weeks. Getting slowly back into it. It was a decent way to start off the week though (doing decently on two exams). Hopefully I'll ace my physiology quiz on Friday 'cause I need to. The heart. Pump, thump, pump. It's pretty cool how it works. I'll give y'all some fun facts in the next entry. With pictures, I promise.

Day 258: Go Steelers Go!

Why am I rooting for the Steelers?

Well, my old roommate is from the 'Burgh. And I love her. So there's that. And my awesome Organic professor, Dr. Red, is from there and he just wrote my recommendations for my summer applications. And he's also writing my recommendations for medical school. Oh, and he's adding 5 points to every student's exam (coming up next week) if the Steelers win. So, like I said,

GO STEELERS GO!

Let's see, what else is there? I'm still helping those girls with Physics I. It's a great refresher so I don't mind. And we had a pseudo-dinner party last night before we studied so that was cute. Oh my gosh, one of the girls is half-Vietnamese-half-Chinese and she brought over homemade egg rolls! I asked her (this is for my family) if she could me some Lotus Root Salad (which is the most delicious and refreshing dish ever!) and she told me her mom knows how but she doesn't. I told her that to repay me for my Physics help, she should get it together and get me some Lotus Root Salad!

Lotus Root Salad

And for those of you that don't know, I have a library boyfriend. He works in the library so I see him quite a bit. We don't usually speak. We just make googley-eyes at each other. I think we're in love ;) But I'm telling you this story because we spoke the other day! He's got a great voice. I think we're going to fall in love (for real) soon. haha, totally just kidding.

Lastly, SIP for Chem 1 is going well. Except for the fact that the class is so full that I have to sit at the front. And I don't mean the front seat. I mean I sit below the projection screen so the class sees the notes and me writing down the notes.

This is not how our classroom is set up, necessarily, but the point is, I'm sitting below the shoe basically. So that's fun. I don't mind, I just want a real desk to write on, instead of my lap.

So that's all.

GO STEELERS GO!

Day 200: More tests (ridiculous), finals and blood!

Hello hello!

I am so close to the end, I can taste it. It tastes like sweet victory, hard work and sheer joy. Well, sort of, haha.

There has been a lot of Physics drama in the past three days and here is what went down. Apparently, the test printed funny and all the correct answers were lighter (in color) than the other options (it was a multiple choice test). Some kids figured it out and whispered the knowledge to their friends and thus cheating ensued. As a result, Professor Oldy McOld has decided to issue a retest on Monday 12/8. ...did I forget to mention that our final is on Wednesday 12/10? Oh yeah. So there's that.

Class was a vicious environment on Friday -- filled with seething students and an unappreciated professor and you can only imagine the sort of bickering and back-and-forth cattiness that occurred. It was not good.

The moral of the story is, shut up, stop whining and study. I'm not happy about taking another test (so close to the final no less) but instead of whining I am going to study more concepts and make sure I've got the math down. What else can I do? Bitch and moan some more. Yawn.

My Organic exam can go either way. It's fine though. As previously mentioned, we can drop an exam and even though I hate that mentality ("I can drop a test so this last one doesn't matter"), I did study hard and whatnot but if it goes the bad way ... well ... I can drop it. How begrudging of me.

Finals next week include Physics on Wednesday and Biology on Thursday. Then it's Organic on Monday 12/15 and then HOME ON THE 17TH. I'm a little excited and antsy. Can you tell?

And on a joyous note, I gave blood today! Whee second time! Let me just tell you, that is a big needle. And I have an excellent iron count. Yes!

Day 144: Test results...sort of

I think I just realized how boring this must be for all of you. Tests, studying, blah blah blah. I'll try and be better about making it more personal without laying all my goods out. Sound like a plan?

Anyhoo, the Organic exam was good. I have no idea how I did because there's always the inevitability of human error but I felt prepared. I've finally decided how this professors tests. Most professors have you read the book, do problems and ta-da! You know it. When you walk into the test, you've seen it all before. That is not the case with this guy...let's call him Professor Steeler (he's from the Pittsburgh area). He truly tests you on concepts. Reading and doing problems won't cut it. You need to actually understand what is happening in the reaction and why the nucleophile attacks the electrophile and whatnot because come test day, he will throw you a curve ball. And if you're a good hitter, you'll be able to tweak your ability (in this case Organic Chemistry knowledge) to hit the ball (answer the question).

The Physics lab test went fine. He actually tested us on Labs 1, 2 and 3 (instead of only 1 & 2). Therefore, upon his mistake, we have to have another test this week. There is one nice caveat though. He called out some students' names after the test and said "If I called your name, you got above a 90 so you can decide whether or not to take the test next week. If you don't, I will just count this grade as your first test grade." ...he called my name, so that was nice. I don't foresee me taking the test next week since I need to study for my Biology exam on Thursday.

Ooh! Here's something personal...I'm off to New York next weekend! We have a fall break and I think I need to get my butt out of town for a few days to clear my head and not be here basically. It's nothing bad but it'll be a nice break. I get to eat good food and see my wonderful friends and just be in a city that thrives and where I don't fear for my life when it gets dark out (only half-kidding).

So this week, get through it. Study for Biology. The end.

Day 115: Studying for tests

I'm always wary of posting test dates because then my loquacious father always finds the need to bolster my study habits. Before you start, I'm studying. Already. So chill out.

Anyway, I've got two tests next week (Biology and Organic) and then Physics the week after. I'm going to ace all of them (and I say that sans cockiness but with craploads of studying to back up my knowledge train). Biology's just going to be a lot of memorization and it's a scantron test. Which I had to buy myself. I think going to a private school spoiled me to amenities such as provided scantrons and Blue Books. Organic doesn't seem too bad but I have to get my act together and a) actually buy myself a molecule set and b) practice Newman projections.

Eclipsed v. Staggered Conformations

B is interconnected to A so I think I need to just suck it up and buy it. I'm annoyed because mon nouveau ami Kevin won't just lend me his molecule set for a freaking week. Boys are so stupid.

Anyway, I hate physics. It is the bane of my existence and every day I walk into class, my soul dies a little. I am not exaggerating. This professor is the poster child for what not to do as a professor/old person. I am not kidding. He will fill an entire white-erase board with numbers and calculations and then look at it and forget a) everything he's done or b) what he was looking for. And I hate the book so I'm not learning well from that sucker either. I think I'm going to sell it and buy another more resourceful book. Maybe. I say a lot of things in theory while my implementation is only so-so.

I love SIP. I am SO glad I chose to do it. All the pros override the cons I was holding about this decision. SIP leader-wise, I've met a gaggle of wonderful people. SIP leading/session-wise, I'm lucky and have at least two people per session. I'm learning a lot of names and meeting a lot of people and it's going well. I hope to be a good leader and/or motivator to get them to do well and succeed. In general, I'm working on perfecting the SIP leading technique and I'm expecting more people per session in lieu of the upcoming test on 9/25.

I do apologize for not blogging enough but I'm working on it. I'll blog more next week post-(each?)tests to keep you all in the loop.

Day 103: The first weekend of the fall

It's labor day weekend and I'm hanging out with my boyfriends -- Biology, Physics and Organic Chemistry. I've gotta tell you, it's been a scintillating weekend. (Note the sarcasm)

However, more 411 on my classes.

Biology is going to be a little dry? Slow? The professor's the cutest woman you'll ever see but we're moving pretty slow but I think things will pick up eventually.

Physics sucks more than a vampire. The professor is old and scatterbrained and generally sucks. Nick hated him so much he's taking Physics at another university. (Yeah, he's that awful.) I'm dealing though. Class is only 50 minutes, 3 times a week so I just sit there and do Physics problems because that's going to be the only way to ingrain the concepts and formulas into my brain.

Organic is great. I was really worried about the professor but he's incredibly direct and organized and you all know how much I love me some organization. I'm currently doing book problems and am somewhat impressed with my drawing and naming abilities.

2,4-dimethylhexane anyone?

Mmm, my SIP course (Chemistry II) is going well. A friend from SIP (let's call him Kevin) is in that class and he's the best. He's actually way too smart to be there and we just pal around during class and it's good. A student asked me a question on Thursday and I felt all smart and appreciated and wanted. As Kevin joked, "it sounds like you almost knew what you were talking about." Which I did. I also did give her a little misdirection which I will correct when I see her Tuesday.

Day 099: A Quick Update

I've had just about all of my classes (including my SIP class!) and things are looking good. Good meaning I have a lot of work and I'm going to have to figure out how to study for numerous subjects rather than just one but I'm glad I'm getting closer to this whole doctor bit. Physics seems fine enough (we'll see how he is again today). I really like my Organic and Biology professors -- they've got their acts together so that's good. And good ol' Burnsy (my Chem II professor) is the same ol' same ol'. I'm glad he's my SIP Academic whatever-his-title-is ... we get along. And he pretty much knows he's writing my letter of recommendation to med school so that's sweet too.


In other news, I'm thinking about doing an internship? We'll see how much time I have and how well it pans out. It's not looking like too big a commitment but it is going to be cumbersome in regards to driving to and from but again, I don't really know. Never mind, apparently, it's highly sensitive and I may not be right for it. Oh well, let's see if there's something else I can try :)

There's a big storm in North Kakalaky right now so I haven't walked to school in a few days and instead have been late when people have given me rides. Ironic, I know.

Day 097: The first day of the fall semester

Today wasn't bad. I had Physics, Organic and (hopefully, if I can add it) Bio lab.

Nick is not a fan of our Physics teacher. He calls him "Grandpa". He's got a southern, old, white Grandpa feel to him and that would be okay if he didn't seem rather, well, decrepit. Not physically, but mentally.

Huh? What?

He doesn't seem all there and I don't want to make him sound loosey-goosey so much as just ... not having all his marbles. He doesn't come with prepared notes to class and just writes whatever on the board and, quite a defection from my Chem 2 professor.

Organic was good. I was incredibly wary about the professor because his Rate My Professor ratings were not so hot. However, an SIP co-worker/friend said he was pretty chill and class was ... direct. Which I appreciated. He has an aversion to cell phones ringing in class and cheating (good things). He was a drop-a-test policy (also good). Class is only fifty minutes, four times a week and Nick (who sat in with me even though he's in another section) was wary about 50-minute tests (he needs all the time he can get, plus some) ... I think it'll be good. I'm hopeful. Here's to hoping my hope doesn't die :P

Lastly, Bio lab was wasteful. They had an assessment test at the end of lab today and let me tell you, I was pretty pitiful. They asked questions about xylems and phloems and carnivores and haploids and meiosis and yeah, it was bad news. They said it wasn't graded and whatnot but I realized I'm going to be paying lots of attention during Bio :)

And that is all. I hope you all enjoyed this scintillating recollection of today's classes. ;)

Oh, I also manned the SIP booth for a little and that was enjoyable. I'm really liking the program and the people and am extremely glad I decided to do it.

Day 058: The second test results and lab info

We got our tests back today and I did fine. An A for those of you that are wondering so, again, fine. I missed this question that was obvious but my brain was malfunctioning and switched the concepts/ideas (bonds forming = exothermic, bonds breaking = endothermic) and got the problem wrong. However, that was the only problem I got wrong so there's not much to complain about.

I really am terribly sorry I don't blog as much. I've realized that lecture and its accompanied homework/practice problems are not what's keeping me busy. It's lab. Let me fill you in on the 411...

Lab is worth one credit. Class/lecture is worth three credits. However, I swear to you, I am spending more than 50% of my time every single day working on lab. The lab reports are waayyyy more involved than they should be and they take forever and a half because reports are the only grades you can get and it's just ridiculous!

Par example, we have a (formal) proposal due in Monday for lab. A proposal! We don't even know what we're doing half the time (because lab rarely correlates with lecture and we're doing stuff because they tell us to -- nothing conceptual and nothing really gets taught) so you somehow expect us to create a proposal? And of course they're freaking scientists so they don't tell you length or any of that crap. Here's how you source, look here, go! ...UGH.

Basically, lab is consuming my life and it sucks.

On another note, I really like my professors/instructors this session. I like how methodical my lecture professor is and he's really helpful and succinct and organized and methodical and basically all things one wants in a professor.

The wand is just for effect. It's all in the chemistry.

He's so cute, he makes these dorky chem jokes and then he laughs at them and my friends make fun of his laugh because its a little bit like a bark and a little bit like Butthead's laugh (or is it Beavis? I never watched the show, thank goodness) from "Beavis and Butthead". An awful show and an awful reference but its the truest one there is. My only true critique would be that he has a very monotone voice so its easy to not pay attention and realize you missed a chunk of something. My lab instructor is so much more organized and actually teaches in pre-lab so we're not going in blind (like we did most days in Summer Session I). She's really friendly and she knows my friends and I 'cause we work and study hard and ask her for help on lab reports so she knows what's up.

I know this is long but I thought I should get everything in while I have time and it's still fresh on the mind. I'm serious guys, all I eat, live and breathe is chemistry right now.

Day 051: Tests, labs, and such

Hey everyone,

I know it's been awhile but this new schedule is pretty intense. I'm up at 6:15-6:30 every morning. I have class from 8am to roughly 1pm (depending how long lab runs). Then I study until ... oh, evening time ... 6? 7? 8? Then I come home, work out, watch some TV to destress and then sleep. And then I do that again. And again.

We got our test results back on Tuesday. I did fine...an A so I'm happy. It's been good to take his tests (which are quite fair) and also see how he grades (also fair -- when he takes off points, he tells you why). We have another test on Monday (happy birthday Mom! Happy Bastille Day!) which is going to be calculation-heavy -- enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs Free Energy, in case you were wondering -- and then more learning. Coming up, we have two tests the week after that and then the last week of class. Whew! This has been quite a sprint!

The labs are fine. They're a bit cumbersome at times (both the procedure/performing the lab and also the lab reports) but I like that this time around, everyone seems much more organized. Which is always, always welcome.

Anyway, I should probably get back to studying/doing my labs. Thought I'd (finally) drop a line!

Day 045: The first test of Chem II and a freak out

I had my first test yesterday.

It was an extremely fair test. If you understood the material, you were pretty much set. He also offers extra points on test (as a way of getting extra credit) and I think I nailed that so I know that I at least got five points out of a hundred. Yes! Anyway, I think I did okay. We'll have to see how he grades but I feel like I prepared properly (studying, practice problems, etc) so, yeah.

Labs have been going fine. I like that this instructor has her stuff together. She preps thoroughly during pre-lab so that most of the time we get a good sense of what we're getting ourselves into. Do we know why we're doing such and such lab or how it correlates or any of that? No. But that's okay, at least we're doing it with some instruction.

In other news, I had a minor freak out the other day when we were learning about hybridization (it has to do with how electrons of different atoms bond together) because I didn't get it right away and the professor zoomed past it like he was in a sports car on the 17-mile drive. I was freaking out.

How carbon and hydrogen electrons form methane (riveting, I know)

Thank goodness for the Fantastic Four. Chris helped me figure it out and Michael (bless his heart) was trying to help me but he has a way of teaching in a demeaning tone sometimes so I was pretty frank with him when he was "teaching" me. "Michael, I know you want to help but you like to tell me everything I don't need to know about things and right now, I just really need to understand what's going on with all this orbital hybridization, ok?"

After two hours, I finally had a grasp on it. Luckily, I had Tuesday and Wednesday to solidify the material before our test yesterday and I gotta say, I finally get it. It is always, always a gratifying experience to overcome a mental block on stuff so yay hybridization!

Day 037: The end of Chem I! (My one day off)

Today I hung out with the "post-bacc party" as Chris deems it. It was nice to relax and not worry about chemistry.

Ahh, lovely.

However, the fun is over so fast because Chem II starts bright and early tomorrow morning at 8am. Yes, A-M.

Anyway, this professor really has his stuff together. He's already put up everything I could possibly ask for on Blackboard -- syllabus, notes, practice problems, everything. Michael and I have decided he's going to be tough but it'll be a wonderful, organized, structured tough.

We are done with Shazam. I didn't like him, then I liked him and near the end I decided I don't really like him. Every day was an adventure in chemistry. Would we cover valence electrons? Would we make it through electron configurations? What exactly is happening for the final? Lots of questions that any good professor should have answers to. (He didn't.)

And of course, test and quiz days were always fun. The post-bacc party ultimately figured out how he tested. ...badly. He would mention something for literally four seconds and expect us to a) grasp the material and b) memorize it. Then he would put in on the test/quiz and make it worth an absurd amount of points. It doesn't matter that he spent 45 minutes on electron configurations. He wants you to remember nodes and degenerate orbitals and blah blah blah. Thank goodness the madness is over. And good riddance.

However, I made an A (unless he scales funny). In both Shazam's class and the Bobblehead's lab.

It's gratifying to know that all my hard work pays off (especially when presented with two really weird and not-that-great professors). It's also wonderful to go on to an MD on the right track.

Day 021: The second test and then some

This test was quite a doozy. It was a lot of information to deal with and regurgitate and all that good fun but it went fine. I made an annoying multiple choice error and those are pretty much you know it or you don't. And it was a toss-up between B or C and of course I picked the wrong one. Bah! Overall, I think I got the rest of them so we'll wait and see.

I had a meltdown in lab today because my California lab partner (let's call him Chris) and I screwed up. We fixed it, eventually, but I was having a serious panic attack because there's a difference between slight error and huge f-up, you know? Luckily things worked out in the end.

This is the perfect segue into how much the Enforcer sucks.

Hmm, I wonder how many significant figures are in the word "soup"?

She's a despot about stupid pointless crap (like maintaining significant figures) and so I did fine on the first lab and so-so on the second. Since labs are all I have ... well, now I need to talk to that bobbing idiot to make sure I have my reports together. So, in case I haven't actually stated it, she sucks. And I do not like her. However, one must triumph and prevail and whatever crap people say when life throws you really annoying curve balls.

I made another post-bacc friend, Michael. He's also from North Carolina, married with kids, and he's going to be a dentist. He's great because we're kind of on the same scientific memorization (or whatever you want to call it) level so it's good to work with him because we keep each other in check. All in all, I'm feeling good about my post-bacc friendships and new study circle :)

Day 014: Infrared Spectroscopy

Today was an awfully long day.

We did a "dry" (read: no chemicals) lab today and it was the longest lab ever. It was annoying and slow and, in typical "Enforcer" fashion, had nothing to do with what we've been learning.

If I could convey the sheer and utter absurdity of figuring out stuff you've never actually read about ... it's pretty freaking bad. That and figuring out Lewis structures for isomers (I don't even know what that means) you've never heard of and couldn't even pretend to draw ... well, again, completely useless.

The Lewis structure for ethanol

I wish we could do things in order so they coalesced instead of divided.

Dear Summer Session Professors,

Please communicate with each other so that know what the hell we're doing and we can actually, gosh, learn. I know. It's a completely crazy idea. Who would have thunk right?

Thanks.

Love,
Jessica

Day 010: Professor and "Enforcer" thoughts

I don't like either of my instructors very much.

The shouting Middle Eastern man continues to shout and be rude and rather douche-y. The bobbing lab "enforcer" is really not kidding when she tells us "I am not supposed to teach you. I am to enforce what you've learned."

Why you ask?

Well, when she was teaching us valence electrons, electron bonds, Lewis structures and the like, she taught us the wrong thing! Can you believe that?!

The yellow circles are the valence electrons

She had to come to each of our lab sections to direct us to a page in the book that told us the correct information because she "misspoke" during pre-lab. What. The. Hell.

Although if I had to pick, I maybe like her a sliver better than the yelling man. Truthfully, I'm just thankful for a lab partner I can joke around with, some class eye candy and chemistry book that actually makes sense and doesn't shout at me.

Day 003: My first real lab

NOTE: I won't update every day, I feel like that might be too boring. Is it? I may just, it'll provide me with something to do. Let's see how it goes.

-----------------------------

Today was our first real lab. It was really odd because the instructor didn't go over any of the procedure stating "I feel like it really dumbs down the student and the process." Um, ok. Well, it doesn't help us when the procedure isn't written clearly (say in numerical steps) and then you proceed to get terse with my lab partner because he didn't follow the instructions you didn't give.

I can just tell she's going to be a handful. A whole bobbing handful.

Overall, the lab was fine. Density, water displacement, unknown matter, you know, typical chemistry stuff.

Class was fine. The professor STILL SHOUTS.

I'm sitting ten feet away from you. Not ten million.

He's actually a little mean. He enjoys asking students questions, such as "when you lose an electron, the atom becomes an anion right?" And then when they nod in response, he smiles/laughs because he tricked you. (The answer's actually a cation.) He likes to trick students to see if they're paying attention or just nodding to get rid of him. Mm, I don't find it that amusing. It's kind of a waste of time to be honest.

Day 002: First day of Chem lab

So the snippy lab instructor? ...she's weird. And she has the handwriting of a five-year-old. And her head bobs around a lot.

And when she looks at things on paper, she literally holds the page an inch away from her nose. ...um, yeah.

Anyway, the first day of lab was fine. Nothing to extraordinary, which is good. I found a lab partner -- another post-bacc kid from California! However, as I pointed out to him, "you're accomplished [he recently published his master's thesis and is getting a research assistant back in Cali while he studies here in North Carolina] and I'm eating an apple [which I was]."

This is good. I was worried I was going to have to make lab partners with this other kid I met who just needs to pass Chem ... not a good mix when I'm trying to get into medical school.

Most of my lecture was spent learning conversions -- grams to kilograms and back again, et cetera, et cetera. My nouveau lab partner and I couldn't believe it. It's really not that hard. Maybe the professor wanted to make it clear or ...? I'm not sure. I zoned out so he wouldn't confuse me.

My lecture professor definitely shouts all the time. I don't think he understands decibels or inside v. outside voices. Well, maybe he does. But his lecturing voice is more like a shouting voice. It gets annoying pretty fast.

Day 001: The first day of class

Well, I survived. It wasn't even that bad. My lecture professor is a Middle Eastern guy who has this tendency to shout ... all the time. He's fairly amusing and jokes a lot but is serious about teaching us chemistry. For example, he told us, "I don't give pop quizzes. Instead, I say we may or may not have a quiz everyday." (insert class laughter here) So, we'll see how it all goes.

Currently, I understand the material (always, always good) and it's essentially a review phase. The lovely chemistry book I showed you in the last entry is succinct and clear (which makes for easier learning and memorization). Sadly, the person who owned this book before me sucked at highlighting. She focused on all the wrong points. And trust me, they are wrong.

Oh, and my class? There are, I think, two Asians. The other girl and me. There may be more. But I think out of a class of 50-60, and with maybe five Asians tops, things are looking okay. My mom pointed out that white people are smart too so yeah, she's got that part right, but whatever. Not a million Asians.

However, a lot of my class wants to go to medical or dental school so that's troublesome.

How many of you want to go to medical school?

They all want and need good grades too. I comforted myself with the fact that they're all probably trying to get into Duke or some place else in state but then I realized that doesn't matter. They need the A as much as I do and, well, despite the lack of Asians, I guess I'm screwed. Again. Dammit.

Anyway, today I have my first lab. I e-mailed the instructor beforehand about the handouts she had on Blackboard and she was pretty snippy in her reply. We're going over lab policies and safety procedures and all the other handouts she expects us to preprint before class because she's not providing any in class. Ugh. Ho-bag.