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It Snowed!

YAY!

I am glad it snowed, even though I was not nearly as productive today as I would have been if it did not snow. It is beautiful outside and it snowed basically all day long. I went over to Jessica and Sierra's apartment to "study." We took a nice study break around 2:15 and went to walk around the cemetery. We had a snowball fight and took lots of pictures. I made several snow angles. We attempted to sled down the hill at their apartment with Rubbermaid cartons/lids, and garbage bags. The latter worked somewhat well for Sierra, but not really for me. And we made SNOW CREAM! It was yummy!

I love playing in the snow because I feel like a kid again!

And I must say, it is much more majestic driving around and seeing snow in the mountains than it is in Wilmington, Greenville, or Raleigh, NC.


All of us having fun in the snow!

Make-shift "sledding."

Another attempt at "sledding." One of my snow angles.

Making snow cream.

Just something pretty to look at!

SNOW!?!?

I cannot believe I am about to "say" this....

"I hope it does NOT snow tomorrow." Why? Because I really need to study (I know, I am a nerd), but if it snows, I will not want to study because I will want to play. I am in the mountains. I can go sledding for the first time of my life/memory. If there is good snow, I can build a snowman and have snowball fights. These things are all very distracting from the studying I must do.

Therefore, I wish that it will NOT snow tomorrow.

The End.

Block II

It has been a while, so I thought I would update. Block 2 is going well so far. We have had our first round of tests and I got to go home for Thanksgiving! YAY! It was great to be home and see family, even though I did have to study some while I was there.

Unfortunately, we are pretty much teaching ourselves pathology, which i think is a very important course, and I would like to have a professor for that instead of a bunch of 20+ page printouts each week.

Anyway, like I said, classes are going well so far this block in just a few weeks we have Christmas Break!!!! We have a week of testing before break, which is nice because it means we do not have to study for an exam while we are home.

After Christmas, it is just three more weeks of class, a week of exams, and the end of Block 2.

I think I am going to go to Chicago for break to visit my cousins, and enjoy the Windy City. It will be a nice change of pace.

In the meantime, during my free time that is, I am studying Spanish with Rosetta Stone. I decided it would be good for me to learn since I plan on going on mission trips with the school to Central America, spending one of my rotations in Honduras, and just working in America in most hospitals means that you are going to run into a lot of people who speak Spanish and not English.

Hopefully, this will make me comfortable with the language and be worthwhile.

Well, it is time to get back to Pharmacology and Pathology....I cannot wait for Christmas!

White Coat and Commissioning

Well, last Sunday I received my first White Coat at a wonderful White Coat Ceremony. I was so glad that my family (mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and grandmother) were all able to come celebrate this milestone with me.

We had a great speaker, Dr. Anderson, give the key note address. He was very inspiring, and we even received an autographed copy of his book after the ceremony.

Not only did we get a White Coat and Dr. Anderson's book, but we also received engraved stethoscopes and a "Humanism in Medicine" pin. It was definitely and exciting day, full of gifts and inspiration to continue on this pathway.

In addition to the White Coat Ceremony, everything finally came through for the Navy Scholarship, so I am driving to Raleigh, NC tomorrow to get commissioned. I am very excited to be able to serve my country in this way, and look forward to the opportunities that come with the experiences I am sure to have in the Navy.

Most likely, I will be spending my summer in Rhode Island in Officer Training, which is going to be an experience in and of itself (one I probably need to prepare for, physically, ahead of time).

(Pictures of both to come soon.)

Juxtaposition

I just got back from The Lyric Theathre for a Juxtaposition concert with some friends. Juxtaposition is the all male acapella group at Virginia Tech. The group has a lot of fun with each other and their songs. It makes it extremely entertaining for the audience. I really enjoyed it, and it was a great way to end the week.

I passed!

I have passed Block 1 and I am now preparing for Block 2. This weekend is my White Coat Ceremony. I cannot wait. Grammy, Mom, Dad, Rebecca, and Joel are all coming to celebrate with me!

Break was a little bittersweet because I was not able to go home, but thankfully Thanksgiving is coming soon! I will go home then and have a wonderful break.

Things have finally come through for my Navy Scholarship and I will probably be getting commissioned next week. I did not think this was going to happen and was making alternate plans, but I am glad it finally did. I look forward to serving my country in this way.

Well, for now, I am off to rest. It will be a busy weekend.

Pumpkin Goodness!

I am taking a quick study break to update on all things pumpkin!

I thought I wrote a post about going to the pumpkin patch, but I just realized that I never did. So... a few weekends ago I went to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins for pies. I went to the patch, instead of somewhere like Walmart, because I wanted to see what the selection was like and I wanted to take fun picutres. However, the pumpkin patch I went to had very little selection. It was so much smaller than Wesley's. On the other hand, it did have corn mazes and hay rides, etc. I had fun though, and took several pictures.

That evening, I scooped out all of the pumpkin guts and seeds, and cooked and scooped out the meat to prepare for making pumpkin goodies! I also made the seeds that night. It was a very busy evening! :)

(Unfortunately, I forgot to chronical my pumpkin making adventures with photographs.)

A few days later, I made pumpkin pie! Yummy! Jessica came over and make the crust because she said I was not allowed you use a store bought crust. Then we had a study session.

Soon, I plan on making more pie and some yummy pumpkin muffins.

Did I mention, I love all things pumpkin!

Finally

I finally passed a Microbiology exam. I go into the exams every time feeling like I understand the material. I never feel like I know everything, there is too much information to learn everything for 9 exams in one day. However, I do feel like I know enough to at the very least pass. It has been very frustrating, but finally, I have passed my micro exam.

This week is going to be full of studying as next week is a full week of exams. Then, provided I pass all of my courses this block, I get a week long break!!! I cannot wait, and I definitely need this break.

At the end of the break is our White Coat Ceremony, another very exciting moment my medical school career.

Well, for now I need to get back to studying because I am determined to pass all of my courses, and am trying to do much better than passing.



P.S. There are baby sheep, baby cows, and baby horses in the pastures now! I have tried to get pictures, but they keep moving the babies due to problems with the fencing. I tried to go this evening, but it was too dark to get good pictures. Hopefully, I will have new pictures soon!

My First Delivery!

I delivered a baby today! It was an amazing experience. Well, maybe not as miraculous as most I delivered a baby from a computer simulated pregnant woman named Noelle. It was very neat though. Noelle is completely controlled by a computer and many scenarios can be run on her. We, however, just did a normal, uncomplicated birth. You have to guide the baby out, just like in a real birth, the only difference is that there is never a breached birth. The mechanism that pushes out the baby only attaches in one way, so the baby is always in the ideal position. The umbilical cord, however, can be wrapped around the baby's neck, so you have to check for that possiblity.

We learned about various methods of dating the pregnancy and determining fetal position. Noelle's belly does not really allow for palpation of the baby, so we hid the baby under a blanket to practice Leopold's maneuvers. We also learned how to determine how far dialated the mother is and about stages of labor. It was a very good session because there was only about 10 students in the session.

I hope that the simulations become a bigger part of our ciriculum and I think it will later in the year and during next year.

Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket

Or don't put all your time into one exam. Because then when you do badly in all the others and find that you did not even do well in the one exam you put tons of time into studying, it is a much worse feeling.

This set of exams went horribly. It looks like I will be sticking around Blacksburg during the week of break for remediation. :.(

Hopefully, that expectation will not come true, but I don't want to make any plans for my week off now.

This week and next, I will be spending a lot of time studying and trying to commit equal time to each topic so that I can do well on the next set of exams.

I promise, I KNOW VIROLOGY!!!! That test was not an accurate measurement of my knowledge. I am not very happy about it. But I know God will use this experience and the experience of this entire Block 1 in some way. I just want to get through it, pass, and get my White Coat....

Week 7

I had a lot of trouble concentrating this week. I was very worried about Micro, and spending most of my time on it instead of spreading time to everything. This weekend, however, has been very productive. Friday night I studied all of the courses that did not have many lectures or I felt would be quick to get throug. Yesterday, Jessica and Sierra came over to study Pharm and Micro. We spent most of the time from 10 AM to 4:30 PM studying Micro (took a break for lunch and later a quick walk down by the pastures). Then we started studying Pharm until about 6:30 PM when Raj came over to study Biochemistry.
This morning, I finished reviewing Ethics and Pharm then I went to church at Blacksburg Christian Fellowship. It was a much needed break and I absolutely loved the service. I just have to see what types of things they have for me to plug into and I might have found my new church home!
When I got home, I had a quick lunch, and finished up Biochemistry. After Biochem, I went for a run/walk down through the pastures again. I love running there! I cannot wait until my endurance builds up in this higher altitude. I am running further every time, but I still have a long way to go to get even where I was over the last few years in Raleigh (which was not far or fast). On my run today I saw some hunger donkey, birds playing leap frog, and some tuckered out sheep. :-) I have reviewed Nutrition again, and I am about to look at Micro one more time. I think I have everything covered, and I am ready to go ace Micro! :)

Hopefully, these exams will all go well!

Week 6

Well, I put a lot more time into studying for the exam this past weekend, and there was improvement in several courses. However, there were still some courses that I did not do very well in, and one in particular that needs vast improvement. I have spent time this week talking to the professors in this course about advice for studying for their course. Hopefully, these techniques will prove successful on the next exam.

The block is half over. It is hard to believe that in a few weeks we will be having our White Coat Ceremony.

This weekend, Morgan came to visit!! :) It was great to have her here, but unfortunately it meant I did not get much studying done, and it would have been a great studying weekend. Oh well, I definitely needed friend time and I was great to spend it with Morgan!

We went to the movies, and to Jefferson National Forest and walked around the pond. We had plans to go to Roanoke, but we never went, it was a nasty, raining weekend, so we decided just to stay in Blacksburg instead. I did show her all of my "backyard" animals! :)

Weeks 4 and 5

Well, last week I found out that I did not do as well as I hoped on several of my first medical school exams. The first round is over, and tomorrow is the second round of exams. I have been studying almost non-stop since I got my grades back, hoping to do much better on these exams. Tomorrow is the Block 1 Pathology Final Exam, and we have five other exams. The good thing is....we are done by noon!!!

This weekend I studied a lot with Brittany. It was really good to have another human being in the room whlie studying. For the most part, we were very productive while together, though we did of course get off on some interesting tangents. Yesterday we went to Jefferson National Forest and studied outside for a little while. It was very nice to get out, and quite relaxing.

Today, I finished going through my notes around 5:15 P.M. and went out for a run through the pastures. I have no idea how far I went, but I turned around when I saw a hawk fly away with a very large mouse....at that point I figured I was too far out in the country for today, though it was absolutely beautiful! I even met Eeyore (or some of his family) while out on my run this evening!

It has been a very relaxing evening. I am glad to have the time to give my brain a rest before the exams tomorrow. I only pray that I have learned enough and do well on the exams.

Thank you Lord, for your beautiful, amazing creations in nature and the intricacies of life. The more I learn and the more I see, the more you become real to me!!

I cannot wait for Thursday, September 24! Morgan is coming to Blacksburg, and we are going to have tons of fun!!! I miss Morgan so much, I cannot wait to see her.

The First Exam

Well, it was quite an experience taking my first medical school exam, one I am not likely to forget soon.

It was supposed to be a 7 hr long exam (from 7:45 AM - 2:38 PM), but instead it lasted until 5 PM. We began the exam decently, but less than 30 minutes into it, the server got overloaded with all the students (second years at VCOM and everyone at VT) logging in, especially to Scholar - we were taking our test on Scholar which is similar to WebCT and Blackboard. Well, we were sorting through that okay and they were going to add a little bit of time to the exam so that we could finish despite the slow page changes after every question. However, 10 minutes later we lost internet. The entire class was kicked out of the exam/and could not get back online. After we sat there for 5 - 10 minutes with no resolution for any of us, the told us to leave and come back when it was time to begin the next portion. The hope was that everything would be fixed and we would continue to take the exam on the computer.

However, an hour later, when the next section was to begin, there was still no internet. So, they quickly made paper copies of the exam and we took the test on scantrons. In some ways, I felt this was better. I like being able to write on an exam, cross out the answers I know are wrong, make notes that will still be there later if I go back to look over a question, etc. On the other hand, bubbling in all the answers is much slower and made my hand tired. :)

Right before we began the last section of the day the presented us with a choice about how to handle the first section we did not orignially finish on the computer. Either we could take it again today (on paper) or take it tomorrow. Either way it would be the same exam that some people had already talked about and others had looked up answers to, etc. Even though I had done neither, I knew I wanted to take it today, as tired as I was. I did not want to spend this evening studying again. I needed a relaxing night.

Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of my classmates agreed and we finished the exam this afternoon. Unfortunately, it was the longest portion of the exam that we had to redo making the day last an extra two hours.

The day is over, the first test is done, and even though I am not confident in how well I may or may not have done, I am very glad it is over.

Week Three

It has been a long week. I have been studying non-stop since Friday, Aug 28. My first medical school test is tomorrow and I have been trying to prepare for that and catch up with studying from the previous two weeks of school. Even though I probably should have been studying some more, I drove down to Wilmington for my family reunion this weekend. It was great to be able to see everyone, even though it was only for a few hours (with a round trip 12 hours driving time).

Saturday night, my parents and I stayed at a house of some family friends who were out of town at their own family reunion. I did get a little bit of studying done, and my mom helped me come up with some songs to memorize the CYP 450 inhibitors, inducers, and some other Red Flag drugs. The songs are to the tunes of London Bridge, Gilligan's Island, and Green Acres, respectively.

I drove back to Blacksburg Sunday night and memorized the songs on the way back. So at least it was a productive drive!

This evening, after I finished studying, I took a walk along Plantation Road and took pictures of all the animals in “my backyard.” I love living next to all these animals and seeing the horses and sheep every time I leave and return to my apartment. It makes me happy early in the morning or when I have had a bad day to pass the sheep and say hello. Here are a few pictures that I took along my walk.

This sheep walked over from the middle of the field and came to pose for me. When I was done, I thanked her, she baaaed and walked away again. :)

Well, tomorrow is my first test and it is 7 hours long. We have approximately 50 minutes per section with a 10 min break in between each. It is on the computer and we have a white board for any notes that we may need to take. In these respects, it is supposed to be very similar to boards. We will be having these tests every two weeks from now on. It is supposed to prepare us for boards by building endurance or something like that.

Well, hopefully I have done enough to prepare for this first exam. I am nervous, but ready. I will be very happy at 3 pm tomorrow afternoon because the first exam will be over.

Week Two

I cannot believe that I am finished with my second week of medical school. The volume of information is extremely high but not too difficult yet. However, I do not feel like I have been studying properly.
Friday, we had a Study Skills Workshop, which I think was very helpful. So, this weekend I have put that advice to work and it has been a very productive weekend.
To celebrate a productive weekend, I had my first cookout at the apartment. I made steak with much thanks to Grammy! It was quite delicious!
I have one week until my first exam which will be very long, and cover a lot of material considering we are taking 9 classes this block.

This week I am going to study very hard and hopefully be very productive so that I can go to my Family Reunion in Wilmington this weekend. I cannot wait to see everyone, but of course I will be missing PopPop greatly!

First Week of Medical School!

Well, I am done with the first week of medical school and about to begin my second week! It was a great week. Just got my feet wet, thinking we will dive in deep beginning tomorrow.

The difference between studying in undergrad and studying in medical school - no free weekends. Otherwise, it seems to be pretty similar. I will see if I am actually doing the right thing on our first test coming up on September 8 - 5 hrs long or so. I am not really looking forward to that.

I did make time this weekend to go to dinner with some friends (Emily, you are an amazing cook!) and I went to the movies this afternoon (Julie & Julia). I cooked chicken for the next several days to make into different meals, and am planning on making spaghetti later this week and inviting people over. After seeing Julie & Juila, I feel like I need to get Juila Child's cook book and make some of those recipies (they looked absolutely delicious on screen!)

I have tried three churches now. Two contemporary, one traditional. I think I am going to have to go back to traditional services, I have missed it ever since leaving Wilmington.

Well, I guess I should get back to studying.
Tomorrow, 8 A.M. begins my second week of medical school!

Tubing - One Last Day of Fun!

Today, I went to New Life Christian Fellowship, a church in downtown Blacksburg with Paul and Erin. It was a great service and the sermon was thought provoking. I really enjoyed it, but I think I want to go to a more traditional style church service.

This afternoon, I went tubing down the river with a bunch of fellow VCOMers at New River Junction. We had a good time riding along the slow paced river and banging into several rocks (the water was very shallow in areas). I think most of us got a few scratches or bruises, but for the most part we made it out in one piece. :)

There were a few very mild rapids which were fun to ride along, and at the end was a big rock where you could stop, climb, and jump off into a deep pool in the middle of the river. This was a nice area for swimming and relaxing, too. The hardest part was getting back across the river to get out at the road (the current was pretty strong at that point in the river).

Unfortunately, there are no pictures. I don't have a waterproof camera and it was too difficult to try to take it out there even in a waterproof bag. I have lots of good memories of things I wish I could have captured on camera!

I start medical school in the morning, so this is probably the last great adventure for a while. :(

More Fun!

I made it through orientation and met lots of great people. I think this is going to be a wonderful year. Wednesday evening, I went to Brittany's to run through the booklist and order some of the 18 books on the list. Yesterday, I went bowling with Jenie, Caroline, and Jo! We had fun trying to make a total combined score of 400, and finally on the third game, achieved this goal!

Disclaimer: I know I am a terrible bowler, but I have lots of fun doing it. I actually made a decent score, for me, on the second game, but have no picture to prove it. :)

Today, I went to Roanoke to the Science Museum because I saw that it was free! It is right in the middle of Roanoke City Market which is awesome, too. I had lots of fun acting like a child in the Science Museum, and then I walked around the City Market and saw lots of wonderful fresh veggies and neat crafts for sale. You could definitely spend a good part of the afternoon in Market Square.

In this area, there is also a History Museum and an Art Museum. I will definitely have to go back to check these out as well.

Cascade Falls

Today I went to Cascade Falls in Giles County, VA with a group of classmates. It was a great hike up to the waterfall, beautiful scenery the whole way. I have, however, decided that a 4 mile hike while still recovering from the flu, not yet acclimated to mountain air (having lived my whole life at sea level), and with bad knees and no knee braces, is NOT the best idea I have ever had. But we had a lot of fun, and I would definitely do it all over again.

Here are a few select images from the day:

The guys minus Caleb.

The beautiful waterfall at the end of the trail. (I couldn't figure out how to rotate this picture in blogger, suggestions?)

Another view...

Relaxing at the waterfall pool.

Unfortunately, my camera batteries died once we got to the waterfall, so I have no pictures of the adventurous hike back to the car in the rain.

Fun Around Town...

Today was a great day!

This morning, I went to get my VCOM Passport (a.k.a ID) made on Virginia Tech's campus. After this, I decided to take some time and walk around the campus to see if I could find the library and some other buildings that I might be utilizing during my time here at VCOM. Well, the map I had was horrible and unlabeled other than a select few buildings, but I was able to find my way around to the library, the drill field, and back to my car without backtracking at all. Praise God I inherited my dad's good sense of direction!

This afternoon, several of my future classmates and I ventured around downtown Blacksburg to the annual street festival "Steppin' Out." It was much larger than I had imagined and we had a lot of fun. There were about 12 of us. It was a great opportunity to get to know everyone and see some of the local arts and crafts, listen to musical talents, and get fresh air! We were highly entertained by the hulahoops and the booth with the wire figures (especially the renditions of different medical specialties). I think I am going to go back tomorrow and stop at a few more booths.

Then, this evening, we all went to VT campus for bowling and billiards. Tech has a great indoor recreation center in the student union! My high score in bowling was a magnificant 60!! - in spite of my semester long bowling class in undergrad - sorry coach.

Well, that was a very full day. I am almost done organizing my apartment and cannot wait until that is completed.

Four (4) more days until Orientation, nine (9) days until my FIRST DAY of MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!

New Apartment, New State, New Friends

I moved into my brand new apartment on Friday, July 31 with the help of my mom and dad. We, however, had an unexpected turn of events when I signed in with the apartment complex that afternoon. I was asked, "Did you know you are moving into a handicap apartment?" Of course I did not. I had my choice of units when I came in March/early April to find a place to live. The apartment complex had an entire, mostly unrented building that was not even completed. Once I decided on my preferred floor plan they told me which apartments I could pick from. I was not allowed to see this actual apartment at the time because the did not yet have the Certificate of Occupancy for that building and there were inspectors on the property that day. We had many conversations from that point on, both via phone and email. At no point was I told that this was going to be a handicap apartment. To make a long story short, the floor plan on this handicap apartment made it much smaller than what I was expecting and much too small for the furniture I had purchased. Thankfully, they were nice enough to work something out with us. And, I actually like the apartment I am in better than the one I thought I was getting, in some ways. I am now in a two-bedroom apartment, but they have closed off one of the bedrooms so that I can still pay the one-bedroom price.

Before my parents left, we arranged all of the furniture and unpacked most of the boxes. I do, however, still have some boxes to unload and a lot of organizing to do. Unfortunately, I have been sick with classic flu-like symptoms since moving up here. I am starting to get better, but still have respiratory symptoms. Not sure it was actually the flu, but I am glad to be getting better. I feel like I have missed out on many adventures my classmates have already taken, but tonight I was finally able to get together with some of them to meet and talk for a little while.

Tomorrow, I plan to finally finsh unpacking the last few boxes and organizing. Then, Friday or Saturday, I am going to Steppin' Out, Blacksburg's annual outdoor festival. This sounds like it could be a lot of fun. Hopefully, I will be able to do a lot and meet several more people over the next few days before orientation begins next Wednesday.