Team USA was a big disappointment yesterday. The World Cup ride has been a fun one, but it ended on a low after they failed to show up against Ghana. And this one they can't blame on the refs. I'll still following the matchups, but I'm learning the frustration involved in being a fan of USA Futbol. Rumo a hexa-campeao Brasil!
I can't think of anything of note that happened in this past week that is worth sharing. There was a bit of irony in my Advanced Writing class on Friday. My teacher, who is really just a primary teacher teaching grownups, was talking about the importance of using the active voice and not the passive. She had us do some practice exercises where we eliminated "to be" and replaced it with an action verb. The first sentence was "A good author is aware of his verbs." She asked us how we would change it and my classmates responded with the verbs, "uses, knows, understands" and so on. I decided to share my opinion and said, "I wouldn't change it unless there was a good reason to use a different verb, because each way has it's own particular meaning that differs from "is aware of"." She immediately rebuffed me and responded that we had a good reason to change it. Anyhow, she continued her teaching but not 30 seconds later I caught her saying "are aware." I glanced at my friend and we smiled knowingly. And she was only getting started. At least 5 times in the next 15 minutes she used the phrase "are/is aware." So much for using those verbs.
I've learned a few things about myself in the past week. It is really HARD for me to work full-time. It is really hard for me to work just part-time in my current employment. I had cut my hours to about 10 per week over spring and the end of winter. After all I had the MCAT and shadowing I had to do. Well I've been wanting for money recently and decided to pick up my hours to at least full part-time, 20 hours per week. That means 4 hours per day, but I can hardly last an hour straight without needing some kind of break. I know a lot of it has to do with my job, but I also know that part of it is just who I am. I love to have variety to my day. I handle the variety of school pretty well, with work and research time mixed in, even if the days are long. But tell me to work 8 hours straight at one thing and I'll languish and lose my focus quickly. I hope medicine will give me that daily diversity that keeps me engaged.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
World Cup Fever and Such
The games are on! The World Cup has definitely taken me by storm over the past week and a half. I'm particularly emotionally invested in Team USA, although I've really enjoyed watching the powerful European teams lose and tie to all of the underdogs. I love the World Cup! The last USA match left me feeling robbed, but relieved at the same time. And though I hated the goals we allowed, I couldn't help but laugh at the way the Slovenians celebrated their goals. Take a look at the highlights if you don't know what I'm talking about. Hilarious!! A win this week is what we need. Go USA! I've got a fever and the only prescription is more World Cup. USA, unfortunately, does not have a realistic chance of winning the whole thing, but luckily I can cheer for Brasil in that regard. I watched their opening game with the BYU Brazilian Association. It just made me laugh. Brazilian spontaneity is priceless.
The mundial did not effect my grades thankfully. I pulled A's in both classes this spring and enjoyed a brief 3-day respite. Tomorrow I'll be back in the trenches with an advanced writing course (dreadful) and a statistics class. My goal is to start strong and never let off. It's a definite plus that after this term I'll have finished all of the classes I don't want to take but have to anyway. Graduation se aproxima.
I took a fun little hike yesterday with Jose Carlos, my El Salvadorian friend. Jose e gente fina. We went to the top of Y mountain. Jose really knows how to enjoy the moment. We got to the top and we stayed there not for 20 or 30 minutes, but for an entire hour. I owe the little bit of sunburn above my knees to him. Hablamos bastante. Unfortunately my memory card was not in my camera and Jose left his phone in my car, so we had zero pictures. Well we actually had one that we asked a stranger at the top of the Y to take with his camera and send to us later. The hike was beautiful and hot. I made a collection of wildflowers as I went along, and now they're sitting in my kitchen in a tupperware.
The flowers adorned the table today while we ate dinner. I made a deal with Dallan, my roommate, a few weeks back: we eat well every Sunday, and we take turns on cooking duty. It was my turn today, so last night I decided to make Orange Chicken. I found this really simple recipe online that only asks for chicken, salt and pepper, onion soup, and a can of OJ concentrate. I put the meal together this afternoon, with rice and a pan of stir fry thrown in as well. The food turned out rather delicious. It's likely to be a sort of last supper with John. He's leaving this week. I enjoyed the meal, but at the same time I couldn't help but think, "Man, they're eating a ton!" I myself didn't hold back either. I guess that's a compliment when they eat my food, but I can't help but be jealous of what I make sometimes. Thankfully I've got two lunches worth of leftovers for this week.
The EMT class ends this week. It will be ending without me. I've attended pretty much every night I have been supposed to be there, but I have not made hardly any effort on assessments (100 required, I've done 30) or the readings and quizzes. I just did not want to do it I found out. I did have some time and I likely could have pulled it off, but I really lost my respect for the class about a week into it. I made myself continue attending for the learning experience, but honestly I would hardly feel qualified with the training I received to be an actual EMT. For example, the day they taught CPR they showed us how to do it, had us practice with a partner, take a quiz as a group, and put us in line so they could hand us our certificates. It was bogus. No one at any time actually observed me to see if I was performing CPR correctly. Not that I think I learned it incorrectly, but when the training is done that way over and over again it does not build any confidence in me. So the 700+ dollars I've put into the class will be mostly for naught. I have learned some significant things, such as taking vitals and the essentials in an emergency situation, so it wasn't a complete waste. I finally gave up on any idea of finishing the course some time last week, and the truth set me free. I'm glad I can move on.
The mundial did not effect my grades thankfully. I pulled A's in both classes this spring and enjoyed a brief 3-day respite. Tomorrow I'll be back in the trenches with an advanced writing course (dreadful) and a statistics class. My goal is to start strong and never let off. It's a definite plus that after this term I'll have finished all of the classes I don't want to take but have to anyway. Graduation se aproxima.
I took a fun little hike yesterday with Jose Carlos, my El Salvadorian friend. Jose e gente fina. We went to the top of Y mountain. Jose really knows how to enjoy the moment. We got to the top and we stayed there not for 20 or 30 minutes, but for an entire hour. I owe the little bit of sunburn above my knees to him. Hablamos bastante. Unfortunately my memory card was not in my camera and Jose left his phone in my car, so we had zero pictures. Well we actually had one that we asked a stranger at the top of the Y to take with his camera and send to us later. The hike was beautiful and hot. I made a collection of wildflowers as I went along, and now they're sitting in my kitchen in a tupperware.
The flowers adorned the table today while we ate dinner. I made a deal with Dallan, my roommate, a few weeks back: we eat well every Sunday, and we take turns on cooking duty. It was my turn today, so last night I decided to make Orange Chicken. I found this really simple recipe online that only asks for chicken, salt and pepper, onion soup, and a can of OJ concentrate. I put the meal together this afternoon, with rice and a pan of stir fry thrown in as well. The food turned out rather delicious. It's likely to be a sort of last supper with John. He's leaving this week. I enjoyed the meal, but at the same time I couldn't help but think, "Man, they're eating a ton!" I myself didn't hold back either. I guess that's a compliment when they eat my food, but I can't help but be jealous of what I make sometimes. Thankfully I've got two lunches worth of leftovers for this week.
The EMT class ends this week. It will be ending without me. I've attended pretty much every night I have been supposed to be there, but I have not made hardly any effort on assessments (100 required, I've done 30) or the readings and quizzes. I just did not want to do it I found out. I did have some time and I likely could have pulled it off, but I really lost my respect for the class about a week into it. I made myself continue attending for the learning experience, but honestly I would hardly feel qualified with the training I received to be an actual EMT. For example, the day they taught CPR they showed us how to do it, had us practice with a partner, take a quiz as a group, and put us in line so they could hand us our certificates. It was bogus. No one at any time actually observed me to see if I was performing CPR correctly. Not that I think I learned it incorrectly, but when the training is done that way over and over again it does not build any confidence in me. So the 700+ dollars I've put into the class will be mostly for naught. I have learned some significant things, such as taking vitals and the essentials in an emergency situation, so it wasn't a complete waste. I finally gave up on any idea of finishing the course some time last week, and the truth set me free. I'm glad I can move on.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The beginning
I figure this could be a good way of sharing my life with family and friends. A quick note about the title - I frequently feel that I'm wandering, in the sense that I don't really know where I'm supposed to end up or how I'm going to get there. It's almost like I'm blind and I have to feel my way through things. I believe my ramblings will show that.
I was born to be a professional student. I proved that once again this week after I scored well on my first two tests of spring term. I'm enrolled in biochemistry and cell biology. I wonder what talents or character traits I have that make me so successful in the classroom. Outside of school I think I'm rather mediocre.
During the past few weeks I've been getting the most satisfaction out of this computer course for Spanish speakers. It's helping me do something I love - learn Spanish - while being able to share some of my abilities with those who really do need help. As of yet I haven't risked talking much with the students, but occasionally I will end up having a real conversation in Spanish. My ability to speak is improving, but I feel like I've still got some cotton in my ears when it comes to understanding. It depends a lot on the person I'm talking with too, but I've still got a lot of work to do there.
I've been enrolled in an EMT class for about a month now. While I do not have any ambitions to become an EMT or paramedic I have enjoyed learning everything I have. Plus I've taken my first vitals as a result of the class. Little things like that boost my confidence little be little. I'm not looking forward to finishing the approximately 70 patient assessments I need to do in the next month. If you have any children you would like me to assess please let me know!
During spring term I have been shadowing a doctor from the Department of Health. It was not exactly the kind of doctor I expected to shadow for the "internship" I signed up for. He doesn't really practice medicine for his day job, although he does do some on the side. His main position is squarely in the field of public health. I know there's a relation there, but I'd like to be involved in medicine on a personal basis. I have been a little frustrated and bored with some of the things we've done, such as sit in on county commissioner meetings, go through his mail, and see the art gallery at the health department. I did enjoy the evening he volunteered at a clinic. I got to work on my Spanish there a bit too. But besides that we connected personally with people who needed help. That brought satisfaction.
My frustrations grew this past week after I went to class and listened to the cool things others were doing for their internships, like observing surgeries. Oh well. I do get a lot of opportunities to talk with my doctor, and he is supportive and interested in my career, so I guess I can't complain too much.
Last night a lot of people in the ward got together to play wallyball, missionary tag, cops and robbers, and then watch a movie. I ditched before the movie so I could learn about ATP synthesis and the electron transport chain. (At 10 PM, and yes my studying was actually surprisingly productive.) After I escaped the cops and we were waiting for the last stragglers, I thought, "This is just the kind of thing we're told not to do by general authorities - hanging out." For better or worse though we had a good time hanging out last night. When the honest alternative would be nothing at all social, I don't really think hanging out is so bad.
I'm listening to grooveshark. It's my new imeem, only better. I used to have this massive playlist on imeem of about 400 songs. Well that's massive for me anyways. When imeem got taken over by myspace it really ticked me off. There went my playlist! With grooveshark I've started making that list again. It has the convenience of making playlists like imeem, but with a much smoother setup. It's been a daily diversion for the last couple weeks. I love free music!
I was born to be a professional student. I proved that once again this week after I scored well on my first two tests of spring term. I'm enrolled in biochemistry and cell biology. I wonder what talents or character traits I have that make me so successful in the classroom. Outside of school I think I'm rather mediocre.
During the past few weeks I've been getting the most satisfaction out of this computer course for Spanish speakers. It's helping me do something I love - learn Spanish - while being able to share some of my abilities with those who really do need help. As of yet I haven't risked talking much with the students, but occasionally I will end up having a real conversation in Spanish. My ability to speak is improving, but I feel like I've still got some cotton in my ears when it comes to understanding. It depends a lot on the person I'm talking with too, but I've still got a lot of work to do there.
I've been enrolled in an EMT class for about a month now. While I do not have any ambitions to become an EMT or paramedic I have enjoyed learning everything I have. Plus I've taken my first vitals as a result of the class. Little things like that boost my confidence little be little. I'm not looking forward to finishing the approximately 70 patient assessments I need to do in the next month. If you have any children you would like me to assess please let me know!
During spring term I have been shadowing a doctor from the Department of Health. It was not exactly the kind of doctor I expected to shadow for the "internship" I signed up for. He doesn't really practice medicine for his day job, although he does do some on the side. His main position is squarely in the field of public health. I know there's a relation there, but I'd like to be involved in medicine on a personal basis. I have been a little frustrated and bored with some of the things we've done, such as sit in on county commissioner meetings, go through his mail, and see the art gallery at the health department. I did enjoy the evening he volunteered at a clinic. I got to work on my Spanish there a bit too. But besides that we connected personally with people who needed help. That brought satisfaction.
My frustrations grew this past week after I went to class and listened to the cool things others were doing for their internships, like observing surgeries. Oh well. I do get a lot of opportunities to talk with my doctor, and he is supportive and interested in my career, so I guess I can't complain too much.
Last night a lot of people in the ward got together to play wallyball, missionary tag, cops and robbers, and then watch a movie. I ditched before the movie so I could learn about ATP synthesis and the electron transport chain. (At 10 PM, and yes my studying was actually surprisingly productive.) After I escaped the cops and we were waiting for the last stragglers, I thought, "This is just the kind of thing we're told not to do by general authorities - hanging out." For better or worse though we had a good time hanging out last night. When the honest alternative would be nothing at all social, I don't really think hanging out is so bad.
I'm listening to grooveshark. It's my new imeem, only better. I used to have this massive playlist on imeem of about 400 songs. Well that's massive for me anyways. When imeem got taken over by myspace it really ticked me off. There went my playlist! With grooveshark I've started making that list again. It has the convenience of making playlists like imeem, but with a much smoother setup. It's been a daily diversion for the last couple weeks. I love free music!
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