Wow, I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted an update. I am not the legendary blogger that Panda Bear MD is. Google him if you haven't had a chance to read his stuff. Unless you are liberal, then you will probably hate him.
OK. To bring closure to my last post. I ended up with an A- in Chem 122. This summer I finished my Gen Chem and Bio prereqs with another solid 3.5 quarter but my last Gen Chem class took me for a spin and I ended up with a B. So far the Post Bacc is still at a 3.6 and I intend to maintain that or raise it for the rest of the journey.
This quarter I'm taking Physics, O-Chem, and Physiology. This will be by far the most challenging academic quarter of my career. However, the mindset that I have going into it (well we're almost 4 weeks into it) is that if I can't cut it at the undergrad level, then graduate school is a pipe dream. So far, I'm doing excellent. Of the exams, quizzes, and lab assignments we've had thus far, I've pulled A's in all of them. The big bulk of mid quarter exams will be here in about 2 weeks so it's time to kick into high gear.
Life has been pretty enjoyable ever since I made the decision to go back to school. I have absolutely no regrets and truly believe that this was the change I needed to really get on the right path. Aside from the typical premed stuff, I've spent my free time going to concerts and watching my Buckeyes play on Saturdays. USC (for the second year in a row) was heartbreaking. At least we didn't get embarrassed. All of the new friends I've made in college were 12 during the events of 9/11. Though, I still look several years younger than many of them (Asian genetics FTW).
Time to head off to physics lecture. I'd like to say that I'm going to post more but with the work load I'm under, you'll probably have to wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Spring Quarter 2009
Biology 113: B+
Chemistry 122: Still Being Determined
This quarter definitely had its ups and downs. It marks the first time that I got to spend volunteering in a hospital setting, the first time I've ever taken multiple science classes at the same time, and the first time I've ever been through a city tax audit (we'll get to that one in a few paragraphs).
My reaction to my grades so far has been pure heart break. I went into my bio exam with a borderline solid A and got destroyed by the second half of the test because I studied the wrong material. This must be what the Cleveland Cavaliers felt like after having a near dominant regular season and then blowing it in the playoffs. In the three exams that were administered for my bio class, I was all over the place scoring an 82 on the first exam, then scoring a perfect 100 on the second exam, and then chunking the last exam with a 77. I missed getting an A- by 1 percent which equates to like 5 multiple choice questions on a midterm. I'm still waiting on my grade in chem but it's completely unpredictable how the department issues their letter grades. I'm a near standard deviation above the average but I'm really fearing another B+ since that's what happened the last quarter. I'll never understand the fairness of a bell curve.
My volunteering experience at OSUMC this quarter was humbling. Every Friday morning I got to work at the medical center from 5am to 8am escorting patients being admitted for surgery. The most difficult thing that I had to learn while doing this job was figure out how to properly interact with patients who were clearly not in the greatest mood. Who can blame them? If I had to spend a weekend in the hospital getting surgery I'd probably be in a terrible mood also.
I have one week to reload and refresh my batteries before summer classes start. Kind of rediculous to think that in another 10 weeks, I'll be finished with 2 of the premed science series. Everyone I've spoken to told me that time flies during a post bacc. They weren't kidding.
So what about the whole tax thing you say? Well, apparently when I worked for IBM my income tax withholdings were given to the wrong city. Despite the fact that my address states Dublin, OH; I'm technically still in Columbus city limits. To make a long story short, I had to pay Columbus 2% of all the money I made while working at IBM. For a poor college student thats a small fortune large enough to feed impoverished countries for a decade. The most annoying thing about this process is that I had to provide them with 6 years worth of tax and W2 information. For anyone who is reading this, do yourself a favor and keep an organized folder with all of that crap in it. You never know when some stupid algorithm is going to select you for stuff like this. With my luck, I'll probably be selected for jury duty next quarter. There is also an equally stressful and time consuming process for getting my income tax money back from Dublin. Having to talk to support teams in India in order to get old HR and payroll information from IBM is pretty frustrating when your current priorities are set on learning metabolic pathways and rules about intermolecular forces.
Chemistry 122: Still Being Determined
This quarter definitely had its ups and downs. It marks the first time that I got to spend volunteering in a hospital setting, the first time I've ever taken multiple science classes at the same time, and the first time I've ever been through a city tax audit (we'll get to that one in a few paragraphs).
My reaction to my grades so far has been pure heart break. I went into my bio exam with a borderline solid A and got destroyed by the second half of the test because I studied the wrong material. This must be what the Cleveland Cavaliers felt like after having a near dominant regular season and then blowing it in the playoffs. In the three exams that were administered for my bio class, I was all over the place scoring an 82 on the first exam, then scoring a perfect 100 on the second exam, and then chunking the last exam with a 77. I missed getting an A- by 1 percent which equates to like 5 multiple choice questions on a midterm. I'm still waiting on my grade in chem but it's completely unpredictable how the department issues their letter grades. I'm a near standard deviation above the average but I'm really fearing another B+ since that's what happened the last quarter. I'll never understand the fairness of a bell curve.
My volunteering experience at OSUMC this quarter was humbling. Every Friday morning I got to work at the medical center from 5am to 8am escorting patients being admitted for surgery. The most difficult thing that I had to learn while doing this job was figure out how to properly interact with patients who were clearly not in the greatest mood. Who can blame them? If I had to spend a weekend in the hospital getting surgery I'd probably be in a terrible mood also.
I have one week to reload and refresh my batteries before summer classes start. Kind of rediculous to think that in another 10 weeks, I'll be finished with 2 of the premed science series. Everyone I've spoken to told me that time flies during a post bacc. They weren't kidding.
So what about the whole tax thing you say? Well, apparently when I worked for IBM my income tax withholdings were given to the wrong city. Despite the fact that my address states Dublin, OH; I'm technically still in Columbus city limits. To make a long story short, I had to pay Columbus 2% of all the money I made while working at IBM. For a poor college student thats a small fortune large enough to feed impoverished countries for a decade. The most annoying thing about this process is that I had to provide them with 6 years worth of tax and W2 information. For anyone who is reading this, do yourself a favor and keep an organized folder with all of that crap in it. You never know when some stupid algorithm is going to select you for stuff like this. With my luck, I'll probably be selected for jury duty next quarter. There is also an equally stressful and time consuming process for getting my income tax money back from Dublin. Having to talk to support teams in India in order to get old HR and payroll information from IBM is pretty frustrating when your current priorities are set on learning metabolic pathways and rules about intermolecular forces.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Spring Quarter In Full Effect
I have been pretty busy and unfortunately have been neglecting this blog. We're about 2 weeks into Spring Quarter and I feel like I have a rocket strapped to my back. Bio is much different than what I expected. The labs are pretty interesting but even in a group setting I sometimes feel pressed for time. What is unsettling about this quarter is that I've opened up both Chem and Bio classes with Bs on the first quizzes.
Chem was incredibly frustrating since I've have kept up well with the material from lab prep, reports, homework, etc. I lost focus during the first quiz and accidently used the wrong molecular weight when trying to solve for density in the ideal gas law equation. I'm not sure what is more embarrasing, getting a B on that quiz or shouting outloud in public 'Dammit! The molecular weight of Oxygen is 32 grams per mole not 16!' after realizing the mistake I made. What an interesting life I have chosen for myself.
Chem was incredibly frustrating since I've have kept up well with the material from lab prep, reports, homework, etc. I lost focus during the first quiz and accidently used the wrong molecular weight when trying to solve for density in the ideal gas law equation. I'm not sure what is more embarrasing, getting a B on that quiz or shouting outloud in public 'Dammit! The molecular weight of Oxygen is 32 grams per mole not 16!' after realizing the mistake I made. What an interesting life I have chosen for myself.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Reflection on Spring Quarter 2009
The first quarter of post bacc is complete. It definitely went by faster than I thought and it's pretty amazing to think about some of the things that I've accomplished so far. Let's get the meat and potatoes stuff out of the way and start with the report card.
General Chemistry - B+
Dietetics - A
Public Health - A
Sociology - A
3.75 GPA
If you would have graded me with a B+ in chem back when I was 18, I would have danced around like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkObiCtMZTY
Though I'm not super bummed about not getting an A in chemistry, I am a little disappointed due to the fact that I did put in the hours for this class. The class average was a 59 and my 82 wasn't enough for the A. I suppose this is a lesson telling me that I need to refine my exam preparation methods a little bit more. That being said, I'm trying my best to not minimize my achievements. Going back to school after being out for 5 years and making the Dean's List is still pretty awesome.
Tomorrow I will be shadowing Dr. Mikami who is a GI surgeon at OSUMC. I am pretty excited about this opportunity and I hope this experience will allow me to gain some real world perspective on what life is like for a physician.
General Chemistry - B+
Dietetics - A
Public Health - A
Sociology - A
3.75 GPA
If you would have graded me with a B+ in chem back when I was 18, I would have danced around like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkObiCtMZTY
Though I'm not super bummed about not getting an A in chemistry, I am a little disappointed due to the fact that I did put in the hours for this class. The class average was a 59 and my 82 wasn't enough for the A. I suppose this is a lesson telling me that I need to refine my exam preparation methods a little bit more. That being said, I'm trying my best to not minimize my achievements. Going back to school after being out for 5 years and making the Dean's List is still pretty awesome.
Tomorrow I will be shadowing Dr. Mikami who is a GI surgeon at OSUMC. I am pretty excited about this opportunity and I hope this experience will allow me to gain some real world perspective on what life is like for a physician.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Chemistry Exam 1
Dear Nick,
You just received the 7th highest score out of 174 students in a class that originally scared you away from a life of sciences almost 10 years ago. Congratulations and savor your victory. Then get ready to get back to work in a few days because now that you have realized your potential, the rest of those A's are going to want you to jump and jump high for them.
Exam 1 Statistics
Class Size: 174 Students
Average Midterm Grade: 55.4%
Nick's Grade: 87% (one freaking question away from a 90%! ZOMG 7 out of 174)
You just received the 7th highest score out of 174 students in a class that originally scared you away from a life of sciences almost 10 years ago. Congratulations and savor your victory. Then get ready to get back to work in a few days because now that you have realized your potential, the rest of those A's are going to want you to jump and jump high for them.
Exam 1 Statistics
Class Size: 174 Students
Average Midterm Grade: 55.4%
Nick's Grade: 87% (one freaking question away from a 90%! ZOMG 7 out of 174)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Diagnosis? Neurotic perfectionism ... and it's got to stop.
One full month back into school and I'm starting to learn a lot of things about myself that need to be improved on. I decided to make a bulleted list.
Perfectionist : This is the bad kind. Have you ever found yourself looking at the start of a project and just can't seem to even get started because you want the end result to be flawless? This is a problem that has plagued me pretty much my entire life. Starting from piano recitals, to wrestling matches, and school. The minute I get stuck on something, I shut down and I end up not finishing the song, getting pinned, bombing the rest of the questions on the test.
That 25/30 I thought I got from last weeks quiz ended up being a 13/30. Good thing we get to drop a quiz score. Learning how to recover during moments of uncertainty is something that I'm definitely going to have to work on in the future to improve my success rate. This just doesn't apply to school, but for everything in life.
Neurotic : Stemming from the fact that I can't be perfect at everything. Who am I kidding? Perfection is impossible. It's an extreme that only occurs sporadically in our lives.
Energy Levels : I took a look back at the first 4 weeks of the quarter and realized that I only slept well during week 1 and through week 2 up until that bad quiz. Part of this is related to my workout schedule. When I don't exercise on a regular basis, I end up having sleepless nights and added stress. Eating hasn't been much of an issue but I do need to make sure I'm in the gym at least 3 times a week.
Fun : I'm trying to remember what this used to feel like. I'm suppose to be having fun while in school yet the added pressure that I've put on myself to not just succeed but succeed well has turned school into a job almost.
There is an advantage to noticing these problems early in my premed process. The sooner I can correct them, the quicker I can get back on track to just living my life and living it as well as possible. No one is going to kill me for not getting a 4.0 during a quarter and I shouldn't even be thinking about med school until the prereqs and MCAT are done. That's a good 3 years from now.
Time to sit back and relax a little. See you at the gym.
Perfectionist : This is the bad kind. Have you ever found yourself looking at the start of a project and just can't seem to even get started because you want the end result to be flawless? This is a problem that has plagued me pretty much my entire life. Starting from piano recitals, to wrestling matches, and school. The minute I get stuck on something, I shut down and I end up not finishing the song, getting pinned, bombing the rest of the questions on the test.
That 25/30 I thought I got from last weeks quiz ended up being a 13/30. Good thing we get to drop a quiz score. Learning how to recover during moments of uncertainty is something that I'm definitely going to have to work on in the future to improve my success rate. This just doesn't apply to school, but for everything in life.
Neurotic : Stemming from the fact that I can't be perfect at everything. Who am I kidding? Perfection is impossible. It's an extreme that only occurs sporadically in our lives.
Energy Levels : I took a look back at the first 4 weeks of the quarter and realized that I only slept well during week 1 and through week 2 up until that bad quiz. Part of this is related to my workout schedule. When I don't exercise on a regular basis, I end up having sleepless nights and added stress. Eating hasn't been much of an issue but I do need to make sure I'm in the gym at least 3 times a week.
Fun : I'm trying to remember what this used to feel like. I'm suppose to be having fun while in school yet the added pressure that I've put on myself to not just succeed but succeed well has turned school into a job almost.
There is an advantage to noticing these problems early in my premed process. The sooner I can correct them, the quicker I can get back on track to just living my life and living it as well as possible. No one is going to kill me for not getting a 4.0 during a quarter and I shouldn't even be thinking about med school until the prereqs and MCAT are done. That's a good 3 years from now.
Time to sit back and relax a little. See you at the gym.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Calm Down
At the end of week 3 of the quarter and I just got done taking my second quiz in general chemistry. Despite the hours of studying that I have put into the material, I still ran into a question that stumped me before time ran out. What's even worse is that I figured the answer out within 2 steps of leaving the building. So this is what premed syndrome feels like. Anytime I don't get an A in something, I die a little on the inside. I know it's just a quiz. I know a 25/30 is still a decent grade for a quiz. Looks like I need to get some gym time in today in order to calm the f*** down.
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