Happy Birthday to Me!

Hello! As of writing this post, I am 29 years old. My mom came from NY last week to spend my birthday with me and will be staying until next Monday.

I have a lot of huge exams to study for so this post will be short and lacking details.

I had my physiology exam last week and I got 100%! Which was super exciting for me because I don't think I have ever gotten a perfect score in any college-level work or beyond and this is graduate school! 😀

We went to MS Pecan Festival on my birthday (yesterday), which was an adventure. It smelled kinda funky, but there were some nice booths (and baby chickens too!). We got a small pecan pie because how can you go to a Pecan Festival and not get pecan pie.

Okay, I think that's it for somewhat eventful things that have occurred in the last week.

I will fluff out any details (and maybe add photos) next week after I complete my exams! Biochem and Anatomy this week! 😱

Oh, I did spend some time yesterday playing League of Legends with my sisters and my boyfriend, which was lovely.

I started using Habitica, and also was given a free Cram Fighter account from my school which I will try to use more steadily going forward. We'll see how these things help me with productivity.

Busy but seemingly unproductive week...

So the end results of Block 1 are in, and I did well. My biochemistry exam score was 95%. Things are looking really strong going into Block 2, which is going to be really hard but I will do my best. I have 2 quizzes due on Monday that I need to work on and also have a paper for biochemistry due on Wednesday, but at least now I have my protein misfold disorder: retinitis pigmentosa.

The Dean of Admissions at the medical school came to talk to us and kinda scared the living bejeezus out of me. He made it seem like there's no chance in the world for a person with poor undergraduate performance to be admitted to their program. I went to speak to the head of the MBS program I'm attending to find out more information because I was led to believe that I would have a chance if I completed the program. I learned that my MCAT score was the pivotal factor that earned me admittance into the program; he told me they have a GPA requirement which they waived for only 5 students historically, and I was one of them. One of those students is now a practicing physician and a good one and he believes it's a result of the struggles that the student faced to get there.

I need to make sure that my application isn't just pushed aside for rejection since I didn't note that I was in the MBS program before I applied to the medical school.

My mom's A1C is done a lot since her last appointment. Her previous A1C was 11.2 and she's now down to 6.5 or something awesome like that. Her doctor said he only needs to see her every 5 months now since it seems the medication is working, which I am super excited about.

Patch 4.4 came out in Final Fantasy XIV this week and it seems okay at best. I'm not terribly excited about the raid (nor am I going to actually clear the hard mode this time around). The dungeons aren't that bad, but something about the game just isn't as fun anymore. I'm not sure if it's because I know my time is better spent studying or just because the game isn't good anymore. I'm sure plenty of people would disagree with me.

I need to get back to studying though, I've fallen behind this week for some reason. Have had a hard time keeping focused. Until next week.

"All you need is a little faith in yourself ... and the courage to see it through."
-- Cid nan Garlond, Final Fantasy XIV Alphascape storyline

Block 1 Complete

So I completed the first block of my MBS program, which was primarily focused on the back musculature and then just basic introductory physiology topics, along with basic biochemistry (amino acids and simple polypeptides). We've already started the content for Block 2, but we were taking exams at the same time, which was intense.

The first year medical school students had a mock practical last weekend and the class representative, Zach, agreed to help the MBS students have one as well. This was super helpful and I'm genuinely grateful for this mock practical. I scored 30/37 on the mock practical, but I was able to isolate my weaknesses and as a result, I ended up scoring 29/30 on the actual exam. Physiology was pretty easy, I finished the exam in 15 minutes, but I wish I had gone back over my answers. I was pretty sure I knew the answers to all the questions, but apparently, I misread or pressed the wrong answer for a few because I scored a 94.3% on the exam. Biochemistry results are still pending, but the exam itself was a painful one. I feel relatively confident but you never know.

I spoke to the dean of admissions at my school and was able to discuss my application and how to strengthen it in order to bolster my chances at admission. He said my MCAT score was a solid one (I knew this already) and I just have to make sure I can prove to the admission committee that I am able to perform in the classroom and that my health problems are behind me. I'm fairly confident I'll get a 4.0 this term if I keep up my current performance, and if I get another 4.0 in the winter trimester I should hopefully be receiving a secondary application shortly afterward.

I also tried to speak to one of the academic counselors about CramFighter, because I heard that the school purchases it in bulk for its students and I'm definitely all about those types of apps and scheduling programs that help you not ruin your chances at passing because of ADHD or procrastination. I have to e-mail her because she wasn't in the office today, which I'll try to do over the weekend. I also need to complete some secondary applications for other schools this weekend if possible as well.

Southwest Airlines has a deal going on right now for flights so my mom is going to come down for my 29th birthday. She'll be staying around 6 days. She said she's going to cook me a bunch of food that we can freeze so I don't have to spend as much time cooking. I love my mom so much. 😍

In terms of my gaming life, League of Legends released a new game mode called Odyssey or something and it's actually really fun. It's almost like an RPG rather than RTS game. I got to play with my sisters and a few friends after my final exam was done and I really enjoyed it. My stream has also gotten a subscription button. My best friend Amanda gifted a bunch of people subscriptions to my channel as well, so now  I have to try to design a subscriber badge and an emoji. I'm not sure what to make them, but I guess I should start brainstorming.

My schedule for tomorrow is a busy one as well, I have a lot of home errands to do, and I always need to return a book to Amazon so I'm going to drop that off at the UPS store tomorrow while I'm out. Going to get some organizational things as well to help alleviate some of the clutter problems I'm encountering. Anyways, I'm going to play some games now before bed. Tuckered out from my lab this morning and from the deep cleaning I had to do at my apartment today since I fell behind in tidiness during the mad dash to study for the quadruple exam week.

The long overdue update

Hello!

Apologies for the delay. Life, as it usually does, got in the way. I have also decided to make this my general blog for everything that goes on in my life, which includes my gaming (if I ever find time to do so). My journey after my previous post continued to be a difficult one but here's an update:

• I was able to graduate from my school with a Bachelor of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Biology. My transcript is not a pretty one. There are probably a few too many 'W's for comfort. We can thank swine flu and depression for that.
• I have also taken the MCAT exam, scoring 507 points (127 in Chemical and Physical Foundations, 128 in Critical Analysis and Reasoning, 127 in Biological and Biochemical Foundations, and 125 in Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations). 
• I worked for several months at an Ophthalmology clinic for more clinical experience and for more recommendation letters.
• I reapplied to allopathic medical schools and have also applied to osteopathic medical schools.
• I was admitted into a Masters of Biomedical Sciences program which is affiliated with a College of Osteopathic Medicine. 
• The program does not guarantee admission, but it does (with appropriate performance and adequate MCAT score) secure an interview at the very least.  
• I have several secondary applications that need to be completed and will be actively providing these schools with updates regarding my academic performance at this school. 

I moved across the country last month with my car stuffed to the brim with my belongings. My loving and amazing parents came with me to help me set up my apartment, which has been my safe haven and is slowly turning into my home away from home. I miss my family. I miss my pets. But I know this is the proper path for me. 

I am currently taking Gross Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry at this program with my first examination set to be on September 11, 2018. So far the program has been challenging, but not impossible. The school is nothing short of magnificent. The professors here are great, and they are faculty at the medical school which is fantastic to know because that means the quality of teaching I have here will carry over if I am admitted to the medical program. 

The atmosphere of the school as a whole is a positive one. Everyone is on the same team; we help one another rather than try to compete and destroy each other. Everyone here has a similar goal in mind; we all (with one or two exceptions) want to become medical professionals after this step. Even the medical students are helping the MBS students; they've set up a mock practical for themselves, but have opened it to the students of the program I'm in as well to prepare us for our exam on Tuesday. It's exciting, but also stressful. There is so much I have to have memorized before the exam. I need to get started. 

If anyone ever finds this blog, just know that it's not impossible to come back from what seems like rock bottom. Keep your eyes up and keep climbing. You got this. :)

How did I get here?

So I'm going to try to use this blog to keep myself on track as I try to get into medical school. I'm not sure how many people will see this, but it's mostly just to keep myself accountable for what I'm saying I will do.

But first I should probably sum up what got me here in the first place.

As of this post, I'm 26 years old without a Bachelor's Degree in anything, though I'm relatively close to completing my BS in Biochemistry. I originally wanted to study music, and inevitably changed my mind when I realized that I didn't have the desire or discipline to practice music all day every day and I would much rather spend my time with my nose stuck in a book.

I made this decision a bit late, however, and after some severe health problems and some struggles with depression, I found myself being suspended from my university (which for now will remain nameless). I was asked to sit out and get my stuff straight before petitioning to return.

I took a semester at my community college and did fairly well and was allowed to re-enter my university's matriculation, but with serious restrictions. I'm only allowed to take 6 credits this semester (which I've gotten around by taking other classes at the community college as well), pending my performance.

The problem is, of course, will a medical school take me with such an abysmal transcript? I have no idea. I'm hoping that a stellar rate of improvement and an equally stellar MCAT score will at least make them want to talk to me and see what went wrong. I do, after all, have a fairly interesting story to tell about myself.

So here I am. A month into my semester and trying to buckle down and focus and get my stuff done one thing at a time. I may fall off the horse here and there and give into my gaming addiction, but I try, for the most part, to stay focused.

What I need to do, however, is try to keep myself on track and to get things done. So I'll likely be posting as often as I can without impeding my study schedule.

Here's what I've done so far:

• Gotten reinstated (conditionally)
• Figured out a plan of attack as far as which classes to take to graduate as soon as possible.
• Enrolled in Kaplan MCAT prep self-paced classes
• Left my raid static so I can focus on schoolwork while I make this journey
• Set up this journal to keep my thoughts collected

Here's what I have to do:

• Stick to my study schedule (thus far relatively successful, but I could be doing better)
• Sign up for volunteer work at the local hospital
• Study my brains out!
• Take lots of practice tests when I can.
• Improve my health
• Lose weight
• Eat better
• Sleep more regularly...

I hope that some people will join me on the journey. I hope that if there are other people out there struggling with mental health problems who feel that they've thrown their futures away will find this and draw inspiration from this struggle and (hopeful) success. We'll see where I am in a year. :)