Holy hell. I feel like a giant has scooped me up, shoved me in his mouth, and chewed on my skull before spitting me out. It’s been a rough week.
Monday was the first test.
I studied. Every day, after class, I reviewed the lectures, made notes. Then, when I was through making notes, I previewed the next day’s material. I studied every night, sometimes until well past midnight. And as the test approached, I kicked it into high gear. When I say I studied hard, good god, I mean, I studied hard. I read. I took notes. I highlighted my notes. I drew diagrams. I made flash cards. I did practice questions. I did everything I could think of. I stayed at the library for 12 hours on Saturday, and 8 or so on Sunday. I thought I was golden. I have never studied like that before.
I’m not used to studying that much. While I did my fair share of studying in college, if I had studied like I have been in the last couple weeks, I would have gotten 100% on every test. I would have made a 4.0 5.0 GPA.
But apparently, that level of studying, for medical school, is only sufficient to get B’s.
While I can’t say I’m upset with my grades, I’m sure as hell not exactly thrilled either. But I guess I’m just going to have to get used to it. I’m going to try as hard as I can to do as well as I can, and from that point, I’ll leave it in the hands of god (or whoever) because if I worry, or stress out, or dwell on my performance, I’ll simply go insane.
There’s simply no time for that kind of thinking.
I’m not sure if the people who plan the medical school curriculum are intentionally sadistic, or if the volume of information presented in medial school simply necessitates a sadistic schedule, even if the people who draw up the curriculum are reluctant about subjecting 160 people to such a grueling pace. Regardless, the people who planned our curriculm are some sadistic bastards. I don’t care if they meant to be or not–the pace is just brutal.
No sooner had my classmates and I finished our first test and begun a celebratory catharsis by drinking away the memory of all things related to DNA polymerase than we realized–shit–we have a quiz in two days.
That’s right. Not content to give us just one massive test in a week, the powers-that-be in our administration decided it prudent to add insult to injury and throw in a quiz. A mere two days after having our study skills demoralized en masse, we were to face yet another academic humiliation.
I’ve only been in class for about two and a half weeks now, but I think I’m starting to understand how it works.
There’s no time to get comfortable, no time to relax. Like a little buoy bobbing along in the ocean, even when the water seems calm, you’re still bobbing–up and down, up and down. In the calm water, you’ll establish a rhythm. Class, study–up and down–take notes, make flashcards–up and down, up and down. That’s the easy part. But you’re at the mercy of larger forces–namely gravity and the rhythm of the tides–your professors and their tests. These bigger forces dictate your motion–up and down, up and down. If you’re lucky enough to be in sync with the rhythm when a big wave approaches, you might get splashed, or you might get tossed around and shaken up, but you’ll stay above water. But if you’re still bobbing to the rhythm of the last wave that shook you when another wave comes along, however, you might just get toppled and sucked under.
I’m looking forward to a three day weekend. Free student passes to a baseball game! Sweet! Gonna drink beer and root for the away team. (Not to be a dick, but because they’re from my hometown!)
Tags: buoys bobbing in the ocean · giants that chew you up and spit you out · studying · tests1 Comment
welcome to med school!