The things they don't tell you...

Yeah, yeah...I know I was supposed to have a whole series of posts up by now about my life. But the trouble is that life sort of got in the way. I was studying and then all of a sudden it's a week later. Well, you will have to continue waiting on pins and needles for parts 2-4 on my life updates; HOWEVER, until then, I have this to tie you over....!

The 10 things no one tells you about medical school:
(There are explanations on the link, but here's the top 10 with my input!) 

• It's more like high school than college. 
• Yes. Not only is the tiny community you've become part of in everyone else's biz, but also because you sit down and get lectured to for a longer chunk of time than college. I can't say that mornings are my favorite hours of the day anymore. 
• You lose the ability to communicate like a normal human. 
• Thanksgiving and Christmas with the family is very hard for me. Or catching up with non-medical friends from high school and college. Sometimes I can come up with some fun anecdotes about things I saw in clinic (influenza A is still on the rise in Omaha!), but I'm certain everyone around me is tired of hearing about which muscles are innervated by which nerves (and that they have a strong heart beat with no murmur, sorry Mr. Justin!). 
• Your idea of a typical conversation is actually horrifying. 
• Yeah, I talk about pretty much all of the body fluids at lots of meals. My background in sex education does not help. Just last week we went out for a dinner meeting about things to do with the jail project. The people sitting next to us at sushi gave us some strange looks, when I was yelling about the steps to put on a condom and how to appropriately teach them to students. 
• It's difficult to meet people outside of school.
• Wait, there are people outside of school? Kidding. Although truthfully, the majority of people I know in Omaha that are not medical students are either my family or ladies from dance. 
• It takes you a long time before you actually know things.
• If you like being a complete idiot 100% of the time, then this is the field for you! Kidding, it's only like 99.5% of the time. 
• You only have a 50% chance of being above average.
• P=MD...all you need is a 65% in most cases!
• Asking for help is admitting weakness
• This one hits close to home...last year when I got really sick I didn't tell anyone about it because I didn't want them to think that I wasn't capable of doing the medical school thing. It's hard on the psyche to continually feel like an idiot without asking for help! Asking for help is WAY better than the alternative, in my opinion!
• Your friends grow up around you.
• I've been trying to think about what people who aren't in school, aren't married and don't have kids do when they get off work at night? I cannot wrap my mind around that idea. I study. And then sometimes I go to dance class. On occasion I even do laundry and clean (sorry about the slacking on cleaning the past few weeks, Megan).
• Everyone will ask you for medical advice.
• Ha yeah. Jokes on you. I have no idea what I'm doing.
• Bullsh*tting your way through things won't cut it anymore.
• Someday I will be in charge of real lives. Definitely can't "fake it 'til you make it." Gotta learn a few things along the way... 

Test Thursday. Look forward to more posts this weekend (hopefully...I'm working on an abstract for a research conference just as soon as my mental faculties recover from the essay-beating I'm sure to experience on Thursday morning!). 

oh, that's right...I have a blog

Full disclosure here: I have honestly been so busy and wrapped up with school and other life happenings that I completely forgot about the blogging. My apologies to my faithful readers! Here's a seriously quick breakdown of the happenings over the past few weeks!

• Technology fast: I am back in the social media realm. I think the fast was a really good thing for me. And honestly, I didn't miss much while I was gone for a month. Still considering deactivating everything all together...
• Challenges: This month's challenge is write a letter/note/email to someone every single day! As it turns out, I am UTTERLY failing at this challenge. Like I've only written two letters. And I wrote them both on the same day because I forgot to write one on the first day of the month. Sooooo it looks as though I'm taking a break from the challenges this month. No worries though, I shall start up again at the first of the year! Perhaps I will do both January (get up early) and December's challenges...I could write my letters early in the morning! 
• Ambur Lane: Mister Justin had a show with his band and I went back to Hastings to surprise him! I also spent some quality time studying at Morrison Reeves Science Center and Perkins Library. Needless to say, I miss both of those buildings immensely! 

  

  Ambur Lane! 

• Celebrations with food: I celebrated Thanksgiving 5 times this year. I think that means I'm extra thankful! :)
• Frozen Tundra: I continued to have class in the frozen tundra. Thank goodness for my orange blanket and snuggle buddy! 
• do juSTIce: Lots of great meetings and partnerships in the works for the jail/youth facility.
• Christmas sing-a-long: Dr. Binhammer has a sing-a-long every year. This year's was as fabulous as expected! 
• Holiday parties: Potlucks and Ugly Christmas Sweaters. Gosh, I LOVE this time of year. I have a perpetual stomachache from all of the sweets I've been eating...absolute perfection! Oh and an excuse to wear Christmas socks (btdubs, I fit into children's sized socks apparently...if you're looking for a good Christmas gift, socks are always welcome!).

  

  I <3 potlucks!

• NAP: Always an adventure at Nebraska AIDS Project. Last week was no exception!

• The Nutcracker: Ballet Nebraska outdid themselves with an INCREDIBLE production of The Nutcracker! And my wonderful friend and dance teacher was THE most beautiful sugar plum fairy!
  
• Husker Volleyball with the fam bam and roomie: we watched the 'Skers beat San Diego to continue on in the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, they lost to Texas the following night. But it was fun to go to some games! 

  

  Papa, Mama and I!

• Test week: I keep telling myself that all of the sweets I've been eating are preparing my body for all of the energy I'll use up in the next week studying/taking my final test of the semester! This one is still on biochemistry, but focused on metabolism, the immune response, cancer and clinical genetics. 
• Christmas concerts: a capella jazz concert with my mama. Pure awesomeness. 

• Gingerbread Village: Mister Justin finished finals last week and returned the surprise favor by showing up on my door late one evening! It was really wonderful to hang out. We even made this nice gingerbread village. Straw poll...do you or do you not eat your gingerbread villages after creating them? 

Note: I did not do all of the decorating. So, if you are upset that things
are not symmetrical and/or without a nice pattern, I am not the person to blame.
If you do not care how your gingerpeople live, then this is the village for them. 

In other news: I like this video... Take a look!

Just a seriously quick review of what I've been up to since Thanksgiving! I hope all is well with everyone! 

I can tell it's a test week because...

• the only food I have in the apartment is tortilla chips and uncooked pasta. I wish I was joking...and I absolutely will not take the time to go grocery shopping until after the test. 
• I have the worst craving for sushi. Only 48 hours until the craving is satisfied! :) 
• there are loads of shoes strewn around my room and I'm too lazy to put anything away.
• my dreams are all anatomy related
• I always smell, at least faintly, of formaldehyde. Oh the joys of dissection... 
• I feel utterly overwhelmed (and this isn't even my first crack at the class!). SO MUCH TO LEARN!

I promise I'm only neglecting the blogging because I've been busy studying and/or catching up on sleep. Our exams are on Fridays this year, so hopefully this weekend I'll have time to write something more substantial. Until then I shall trace the nerve and artery pathways...