The title of my post is a Macklemore song (all credit goes to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis), and one that I really like too. But the lyric also sums up my ambition. No, not my medicine ambitions, but my athletic ambitions.
It has been a dream of mine to run on a university track team since I was about 14, or earlier. I never really fully pursued my dream, as I sort of abandoned competitive sports when I was in grade 10. I was trying to focus on my academics at the time, and sort of kept ignoring competitive running ever since.
What's sparking my interest now is that I turned 23 a few months ago, so basically if I ever want to run track competitively, the time to do it is within the next few years. What has also added fuel to the fire is that I've become a big supporter of UBC athletics, and their rich tradition inspires me.
Unfortunately, today I found out that there is a 10 semester rule, where you have to complete your 4 years of track eligibility within the first 10 semesters of full time studies. Thankfully though, I have between 2-6 semesters of full time studies completed, so I should be guaranteed at least 4 semesters of track, or 2 years. After some thought, I decided to drop my current courses at Langara, and take a few online courses instead. This way, I can save a semester of track eligibility, but still complete some courses. By doing this, I'm only behind by 2 courses, as I will have still completed 4 courses by April, but technically only 3 courses will count towards my track eligibility, which means the semester will not count against me. What sucks is that I lost $1100 in tuition that I can't get back, but it is a very small price to pay if it means I get to chase my dreams and get an extra semester of track eligibility.
So after about 3 hours of looking online at NAIA eligibility rules, I'm pretty tired (its almost 3am on the west coast) so I'm going to head to bed. Problem is, I can tell I'm not going to be able to fall asleep because I'm too excited right now. All of these ideas and dreams of track and the possibilities and my training get me way too fired up. I'm not in shape right now but I'm going to be maximizing my training efforts by training very efficiently. I have access to some pretty good resources as well, so I'm going to take full advantage and pursue my dreams. In my last post I talked about my childhood dreams of playing in the Stanley Cup NHL finals and going to UBC. Well if those were my childhood dreams, my teenage dream is to run university track. The only school I want to run for is UBC. I just can't give up on my dream, especially knowing that my prime physical fitness years will be over in about 7 years. With track, there is no telling how far I could go. I want to run for UBC. I want to run for Team Canada. I want to run at the Olympics. These are lofty goals but I want to chase them and chase them hard. Chase them as hard as I chase medicine. These goals might be crazy but I want to lay it all on the line. If I fail, then I fail, I came up short, but at least I could wake up 50 years from now as an old man and say that I gave it my absolute best. That is what it's all about.
Saturday 21 February 2015
Tuesday 17 February 2015
Feeling a bit blah
I've been studying pretty consistently for the past week, and usually I feel pretty good after I study, but right now I feel like I'm sort of in a funk. I am generally a very happy person and very optimistic about everything I do, that is why I have such lofty goals. But right now I'm just sort of tired of waiting and want some action to happen. What I'm referring to is my current application to UBC. But first, some background.
I had a pretty great childhood, and I have a lot of memories. Things that stand out are road hockey, exploring the trails, and going on the Vancouver trip. My grade 6 class went on a 3 day field trip to Vancouver (my school was on Vancouver Island) and we stayed at the UBC dorms and went to all of the UBC attractions, as well as some Vancouver attractions. I loved the trip and it was at this point that I knew I wanted to go to UBC one day.
Fast forward to me being 19 years old, my dream came true as I was accepted to UBC. I moved to Vancouver on short notice, and was pretty happy about being a UBC student and about getting a UBC degree one day. I commuted for 2 semesters and I lived on campus for one semester and that was an amazing experience. I loved living on the UBC campus as I fulfilled my childhood dream (well, technically my 2nd dream as my 1st was to play in the Stanley Cup Finals in the NHL). But it wasn't all good news, as I had some demons and distractions as I either failed my classes or didn't finish them. I had some personal issues I was going through, because I found my mood was all over the place, and I just usually wasn't up for studying. I knew I could do it and do well, but the motivation just wasn't there. I felt dull and empty when it came to doing homework. I felt like it didn't matter. Maybe I felt that I could get away with not having to study. It was very likely a combination of things and factors that contributed to the final result. But the end result was that I was forced to withdraw from UBC because of poor performance. I think I had like a 37% average in all of my UBC courses.
I felt awful, but I knew I had it in me to do better. As I graduated high school I was offered some decently sized scholarships to the schools I applied for. While it may be easy to get around 500-1000 dollars of credit for tuition at a Canadian school, I think most would agree it's a bit harder to lock up around 6000 dollars of scholarship money for a Canadian school, which I what I did when I was in grade 12.
When I was in high school, my days used to go like this:
4:50am: eat a banana and drink a glass of water,
5:00am: do a bit of math homework
5:30am: go for a fast paced 50 minute run which included about 15 minutes of stairs
6:20am: shower, get ready
6:30am: make breakfast (usually cereal with an omlette or protein shake)
6:50am: drive my mom to work
7:15am: arrive at school and do some more homework
8:05am: start first class
10:45am: lunch time, eat my packed lunch fast, then do more homework
11:45am: more class
2:20pm: end of classes, do more homework in one of the science classrooms
2:50pm: leave school for the day and go pick up my mom from work
3:10pm: attend extra-curricular and/or go to friend's house
On days where I didn't have an extra-curricular after school, I would either go to the gym and hit the weights or I would go home and do homework from 3-5pm then watch some news and eat dinner. I was a news addict in high school. Then at 7pm, if I still had unfinished homework I would do that, or if there was a test coming up, I would prepare for the test.
As you can see though, most of the time, I had finished all of my homework by the time I had to leave school and pick up my mom, which was around 3pm. Some days I even finished everything before I even got to school that day at 8:05am. Getting everything finished by 8am is impressive to me and an absolutely great feeling, one that I'm definitely going to get back to.
Anyways back to the time when I left UBC. I took a full calendar year away from school. If a student is asked to withdraw from UBC, they then have to go through what they call re-admission. I actually found out I could reapply to UBC through Access Studies, and I could technically take classes there even though I had not gone through their re-admission process yet. But in January of 2014 I ended up going to Langara instead. This was one of the best decisions I have ever made, as you know how the rest of the story goes as I started my blog in March of 2014, reporting how well I was doing there, and then finding success in future semesters as well.
But now, what I meant in my opening paragraph when I said of my "current application to UBC", is that I am just now applying for re-admission. This is because one of the stipulations is that you have to do something like a year's worth of credits at a different school before returning to UBC.
I have been VERY anxious about my application. Getting removed from UBC has been somewhat of a traumatic experience for me, as it really affected me. So the reason I'm feeling blah is that this UBC application has brought up a lot of negative feelings from the past for me. This, along with the fact that it has been dark and dreary for some time, sort of gets to you around this time of year as you are just looking forward to spring/summer now. Although we don't get much snow here in Vancouver, SAD, or seasonal affective disorder is very present in BC. Luckily though, I feel as though it has been unusually sunny this winter, so this may not be contributing as much for me as in years past. I'm thinking it must mostly be the whole negativity of reapplying to UBC. I just feel like I would be so crushed if I didn't get back into UBC. Because I'm 23 and only in 3rd year, I want to try to maximize my time and get a degree and get into medical school as soon as possible. So you could imagine, that waiting an extra year for my degree is not what I want to be doing (Langara only offers a few bachelor's degrees, with them mostly being in either nursing or business). I feel like I have been waiting to get into medical school since I was 17. I am just sick of waiting and want to get some results. That's why I would feel so amazing if I got back into UBC, and specifically if I got into the Kinesiology program, as that is my first choice, with Arts being my second. It's not medical school, but getting re-admitted to UBC is still a step in the right direction and a sure sign of me becoming successful again.
I had a pretty great childhood, and I have a lot of memories. Things that stand out are road hockey, exploring the trails, and going on the Vancouver trip. My grade 6 class went on a 3 day field trip to Vancouver (my school was on Vancouver Island) and we stayed at the UBC dorms and went to all of the UBC attractions, as well as some Vancouver attractions. I loved the trip and it was at this point that I knew I wanted to go to UBC one day.
Fast forward to me being 19 years old, my dream came true as I was accepted to UBC. I moved to Vancouver on short notice, and was pretty happy about being a UBC student and about getting a UBC degree one day. I commuted for 2 semesters and I lived on campus for one semester and that was an amazing experience. I loved living on the UBC campus as I fulfilled my childhood dream (well, technically my 2nd dream as my 1st was to play in the Stanley Cup Finals in the NHL). But it wasn't all good news, as I had some demons and distractions as I either failed my classes or didn't finish them. I had some personal issues I was going through, because I found my mood was all over the place, and I just usually wasn't up for studying. I knew I could do it and do well, but the motivation just wasn't there. I felt dull and empty when it came to doing homework. I felt like it didn't matter. Maybe I felt that I could get away with not having to study. It was very likely a combination of things and factors that contributed to the final result. But the end result was that I was forced to withdraw from UBC because of poor performance. I think I had like a 37% average in all of my UBC courses.
I felt awful, but I knew I had it in me to do better. As I graduated high school I was offered some decently sized scholarships to the schools I applied for. While it may be easy to get around 500-1000 dollars of credit for tuition at a Canadian school, I think most would agree it's a bit harder to lock up around 6000 dollars of scholarship money for a Canadian school, which I what I did when I was in grade 12.
When I was in high school, my days used to go like this:
4:50am: eat a banana and drink a glass of water,
5:00am: do a bit of math homework
5:30am: go for a fast paced 50 minute run which included about 15 minutes of stairs
6:20am: shower, get ready
6:30am: make breakfast (usually cereal with an omlette or protein shake)
6:50am: drive my mom to work
7:15am: arrive at school and do some more homework
8:05am: start first class
10:45am: lunch time, eat my packed lunch fast, then do more homework
11:45am: more class
2:20pm: end of classes, do more homework in one of the science classrooms
2:50pm: leave school for the day and go pick up my mom from work
3:10pm: attend extra-curricular and/or go to friend's house
On days where I didn't have an extra-curricular after school, I would either go to the gym and hit the weights or I would go home and do homework from 3-5pm then watch some news and eat dinner. I was a news addict in high school. Then at 7pm, if I still had unfinished homework I would do that, or if there was a test coming up, I would prepare for the test.
As you can see though, most of the time, I had finished all of my homework by the time I had to leave school and pick up my mom, which was around 3pm. Some days I even finished everything before I even got to school that day at 8:05am. Getting everything finished by 8am is impressive to me and an absolutely great feeling, one that I'm definitely going to get back to.
Anyways back to the time when I left UBC. I took a full calendar year away from school. If a student is asked to withdraw from UBC, they then have to go through what they call re-admission. I actually found out I could reapply to UBC through Access Studies, and I could technically take classes there even though I had not gone through their re-admission process yet. But in January of 2014 I ended up going to Langara instead. This was one of the best decisions I have ever made, as you know how the rest of the story goes as I started my blog in March of 2014, reporting how well I was doing there, and then finding success in future semesters as well.
But now, what I meant in my opening paragraph when I said of my "current application to UBC", is that I am just now applying for re-admission. This is because one of the stipulations is that you have to do something like a year's worth of credits at a different school before returning to UBC.
I have been VERY anxious about my application. Getting removed from UBC has been somewhat of a traumatic experience for me, as it really affected me. So the reason I'm feeling blah is that this UBC application has brought up a lot of negative feelings from the past for me. This, along with the fact that it has been dark and dreary for some time, sort of gets to you around this time of year as you are just looking forward to spring/summer now. Although we don't get much snow here in Vancouver, SAD, or seasonal affective disorder is very present in BC. Luckily though, I feel as though it has been unusually sunny this winter, so this may not be contributing as much for me as in years past. I'm thinking it must mostly be the whole negativity of reapplying to UBC. I just feel like I would be so crushed if I didn't get back into UBC. Because I'm 23 and only in 3rd year, I want to try to maximize my time and get a degree and get into medical school as soon as possible. So you could imagine, that waiting an extra year for my degree is not what I want to be doing (Langara only offers a few bachelor's degrees, with them mostly being in either nursing or business). I feel like I have been waiting to get into medical school since I was 17. I am just sick of waiting and want to get some results. That's why I would feel so amazing if I got back into UBC, and specifically if I got into the Kinesiology program, as that is my first choice, with Arts being my second. It's not medical school, but getting re-admitted to UBC is still a step in the right direction and a sure sign of me becoming successful again.
The Aftermath
This was the view from my bed in the recovery room of the surgery clinic. I took this picture because it has the classic hospital/clinic vibes, with the fluorescent lighting and the classic off-white privacy curtain. I actually find the lighting in hospitals and clinics very warm and welcoming. But I may be bias because of my intense love for hospitals and clinics. And no, I'm not being sarcastic, as I think I've mentioned on my blog before, that I LOVE the hospital setting. It just gives me an amazing feeling and I love being there. And yes, I have been sick at the hospital before, and I have even experienced the death of my grandma at the hospital. But even after all of that, I just still love the setting. It's such an exciting, bustling feeling of being at the hospital, or even clinic. And just the fact that you can go there, and highly trained people are willing to help get you better. That idea has always resonated with me.
But anyways, back to the good stuff - Holleh was amazing! She looked after me and cared for me immediately following the surgery and she made me feel so good! Take note future healthcare practitioners! As showing some compassion and care DOES make an enormous difference in a patient's healthcare experience. I know it can be hard for some if it does not come naturally to you, but EVERYONE PLEASE TRY TO WORK ON YOUR CLINICAL COMPASSION AND CARE SKILLS if you are planning to enter healthcare. The single most important thing that I appreciated most was that I felt like Holleh genuinely cared about my well-being. So just try to instill that feeling in your future patients! Work on it now if you are a clinical volunteer too!
I have a cast on my face and I get that removed on Thursday. As for how I'm feeling - I feel pretty decent. Not that bad at all, really. My nose is pretty stuffed up though, which is common. But I may start doing some light reading on Monday. But for me there is really no such thing as light reading, because as soon as I start reading, I am actively synthesizing the material.
I'm looking forward to resting for the weekend, then getting back to some reading. However I can't exercise for another 12 days, which is a major disappointment, but I know I'll come back even hungrier to train because of it.
Wednesday 4 February 2015
Night before surgery
So starting at midnight tonight I can't eat or drink anything because I'm having surgery tomorrow morning. I have to be at the clinic by 7am. My surgery is being done by an otolaryngologist/plastic surgeon. He went to the University of California at San Francisco, which I believe has a medical school with a very good reputation. Although I'm pretty sure all top tier US schools and all Canadian schools have good reputations, so once you're in that group, it may be hard to differentiate between the schools in that category.
My surgery is partly to fix my breathing and partly cosmetic. I am a bit nervous for my surgery mainly because there is always the risk of having some sort of complication. But I'm pretty confident I will be fine, but I will be relieved first once the surgery is over and second once I've recovered from the surgery. From my understanding, I should start feeling a bit better after about 3 days after the procedure, and I should mostly be fine 1 week after. I may still have some swelling and bruising after a week, but I'm not sure when all of that will go away. I'm hoping I can start studying around 5 days after the surgery.
I've had some people send me well wishes for the surgery and I just wanted to say thanks on here! I really appreciate all of the support I get from everyone. I'm glad I can make a connection with some people, even if you read my blog once a month or even less than that!
I may or may not post that much over the next week or two. It really depends on how I'm feeling. The Tylenol 3s that I'm taking apparently make me drowsy and dizzy, so if I'm really out of it, I wont be posting. But it's pretty easy to get online and write something, so I may post a few times.
I wanted to say congrats to Birdy from http://premedpostmom.blogspot.ca/ for getting an interview at McMaster University. She has already finished an interview at MUN, so she has been pretty successful this year, and she might even be more successful once acceptances come out. I think she is a great person and she has a great blog so check it out if you haven't already!
Hope everyone has a successful term at school or work or any other endeavours. For me, this is about the time of year where I would start slacking (pre-2014 that is, as I haven't really slacked since January 2014), so everyone just remember the big picture and keep working and chasing your dreams!
My surgery is partly to fix my breathing and partly cosmetic. I am a bit nervous for my surgery mainly because there is always the risk of having some sort of complication. But I'm pretty confident I will be fine, but I will be relieved first once the surgery is over and second once I've recovered from the surgery. From my understanding, I should start feeling a bit better after about 3 days after the procedure, and I should mostly be fine 1 week after. I may still have some swelling and bruising after a week, but I'm not sure when all of that will go away. I'm hoping I can start studying around 5 days after the surgery.
I've had some people send me well wishes for the surgery and I just wanted to say thanks on here! I really appreciate all of the support I get from everyone. I'm glad I can make a connection with some people, even if you read my blog once a month or even less than that!
I may or may not post that much over the next week or two. It really depends on how I'm feeling. The Tylenol 3s that I'm taking apparently make me drowsy and dizzy, so if I'm really out of it, I wont be posting. But it's pretty easy to get online and write something, so I may post a few times.
I wanted to say congrats to Birdy from http://premedpostmom.blogspot.ca/ for getting an interview at McMaster University. She has already finished an interview at MUN, so she has been pretty successful this year, and she might even be more successful once acceptances come out. I think she is a great person and she has a great blog so check it out if you haven't already!
Hope everyone has a successful term at school or work or any other endeavours. For me, this is about the time of year where I would start slacking (pre-2014 that is, as I haven't really slacked since January 2014), so everyone just remember the big picture and keep working and chasing your dreams!
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