My final mark in my English course was an A-. I was really disappointed with this. If I had just done better on my final, I would've got an A for sure. I guess the name of the game for me is consistency. If I can just follow through this semester in January, I can definitely improve my application to med schools.
But, considering I was always really bad at English, this is definitely an improvement. I'm pretty certain I got like a 73 in high school English. And I was not a slacker in high school.
The amount of time that this whole med school timeline has been taking had started to take a toll on my optimism. But there is a new game changer in the works for me. For almost 4 years now I had been taking a medication for mood. The medication has always given me great fatigue, but I always just managed as best as I could. And sometimes I couldn't manage. Well now, I've come up with a plan with my doctor to go off the medication, hopefully reducing my debilitating physical fatigue and giving me more energy and maybe even feeling normal again. I won't see the reduction in fatigue until at least a month from now, and it may take longer to adjust, maybe 3-6 months. Anyways this is a huge development for me because now without fatigue, I can undoubtedly perform better. Going off the medication was my idea, and my doctor was very hesitant, but I basically told him enough is enough. It is unlikely I would've been able to complete medical training with these physical fatigue levels to begin with, before even starting. My family doctor actually told me this (and I think I posted about it, hah something about how I was going to make it work). And now reflecting back, it makes a lot of sense. This whole time I thought I just wasn't getting enough sleep or eating too much fat. And while those contribute, the difference between myself on the medication and the rest of my life that I wasn't on the medication, is tremendously stark. This is always why I was hesitant to study for the MCAT. Because I didn't know if I had the physical stamina to study 8 hours a day for 3 months straight. Now I'm feeling a lot more optimistic about the MCAT.
I'm still hoping to finish much of my organic chemistry course by New Years Eve. I told myself Christmas wouldn't get in the way, but that's easier said than done. Especially if your friends are calling you every day to make sure you're coming to the Christmas party tonight. I'm going because I think it would be fun. And not going would be a bit much. So I'm going to go tonight, and I've gotta clean the house today for Christmas. On Saturday it is unlikely I'm going to do homework because all of my closest family is in town so I think we may spend the day together then have our Christmss Eve dinner. We always have our turkey dinner on Christmas Eve. So I might start up organic chemistry again on Christmas Day, then work straight through until December 31st. I self imposed a January 1st deadline because I'm writing the final exam on something like January 12th. So that will be great to finally get this course out of the way. I need to do everything right, one step at a time. And another important thing that I was reflecting on after I got my English mark was that I need to become a dedicated student again. I need to prioritize school above the business, day-to-day things, friends, and anything else that might occupy my time on any given day. I realized I need to be a dedicated student, or else med school will never happen. Dedication is an important word for being a student. It means you will always do your required work, no matter what happens. It almost implies that a student is studying for a higher purpose rather than just putting in a check mark on a box. The latter is what's I've been doing. I've been barely getting by. It's because I've been wanting to do as little as work as possible. Granted, a huge part of it is how fatigued I am every single day. But still, I think a shift in thinking needs to happen. It means less fun in my life, but it's a trade off I'm willing to take. For now I'll focus on the next couple weeks, and dedicate myself to my studies so I can finish organic chem. I'm excited to decide which course I'm going to work on after organic chem.
Anyways MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄 to all you incredible and wonderful people. Ill enjoy it while it lasts, because in all likelihood, 36 hours from now I will be knee-deep in figuring out my 2nd (out of 6) unit of organic chemistry. I'll start the updates once I finish some more units. Talk soon take care and Merrry Xmas.
Friday 23 December 2016
Friday 16 December 2016
English Final Exam Thoughts
@$%#! That final exam for English was awful. It's not that it was too hard, it's just that I didn't perform well. I was slow in the beginning of the exam because I was organizing my thoughts for the essay for a while. The reason I was slow is because I didn't get a full chance to tidy up a few things and thoughts for my ideas about essay topics this morning. I went to bed late last night and accidentally set my alarm for 7pm instead of 7am. I use my phone for reminders in the daytime so that's why I had it on PM from yesterday. And I was just tired when I set it and didn't check if it was AM or PM. Usually it wouldn't be an issue because I wake up reasonably within time naturally anyways, but if you're going to bed really late because you're cramming then this exact situation could be detrimental if you don't wake up naturally at the right time (which personally usually happens to me without an alarm). It could prove to be determintal for you just as it did for me in this situation. Anyways I was rushing the last minute prep this morning, and the prep took longer than I thought. Showed up late to the exam, had less time, was still doing prep in the beginning of the exam (was organizing my thesis in my head to make sure it made full sense), took a long time to write the exam because I'm not a person who ever finishes early. I'm always the last person in the room during the exam. Always. Anyways this pefrect storm no doubt lead to a reduced mark on my essay. I wouldn't be surprised if I got 60% on the final. Moral of the story always check to make sure your alarm is set for AM, as well as well as the right time.
Luckily I did well enough in the latter half of the course, up to the exam, to provide a good buffer. I did manage to finish up my last assignment and I received 90% on it (worth 5% of final mark). So in total I'm looking okay. Basically the final exam didn't make the course grade useless. I can't make a prediction because I have no idea what mark I'm gonna receive on my final. Hopefully it's not an awful B+ but we will see.
I need to cheer myself up. I should submit an organic chem assignment and get 95 on it to make me feel better. Yeah that's what I'll do. On Sunday it'll be done. Done deal.
Happy Friday though! Hope people have some Christmas fun. I'll be studying everyday this Christmas, but that's irrelevant. My point is I want to live through you guys, haha so have some fun for me. Going out, movies, family, hobbies, volunteering, reading or whatever. Just enjoy yourselves because Christmas is a great time of year. People noticeably act different (nicer) so we all might as well make the most of the December joy. Don't worry I'll post plenty before Christmas too. Talk soon!
Luckily I did well enough in the latter half of the course, up to the exam, to provide a good buffer. I did manage to finish up my last assignment and I received 90% on it (worth 5% of final mark). So in total I'm looking okay. Basically the final exam didn't make the course grade useless. I can't make a prediction because I have no idea what mark I'm gonna receive on my final. Hopefully it's not an awful B+ but we will see.
I need to cheer myself up. I should submit an organic chem assignment and get 95 on it to make me feel better. Yeah that's what I'll do. On Sunday it'll be done. Done deal.
Happy Friday though! Hope people have some Christmas fun. I'll be studying everyday this Christmas, but that's irrelevant. My point is I want to live through you guys, haha so have some fun for me. Going out, movies, family, hobbies, volunteering, reading or whatever. Just enjoy yourselves because Christmas is a great time of year. People noticeably act different (nicer) so we all might as well make the most of the December joy. Don't worry I'll post plenty before Christmas too. Talk soon!
Tuesday 13 December 2016
Home Stretch of English 101
So I got my mark back for my English term paper. I got 85% on it. It's solid but I was actually very disappointed because I thought I could've received a higher mark on it.
Anyways I'm going to see if I can get some feedback on the paper - because, I thought I worked it pretty well. I actually did not think my mark was going to be as low as 85%. So I need to find out what I did wrong. This feedback should help me a bit before the final. Yup the final exam is on Friday. I'm still working on my last essay worth 5% though. And the final is worth 25%, (which was the same as the term paper). I'll be done the essay tomorrow, and then after that it's all finals prep for English, aside from a few errands I have to run in town Wednesday and Thursday.
The math for what my final mark could be for English isn't looking good. I'm not sure what mark I'll get yet. But an A+ might still be possible. Since this final isn't worth a high amount (relative to the usual 50% final exam weighting) I think that's a half decent sign this late in the game.
For courses going forward, I know I'm on the right track. Organic chem is coming along too, and I can't wait to be done English so I can put all effort into orgo. I'm going to be done orgo by Dec 31st, minus the final exam. That's the goal I've set for myself and I think I can do it.
Anyways! I might post again before my final. I'm so glad I have this blog in times like this. It's therapeutic writing on here, but what I like is that people come read my blog posts. That's what makes it for me. I'm going to brush my teeth and floss then I'm off to bed. I'm going to try to wake up early tomorrow to finish that essay. Take care and talk soon!
Anyways I'm going to see if I can get some feedback on the paper - because, I thought I worked it pretty well. I actually did not think my mark was going to be as low as 85%. So I need to find out what I did wrong. This feedback should help me a bit before the final. Yup the final exam is on Friday. I'm still working on my last essay worth 5% though. And the final is worth 25%, (which was the same as the term paper). I'll be done the essay tomorrow, and then after that it's all finals prep for English, aside from a few errands I have to run in town Wednesday and Thursday.
The math for what my final mark could be for English isn't looking good. I'm not sure what mark I'll get yet. But an A+ might still be possible. Since this final isn't worth a high amount (relative to the usual 50% final exam weighting) I think that's a half decent sign this late in the game.
For courses going forward, I know I'm on the right track. Organic chem is coming along too, and I can't wait to be done English so I can put all effort into orgo. I'm going to be done orgo by Dec 31st, minus the final exam. That's the goal I've set for myself and I think I can do it.
Anyways! I might post again before my final. I'm so glad I have this blog in times like this. It's therapeutic writing on here, but what I like is that people come read my blog posts. That's what makes it for me. I'm going to brush my teeth and floss then I'm off to bed. I'm going to try to wake up early tomorrow to finish that essay. Take care and talk soon!
Monday 5 December 2016
Restless Energy
I submitted my term paper on Friday night and I ended up taking much more time to tinker with it than I initially thought I would need. Anyways it's in now so I'm just waiting for it to be marked and for my grade to be posted online! Nonetheless I have to prepare for my English final exam on December 16th too. But before that, I have one last essay to write but it's only worth 5%. I could've finished that today but I was doing some things for the business in the day time.
I'm just sort of starting to work my way back into my organic chemistry class (it has an end date in mid January), but I'm dreading getting my fet weet in that class because it has been so long since I worked on it. I'll basically have to re-teach myself the entire first 1/3 of the course that I already learned months ago. But it is my fault for not working on it before. I can't blame anything or anything else to try to make excuses.
My head is really in the game though. I've been doing general and diverse reading to prepare myself for CARS. I do feel I'm quite good at analyzing arguments and basically figuring out not only knowing "what people are trying to say", but also getting to the real heart of the issues too. But I'm still humbled by how much I'm learning too. Even when my confidence goes up, the uncertainty goes up a little too because then I realize there are all these things that I didn't know or didn't consider on a variety of topics. Or it could just be how much detail is possible in a variety of disciplines. But I find it fascinating that this stuff isn't boring me, it is actually very interesting. It might be because I have tremendous respect for passionate people, and for that much thought to go into a topic or an issue, or for it to be examined in that great of detail, then I just plain have respect for these people who are working on their craft, and doing work on what they care about.
Lately I've found myself to be much more productive in the evenings into the night. This was the case for the latter part of my English class. Last night I also finished a discussion that I thought I did a pretty good analysis on, and once again that took a lot longer than I thought it was going to take!
Anyways the lectures for the English class are over, but now that the class is nearing an end, I wish I could take more classes like this. I never thought I'd say this but I actually enjoyed an English class. The caveat is that it was not based on literature though, so I did have some optimism when I registered that I just maybe might actually enjoy it. I'll go into a bit more detail later about what this English course was about and what I learned, just because I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
I started this post around quarter to 11pm-Pacific time. I haven't been exercising nearly as much as I wanted to in the last few weeks, but I'm still at a decent weight. Nonetheless, now I have this restless energy that is telling me I should go hit the treadmill at the gym. And literally as I just wrote this post I realized it started snowing around 8pm, and I just looked outside and saw snow on the ground. Stupidly, I never put winter tires on my car. But I mean c'mon I think it snowed for 2 hours last year. Anyways, I'm too restless so I'm gonna go hit the treadmill for an hour anyways. Hopefully I won't crash on those snowy roads, but I think I'll be OK. Talk soon!
I'm just sort of starting to work my way back into my organic chemistry class (it has an end date in mid January), but I'm dreading getting my fet weet in that class because it has been so long since I worked on it. I'll basically have to re-teach myself the entire first 1/3 of the course that I already learned months ago. But it is my fault for not working on it before. I can't blame anything or anything else to try to make excuses.
My head is really in the game though. I've been doing general and diverse reading to prepare myself for CARS. I do feel I'm quite good at analyzing arguments and basically figuring out not only knowing "what people are trying to say", but also getting to the real heart of the issues too. But I'm still humbled by how much I'm learning too. Even when my confidence goes up, the uncertainty goes up a little too because then I realize there are all these things that I didn't know or didn't consider on a variety of topics. Or it could just be how much detail is possible in a variety of disciplines. But I find it fascinating that this stuff isn't boring me, it is actually very interesting. It might be because I have tremendous respect for passionate people, and for that much thought to go into a topic or an issue, or for it to be examined in that great of detail, then I just plain have respect for these people who are working on their craft, and doing work on what they care about.
Lately I've found myself to be much more productive in the evenings into the night. This was the case for the latter part of my English class. Last night I also finished a discussion that I thought I did a pretty good analysis on, and once again that took a lot longer than I thought it was going to take!
Anyways the lectures for the English class are over, but now that the class is nearing an end, I wish I could take more classes like this. I never thought I'd say this but I actually enjoyed an English class. The caveat is that it was not based on literature though, so I did have some optimism when I registered that I just maybe might actually enjoy it. I'll go into a bit more detail later about what this English course was about and what I learned, just because I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
I started this post around quarter to 11pm-Pacific time. I haven't been exercising nearly as much as I wanted to in the last few weeks, but I'm still at a decent weight. Nonetheless, now I have this restless energy that is telling me I should go hit the treadmill at the gym. And literally as I just wrote this post I realized it started snowing around 8pm, and I just looked outside and saw snow on the ground. Stupidly, I never put winter tires on my car. But I mean c'mon I think it snowed for 2 hours last year. Anyways, I'm too restless so I'm gonna go hit the treadmill for an hour anyways. Hopefully I won't crash on those snowy roads, but I think I'll be OK. Talk soon!
Monday 28 November 2016
Motivation
So earlier this year I was having trouble with staying motivated. It sounds immature but I was content with making a bit of money and using it to do fun stuff with my friends, like small trips and stuff like that. I use the word immature given what my goals are, and I know doing those things won't help me achieve my goals. I really just wasn't motivated to change anything, because things felt pretty good. And add in the fact that once I do get accepted I will be tremendously busy throughout my training, so I was actually dreading towards starting my training (because I could've applied this past summer). So a part of me didn't even want to get accepted this year. I imagine it will be quite difficult in med school, and residency even more so. So I know that I was definitely thinking, do I even want to do all of this right now? I guess you could say I wanted to achieve what I wanted to achieve, but I didn't want to start it because really that's when the real hard work starts. It was quite demanding to work for 50-60 hours a week in parts of my undergrad, and I wasn't looking forward to starting that again to finish my undergrad, and then doing even more hours in med school. And it goes without saying that I was aiming for perfect grades, which is quite daunting to me mentally, because of my past failures.
But now, I can't pinpoint what has changed lately but I'm feeling so reinvigorated. So much so that I can do work for 10 hours straight and not even think of anything else except the task at hand. Seriously, aside from going to the bathroom once or twice, I can literally work on stuff for at least 6-8 hours without a break. It hasn't been science studying for exams though, it's all been working on tasks and assignments. But still last week was so productive for me.
I'll keep it up throughout December to meet my deadlines. I'll post more on my progress soon. Talk soon and take care.
But now, I can't pinpoint what has changed lately but I'm feeling so reinvigorated. So much so that I can do work for 10 hours straight and not even think of anything else except the task at hand. Seriously, aside from going to the bathroom once or twice, I can literally work on stuff for at least 6-8 hours without a break. It hasn't been science studying for exams though, it's all been working on tasks and assignments. But still last week was so productive for me.
I'll keep it up throughout December to meet my deadlines. I'll post more on my progress soon. Talk soon and take care.
English Improvment
Not submitting a long post right now, but I'm happy to say I got 95% on one of my English assignments. The assignment was worth a decent 10% of the final mark.
I'm basically finished the term paper and it's worth 25% of my final mark but I haven't handed it in yet. My prof extended the deadline for the class so I'm going to make some adjustments and edit it tonight. There's also this really wonderful librarian at the school I met the other week, and she said she'd be willing to look over my work. So tomorrow I'm going to take the assignment to her and hopefully she can look it over.
Aside from the term paper I also have one last essay to hand in as well which is worth 5% and one more discussion worth around 2%. Then it's the final exam in a couple weeks. I've started calculus and plants (that's the bio course), and once I can sit down and put in more time to those after I'm done my English work, then I think both those courses will go really fast. For calculus I just need to work on my algebra and functions but I already know most of the calculus itself. I just need to improve my skill is all, the knowledge is there. And the plant science course seems super interesting as well. Half of the course is on plant science basics and bioactive chemical aspects of plants. I'm guessing medicinal aspects will be in the latter. I love learning about medical knowledge, and honestly I really truly believe any knowledge is good knowledge. Some people don't seem to realize how diverse knowledge can be useful in their careers. Anyways I'll post updates as I get them. Talk soon and take care.
I'm basically finished the term paper and it's worth 25% of my final mark but I haven't handed it in yet. My prof extended the deadline for the class so I'm going to make some adjustments and edit it tonight. There's also this really wonderful librarian at the school I met the other week, and she said she'd be willing to look over my work. So tomorrow I'm going to take the assignment to her and hopefully she can look it over.
Aside from the term paper I also have one last essay to hand in as well which is worth 5% and one more discussion worth around 2%. Then it's the final exam in a couple weeks. I've started calculus and plants (that's the bio course), and once I can sit down and put in more time to those after I'm done my English work, then I think both those courses will go really fast. For calculus I just need to work on my algebra and functions but I already know most of the calculus itself. I just need to improve my skill is all, the knowledge is there. And the plant science course seems super interesting as well. Half of the course is on plant science basics and bioactive chemical aspects of plants. I'm guessing medicinal aspects will be in the latter. I love learning about medical knowledge, and honestly I really truly believe any knowledge is good knowledge. Some people don't seem to realize how diverse knowledge can be useful in their careers. Anyways I'll post updates as I get them. Talk soon and take care.
Friday 18 November 2016
Upping the Course Load
So I registered for 3 more courses this week. One of the courses starts in January though and runs until April. The other two are self paced and my books arrived today!
So on the immediate schedule is English, organic chem I, calculus and a bio course. I'm almost done English except for the final exam. I have some prior calculus knowledge so I'm hoping that will benefit me in calc. The bio course I'm looking forward to, and I think it's going to be a challenge in completing organic chem at a high level.
But now I'm glad I'm finally in a proper course load. Orgo I started before September, so I need to finish 3 other courses before next term so I can be eligible for Queens and UofC. Also on a subjective level, the more I'm in a full time load then the more favourable it will be for my med school applications.
I think English, bio, and one of either calc or orgo will all be done by Christmas for sure.
But another thing I have on my plate is doing CARS practice. My CARS tutor that I mentioned a few months ago is meeting with me over the holidays to do some CARS tutoring (Yes!!). I'm really looking forward to this so that I can fine tune my CARS strategy and improve some of my analytical reasoning skills.
It's a busy winter but it's honestly so awesome. I can't wait to see my final marks on my transcript come Christmas time. Happy Friday and Talk soon and take care!
So on the immediate schedule is English, organic chem I, calculus and a bio course. I'm almost done English except for the final exam. I have some prior calculus knowledge so I'm hoping that will benefit me in calc. The bio course I'm looking forward to, and I think it's going to be a challenge in completing organic chem at a high level.
But now I'm glad I'm finally in a proper course load. Orgo I started before September, so I need to finish 3 other courses before next term so I can be eligible for Queens and UofC. Also on a subjective level, the more I'm in a full time load then the more favourable it will be for my med school applications.
I think English, bio, and one of either calc or orgo will all be done by Christmas for sure.
But another thing I have on my plate is doing CARS practice. My CARS tutor that I mentioned a few months ago is meeting with me over the holidays to do some CARS tutoring (Yes!!). I'm really looking forward to this so that I can fine tune my CARS strategy and improve some of my analytical reasoning skills.
It's a busy winter but it's honestly so awesome. I can't wait to see my final marks on my transcript come Christmas time. Happy Friday and Talk soon and take care!
Thursday 3 November 2016
English Midterm Mark
Remember my English midterm I was talking about a couple weeks ago? Well I got my mark back and I was pleasantly surprised that I got 80% on it. I was trying not to get my hopes up because I really wasn't sure how I did. Our midterm was an essay on a piece we read in class.
The weird thing is, my professor emailed a marking sheet with her criteria on it, and then at the bottom it says my mark which reads: "Grade: B+ 76%, 12/15" . The weight of our midterm was worth 15% so 12/15 is the raw score or weighting achieved for this evaluation. The thing is, 12/15 is 80% not 76%. So I guess there could be a small possibility that I got a weight of 11.4% but I don't think that's the case.
What I think is going on here is that the grade of a B+ vs an A- can be open to interpretation for an English professor, so maybe I was on the cusp of an A-, but because of the mistakes I made, she was forced to not give an "A-" grade but a "B+" instead. But I'm thinking despite my mistakes, the quality and effectiveness of the argument and piece of writing on the whole was so good that she didn't want to deduct too many marks from it. So the result is a B+ piece of writing by definition because of my mistakes, but the the high level of cohesiveness, unity and style meant I should be deserving an A- raw score. I know that English professors can be very principled when it comes to handing out grades in the "A" range for essays. I know that it isn't really a checklist of right and wrong, but more of a holistic evaluation of how "good" the writing is. I've always got this sense when speaking to English instructors about how to get an A (which I did with this particular professor as well). It is notorious that at UBC very very few people get high "A" marks in first year English. And I'm not at UBC for this English course, but the standards feel the exact same.
Anyways, in this example the 12/15 is very clearly the percentage of weighting that I achieved, so I'll go ahead and go with that when calculating my final mark. So far my marks are looking pretty good in this English class, which is making me look forward to writing the final exam in December and getting a final mark. But this week I've got a lot to do. I've got 2 assignments and one quiz to do by Monday morning, so another 16% of the course will be complete by Monday morning, about the same weighting as my midterm. Hopefully I can get much higher than 80% on these new tasks though. I always do better at the end of courses than the beginning too. Anyways talk soon and take care.
The weird thing is, my professor emailed a marking sheet with her criteria on it, and then at the bottom it says my mark which reads: "Grade: B+ 76%, 12/15" . The weight of our midterm was worth 15% so 12/15 is the raw score or weighting achieved for this evaluation. The thing is, 12/15 is 80% not 76%. So I guess there could be a small possibility that I got a weight of 11.4% but I don't think that's the case.
What I think is going on here is that the grade of a B+ vs an A- can be open to interpretation for an English professor, so maybe I was on the cusp of an A-, but because of the mistakes I made, she was forced to not give an "A-" grade but a "B+" instead. But I'm thinking despite my mistakes, the quality and effectiveness of the argument and piece of writing on the whole was so good that she didn't want to deduct too many marks from it. So the result is a B+ piece of writing by definition because of my mistakes, but the the high level of cohesiveness, unity and style meant I should be deserving an A- raw score. I know that English professors can be very principled when it comes to handing out grades in the "A" range for essays. I know that it isn't really a checklist of right and wrong, but more of a holistic evaluation of how "good" the writing is. I've always got this sense when speaking to English instructors about how to get an A (which I did with this particular professor as well). It is notorious that at UBC very very few people get high "A" marks in first year English. And I'm not at UBC for this English course, but the standards feel the exact same.
Anyways, in this example the 12/15 is very clearly the percentage of weighting that I achieved, so I'll go ahead and go with that when calculating my final mark. So far my marks are looking pretty good in this English class, which is making me look forward to writing the final exam in December and getting a final mark. But this week I've got a lot to do. I've got 2 assignments and one quiz to do by Monday morning, so another 16% of the course will be complete by Monday morning, about the same weighting as my midterm. Hopefully I can get much higher than 80% on these new tasks though. I always do better at the end of courses than the beginning too. Anyways talk soon and take care.
Thursday 20 October 2016
Premed Pre-reqs and Financial Boost
So I wrote an English midterm this week. Felt good to get it out of the way. But still not sure how I did. Luckily, the weighting is only 15% so it doesn't make or break my final English mark, per say. After the midterm is marked I believe I will have grades for about 40%-ish for the course.
I'm not doing bad in the course overall, so right now I'm looking forward to improving my writing over the next 7ish weeks, and hopefully getting my mark back before Christmas.
I spent a lot of time two weeks ago trying to decide which courses to complete after I'm done with my current courses of English, Bio II, and Orgo I. I'm thinking I'll continue with the basic science pre-reqs. Despite their difficulty, those courses will benefit me the most and help me prepare for the MCAT in 2017. I think around February 1st, I will decide which date I'm going to write my MCAT on. I need to finish the pre-requisites also because then I can register for biochem as well, and that course will be preparation for the MCAT too. I'd like to have all of bio I and II, chem I and II, orgo II and II all completed before I start biochemistry I. Which means I need to complete about 3.5 more courses. I'm also going to do calculus I and II and physics I and II at some point too. I'll get a better idea of when I'll be done lower level sciences after I finish Orgo I.
Also, my mom received a significant asset from a family member this week. I can't get into the details too much at this point but I can say that financially, we got a major boost with this news. So I have to decide what we're going to do with the money. But we did decide that we're going to invest the vast majority of the funds, so we just have to figure out what to invest in. But if I get my way, it will be in index funds. I'll also write a post about compounding at some point too by the way.
We're currently afloat just fine right now so we would rather put the money away and have it work for us instead of increasing our lifestyle at this point. Pretty interesting developments though. Talk soon and take care.
I'm not doing bad in the course overall, so right now I'm looking forward to improving my writing over the next 7ish weeks, and hopefully getting my mark back before Christmas.
I spent a lot of time two weeks ago trying to decide which courses to complete after I'm done with my current courses of English, Bio II, and Orgo I. I'm thinking I'll continue with the basic science pre-reqs. Despite their difficulty, those courses will benefit me the most and help me prepare for the MCAT in 2017. I think around February 1st, I will decide which date I'm going to write my MCAT on. I need to finish the pre-requisites also because then I can register for biochem as well, and that course will be preparation for the MCAT too. I'd like to have all of bio I and II, chem I and II, orgo II and II all completed before I start biochemistry I. Which means I need to complete about 3.5 more courses. I'm also going to do calculus I and II and physics I and II at some point too. I'll get a better idea of when I'll be done lower level sciences after I finish Orgo I.
Also, my mom received a significant asset from a family member this week. I can't get into the details too much at this point but I can say that financially, we got a major boost with this news. So I have to decide what we're going to do with the money. But we did decide that we're going to invest the vast majority of the funds, so we just have to figure out what to invest in. But if I get my way, it will be in index funds. I'll also write a post about compounding at some point too by the way.
We're currently afloat just fine right now so we would rather put the money away and have it work for us instead of increasing our lifestyle at this point. Pretty interesting developments though. Talk soon and take care.
Thursday 29 September 2016
Good to be back in it
So this semester I'm also in an Englsh class and I've been working on that since I got back from New York. I've handed in a couple things and done a few quizzes and so far completed a portion of the class. The class is first year English and it is a paced online course (paced in that it has standard start and end dates with work to do progressively each week). I have 80% in the course so far, with one month down and two more to go. My progress in terms of my mark is marginally okay but my effort is all there. I just need to perform better and submit writing that is of higher quality. I have to write an essay this weekend and I'm hoping to hit it out of the park. If anyone who has excelled in English courses could comment any tips about writing high quality work - the type that gets you an A+, it would be much appreciated to myself and others who are struggling to get top marks in English. I'm actually going to google this exact thing this weekend as well. It's kind of funny I never looked it up. I've always had okay writing so I never bothered to improve it. But now I will need to so that I can get that 90% in my English course.
My New York trip was nothing short of incredible, so glad I went! I might post more about it later. But I'll definitely talk more later about what's on my mind right now, and that is my athletic pursuits and other courses! No outright excellent news - but rather just progress leading to me having more optimism. Talk soon and take care.
My New York trip was nothing short of incredible, so glad I went! I might post more about it later. But I'll definitely talk more later about what's on my mind right now, and that is my athletic pursuits and other courses! No outright excellent news - but rather just progress leading to me having more optimism. Talk soon and take care.
Monday 5 September 2016
How to Save Money on MCAT Books and Prep
So I recently came across an excellent way to save money on MCAT prep. I got the idea from the user "kbinners" on the premed101 forums and the idea is to ask your family members/friends/significant other to buy you Amazon gift cards to be used towards buying MCAT books for Christmas and birthdays (and other holidays) rather than a traditional gift they would normally get you. Or alternatively the friend or family member could simply buy the MCAT book for you themselves if that's possible for them. But in my family our gifts are usually around $50 CAD in value so buying the books outright isn't really an option. Also if the relationship is appropriate, you can ask the person to give you cash and tell them you would be using it for MCAT books. This obviously works better if a student is on a very tight budget, and if the student is buying the books used from somebody. Also if you're taking a prep course you can ask for cash too and just tell them it's for an MCAT course next summer or whatever.
I know for me personally, I don't really care for my gifts as it is usually stuff I don't need like clothes or other wearables like small jewelry or shoes or gift cards to restaurants. So to me this idea really really makes sense to me. And I never even thought of doing this! But I will most definitely be asking all of my relatives to either give me cash or Amazon gift cards this holiday season and for my birthday. I've always liked practical gifts and if practical is your thing too then I think this is the ultimate practical gift for today's premed student. Talk soon and take care.
I know for me personally, I don't really care for my gifts as it is usually stuff I don't need like clothes or other wearables like small jewelry or shoes or gift cards to restaurants. So to me this idea really really makes sense to me. And I never even thought of doing this! But I will most definitely be asking all of my relatives to either give me cash or Amazon gift cards this holiday season and for my birthday. I've always liked practical gifts and if practical is your thing too then I think this is the ultimate practical gift for today's premed student. Talk soon and take care.
Friday 2 September 2016
Promise to start posting grades again
So I haven't been able to finish any classes in the last year because of an emphasis on work and other activities. I realized it has been so long since I posted final grades in my courses. Some of these posts were my most viewed posts, so I can only assume that people love reading about this. I was planning on completing courses this fall anyways, but having a place to share my grades makes me feel really good, and if readers enjoy it as well then all the better. I can assure that I will have completed 7 courses by January 31st 2017. That is the deadline I'm working with. The reason is because I will forfeit an RESP payment if I don't complete 7 more courses by that deadline. I'll be finished biology 2 in 3 weeks and organic chem about 2.5 weeks after that. I would be done sooner but I'm heading on a trip to New York City next week for about 5 days, so that will slow me down because I won't be studying there. So I'm taking it one course at a time. As long as I'm finished 2 courses by early October, I'll be on track. I'm aware I've never worked at this pace successfully. But I know that I'm capable. I've been using a new study strategy I've learned about called Cornell Notes. I'll post about this method after I get my final mark in bio 2. It's been so far so good though. I'm definitely going to put in some serious work this weekend into my bio course. Think pre-final exam-type studying. Then I'll relax on Tuesday when I leave for NYC. But right now I'm just glad the weekend is here! Not sure how much I'll do today but Saturday and Sunday will be good days in terms of studying and completing bio 2. I'm hoping to be done 10% by Tuesday night, although this is just an estimate. I'll have a better idea by tomorrow night. For the North American readers working a 9-5 job, happy start of Labour Day weekend which is much needed!
Talk soon and take care.
Talk soon and take care.
Initial CARS Practice Results and Excellent Hospice Training Experience
So in my last post I mentioned I had a CARS tutoring session scheduled. Well me and my tutor weren't able to connect. But the bright side is I thought I did pretty well on the CARS practice! I didn't do a lot of practice at all, I only did 9 passages from EK's 101 Passages. And I actually ran out of time because I tried doing the same amount of CARS passages that would be on the MCAT in the prescribed time. So time was an issue, but the positive was I got a lot of questions right and I aced a few passages as well. I don't know what percentile I would've scored as I haven't calculated it yet but just knowing that for my practice so far, I'm able to answer most questions right, is very comforting to me because I was very concerned I would bomb any CARS practice because growing up I hated reading novels. I just couldn't understand them. I also reviewed the EK verbal book and it had so many good tips and made so much sense. And having the structure from the book was comforting too. But anyways I am VERY optimistic on CARS. I think I have the ability I just need to do less contemplating on questions and more "going with my gut". This will speed me up. I also have to do my best to understand the passages the first and hopefully only time I read them. Oh and before I marked my passages, I thought I bombed them. Like I had hardly any idea of what was right and wrong. My theory is that it feels that way because when we write science tests we feel so much certainty as to what is right or wrong, so something like CARS is much different, but not sure why haha.
Anyways, in sum, it appears I have a baseline level in CARS, but I still have to refine my CARS approach, finish reviewing the EK book, read a variety of things in the arts, and practice, practice, practice!
So I had a two day volunteer training session at the hospice this week. The experience was so awesome! I learned so much and the group was wonderful. It was so moving hearing everyone's stories as we all brought our own perspectives to the non traditional group learning format of the training. We had to schedule a "training exit interview" as well to determine where we want to volunteer, and I had mine today. I expressed my interest in joining the hospital team that visits palliatative patients there at the hospital, as there are lots of different role opportunities through this hospice society, but the hospital is what interests me the most. Well the coordinator agreed and though I can't remember her words she was clear that I would be excellent in that role. It was very nice to hear that because I could tell it was not just lip service, but rather she recognized that my skill set overlaps with what is required to be successful in that particular role in that hospital environment. (And I just realized now that I should mention that this hospice is offsite from the local hospital, so that is why there is a special hospital team that goes there. Most other volunteers volunteer away from the hospital at the hospice building itself). But anyways the hospice training experience overall so far was quite incredible and it will no doubt be a great piece to the puzzle.
But the training isn't over yet, as to work in 1on1 situations with the hospice it is required that a volunteer does further training to the tune of 1 day per week for seven weeks at 5 hours per day. Only then after that will I be able to start my clinical volunteering. That further training doesn't start until October but I am able to work in non clinical roles, such as reception, until my training is over. I may or may not do that. Haven't decided yet. But I will certainly do the further training and start doing clinical volunteering after.
All this positivity to report, and I haven't even mentioned the best part yet! I met the most incredible person at the hospice training. I can't go into more detail right now because I'm on my iPad in bed and I have way too much to write about her and I should be getting to sleep. I know what you might be thinking and no it is not a potential partner or a female I'm attracted to. It's something else. I'll devote a post to it later because it is just that special. Speaking of which, I forgot to ever write that post about my most favourite class ever that I was in last summer, Psyc 304 at UBC. I'll post on that too. But for now I'll hit the hay! Talk soon and take care.
Anyways, in sum, it appears I have a baseline level in CARS, but I still have to refine my CARS approach, finish reviewing the EK book, read a variety of things in the arts, and practice, practice, practice!
So I had a two day volunteer training session at the hospice this week. The experience was so awesome! I learned so much and the group was wonderful. It was so moving hearing everyone's stories as we all brought our own perspectives to the non traditional group learning format of the training. We had to schedule a "training exit interview" as well to determine where we want to volunteer, and I had mine today. I expressed my interest in joining the hospital team that visits palliatative patients there at the hospital, as there are lots of different role opportunities through this hospice society, but the hospital is what interests me the most. Well the coordinator agreed and though I can't remember her words she was clear that I would be excellent in that role. It was very nice to hear that because I could tell it was not just lip service, but rather she recognized that my skill set overlaps with what is required to be successful in that particular role in that hospital environment. (And I just realized now that I should mention that this hospice is offsite from the local hospital, so that is why there is a special hospital team that goes there. Most other volunteers volunteer away from the hospital at the hospice building itself). But anyways the hospice training experience overall so far was quite incredible and it will no doubt be a great piece to the puzzle.
But the training isn't over yet, as to work in 1on1 situations with the hospice it is required that a volunteer does further training to the tune of 1 day per week for seven weeks at 5 hours per day. Only then after that will I be able to start my clinical volunteering. That further training doesn't start until October but I am able to work in non clinical roles, such as reception, until my training is over. I may or may not do that. Haven't decided yet. But I will certainly do the further training and start doing clinical volunteering after.
All this positivity to report, and I haven't even mentioned the best part yet! I met the most incredible person at the hospice training. I can't go into more detail right now because I'm on my iPad in bed and I have way too much to write about her and I should be getting to sleep. I know what you might be thinking and no it is not a potential partner or a female I'm attracted to. It's something else. I'll devote a post to it later because it is just that special. Speaking of which, I forgot to ever write that post about my most favourite class ever that I was in last summer, Psyc 304 at UBC. I'll post on that too. But for now I'll hit the hay! Talk soon and take care.
Thursday 11 August 2016
Babysitting, Family Time, and Upcoming MCAT Tutoring Session
So, soon after my last post I got a call from my cousin-in-law asking me if I could babysit my nephew for 5 days while her and my cousin go on vacation. I said of course I could so I was busy with that a few days after I posted. I didn't get much homework done because my nephew is a handful to manage. He is extremely high energy and the way he acts makes it hard to look after him for extended periods of time. He turns 4 years old later this year. But what also makes it hard is that he is extremely attached to his mom, which means he gets upset and cries quite often at different points in the day. He is just not an easy kid to take care of.
But I see my nephew's hard-to-deal-with temperament as a blessing in disguise because taking care of him pushes me out of my comfort zone and allows me to use skills like thinking quick on my feet. Also, as someone who had no younger siblings, I also find babysitting as an incredibly eye opening experience to what life is like for parents. I think this perspective is valuable for me - to understand as much as possible what life is like for parents, so that I can understand the intricacies of their life so that this knowledge will help me to care for them in any medical speciality in which I will be working with these populations. I think working with different populations is so valuable for medicine.
A few days after I was finished babysitting, I spent time with my mom and brother because we were going to a wedding this past weekend. It was good seeing all of the family members that I hadn't seen in a while, and the wedding was good too. I didn't do any homework during the weekend of the wedding, because I mostly spent time with family. Also, my brother lives in a Vancouver hotel with a full concierge. We went to a farewell party for the senior concierge attendant who was moving to a different property owned by the company. Even though me and my mom don't live there, we always saw him and we knew each other. He was such a pleasant man that I will miss seeing him when we go visit my brother. The farewell party was in the lobby and it was a very delightful few hours that we spent there chatting with the other residents and employees of the building, as well as family of the man leaving his job at the hotel. The refreshments there were delicious as well. My first time trying tiramisu and french macaroons. Both tasted really good, especially the tiramisu!
With these happenings going on, I've only had a handful of days where I was at home studying. But I've still been slowly chipping away at my bio course. I also have an upcoming one-time tutoring session for the MCAT CARS section. So in preparation of that, I've got my hands on the ExamKrackers prep books, as well as the old 101 VR Passages, also by Examkrackers. I\m going to review the CARS prep book, as well as complete about 9 VR practice passages as well. I really have no idea how CARS is going to go. On the one hand I hated reading novels growing up in grade school, but on the other hand I have a keen interest in reading about general topics and articles in the news, economics, politics, history, ethics, and healthcare. And I would say I'm quite good at discussing these topics with friends. I also think my tutor will provide an excellent framework as he received a very high CARS score and is starting medical school this year too. My session is at 7am on Saturday so I have to be sure to finish an adequate amount of CARS prep before we begin so that I can have a context and better understanding as to what he is teaching me. I'll post on Saturday or before about my feelings on CARS so far.
But I see my nephew's hard-to-deal-with temperament as a blessing in disguise because taking care of him pushes me out of my comfort zone and allows me to use skills like thinking quick on my feet. Also, as someone who had no younger siblings, I also find babysitting as an incredibly eye opening experience to what life is like for parents. I think this perspective is valuable for me - to understand as much as possible what life is like for parents, so that I can understand the intricacies of their life so that this knowledge will help me to care for them in any medical speciality in which I will be working with these populations. I think working with different populations is so valuable for medicine.
A few days after I was finished babysitting, I spent time with my mom and brother because we were going to a wedding this past weekend. It was good seeing all of the family members that I hadn't seen in a while, and the wedding was good too. I didn't do any homework during the weekend of the wedding, because I mostly spent time with family. Also, my brother lives in a Vancouver hotel with a full concierge. We went to a farewell party for the senior concierge attendant who was moving to a different property owned by the company. Even though me and my mom don't live there, we always saw him and we knew each other. He was such a pleasant man that I will miss seeing him when we go visit my brother. The farewell party was in the lobby and it was a very delightful few hours that we spent there chatting with the other residents and employees of the building, as well as family of the man leaving his job at the hotel. The refreshments there were delicious as well. My first time trying tiramisu and french macaroons. Both tasted really good, especially the tiramisu!
With these happenings going on, I've only had a handful of days where I was at home studying. But I've still been slowly chipping away at my bio course. I also have an upcoming one-time tutoring session for the MCAT CARS section. So in preparation of that, I've got my hands on the ExamKrackers prep books, as well as the old 101 VR Passages, also by Examkrackers. I\m going to review the CARS prep book, as well as complete about 9 VR practice passages as well. I really have no idea how CARS is going to go. On the one hand I hated reading novels growing up in grade school, but on the other hand I have a keen interest in reading about general topics and articles in the news, economics, politics, history, ethics, and healthcare. And I would say I'm quite good at discussing these topics with friends. I also think my tutor will provide an excellent framework as he received a very high CARS score and is starting medical school this year too. My session is at 7am on Saturday so I have to be sure to finish an adequate amount of CARS prep before we begin so that I can have a context and better understanding as to what he is teaching me. I'll post on Saturday or before about my feelings on CARS so far.
Friday 22 July 2016
After a break I'm looking to get back into it!
So the last few weeks I've been enjoying my summer and been taking some time off. I've still been doing errands and making an income from that but aside from that my school work has been minimal. I guess ever since I've decided I'm not writing the MCAT this summer and am thus not applying until 2017 I've just been at ease. It's been really nice actually.
I feel like this last year has been helter skelter ever since the end of last summer since my Psyc 304 Brain and Behavior class at UBC ended last August. I've been more focused on my income as I've been dealing with family businesses and family duties. Basically I get income from a rental property that we own but help out wherever need be, sort of like working as a property manager of sorts, with the help of my uncle. That's one thing. Another thing is that I have a family consulting business for which I do work for. While I don't do any consulting I still have a well defined role with the company. And as it is a small company I do a lot of leg work for that. Those two things are about it for family businesses, and the family duties include babysitting my nephew! It is not my brother's son but rather my cousin's son. But since my two cousins are very close with me and my brother, we are all considered uncles to my 'nephew'. Yeah and that about sums it up, oh yeah and I also did a bit of traveling with some friends. Sadly though, I've been unable to complete any classes during this time. All withdrawn. I'm past the upset phase and just in the phase to get back to it. I basically ended up taking a year off from school for myself. It's just that my priorities had effectively shifted based on my day to day life and my financial goals. I have much less stress in my life now than when I was in school simply because now at least I have money coming in. So the good news is I'm refreshed and have got the whole money thing sorted out. And even though my priorities shifted I still believe in this whole medicine thing 100%. The last few days I've been studying for my online biology class and I'm feeling really good and optimistic it. I think I'll be done that class in no time at all.
The best thing about this past year is that I sorted out my finances. By my projections, I can now go to school for the next two full calendar years and possibly beyond that. All I need is 20 classes to finish my degree. Now that money isn't an issue, I am free to pursue education stress free in that regard.
So I sort of tried this year, and may have failed again a little with the withdrawn courses, but at least they weren't failed courses and my GPA is unaffected. However, I strongly believe I can no longer withdraw a course barring some serious unexpected circumstances. I think I already have quite a few W's so no more for me and that's an almost certainty, unless I get hit by a car tomorrow and am in the hospital with a broken pelvis for a while or something like that. Luckily I don't play Pokemon Go so I think my risk is low, hah!
Also, my ECs are a lot better now after this year as well. And all my ideas are still similar. My target is UBC and I want to put my all into everything. I can't wait to finish my science prerequisites and put my all into the MCAT. Those are my next two goals.
If anyone has been reading my posts on premed101 on Trump, I hope you don't take it personally but I just reeeeaalllly like to debate. I guess I don't see things as crystal clear as someone who leans a bit one way or another does. For the record I'm socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I believe in a pragmatic approach as well. I feel I'm about as center as you can get because I have no devotion to any party. Anyways I think politics are both important and entertaining. But that's all I have to say on that for now.
Within one week from today I'm gonna post about how my first bio assignment went. Or I'll just post my mark. Either way I've already started so I'm looking forward to finishing it.
If anyone wants to share what they are up to this summer feel free! Summer can be such a great time of year so it's good to take it all in. Anyways chat soon ya'll!
Wednesday 18 May 2016
Calculus Midterm #1
So I have a calculus midterm tomorrow and I haven't been this concerned for a test in a long time. I just feel a little nervous doing math. I did poorly on my first quiz but it was only worth 5%. I got 57% on it. It was only 3 questions and I got a lot of marks deducted for making silly mistakes. On one question I even had the right answer but I only got half marks for that question. Looking at my mistakes I could've easily gotten a higher mark.
I'm not guaranteeing a high mark for my midterm tomorrow, but I know I will finish this class strong with high marks in everything else after this midterm. If I got above 67% on the midterm tomorrow, then I can still get an A+ in the course. Thinking of it this way has helped me to lower my expectations and make me feel a bit better.
Anyways I will review the topics that I'm not quite comfortable with and try to master those. That will likely take up my time tonight after my class. Then I will get a little bit more practice by either going on Khan Academy or doing practice questions in my textbook. I'm leaning towards Khan Academy. Watching those videos will give me the skill-set to try to understand the material and be able to handle different types of questions. I will be doing this tonight if I have time and tomorrow morning before my test which starts at 1pm.
All I need is around 70% for the chance at an A+, and I need a 43% for the chance at an A. So as long as I hammer out a good day today after my class as well as a good few hours tomorrow morning, then I should at least be able to get around 50-70%. Who knows if I'm feeling confident tomorrow I just might be able to get an 80% on the midterm tomorrow. But the range is so wide, I could get anywhere from 30-80% tomorrow and right now I do not know how I will exactly fare. The pace of the class snuck up on me and I've learned my lesson for summer courses and that is to be fully prepared and to put in the hours. I have a decent understanding of calculus but I just haven't had the practice to solidify my skills. So I will get the practice tonight and tomorrow morning and just try my best.
I'm not guaranteeing a high mark for my midterm tomorrow, but I know I will finish this class strong with high marks in everything else after this midterm. If I got above 67% on the midterm tomorrow, then I can still get an A+ in the course. Thinking of it this way has helped me to lower my expectations and make me feel a bit better.
Anyways I will review the topics that I'm not quite comfortable with and try to master those. That will likely take up my time tonight after my class. Then I will get a little bit more practice by either going on Khan Academy or doing practice questions in my textbook. I'm leaning towards Khan Academy. Watching those videos will give me the skill-set to try to understand the material and be able to handle different types of questions. I will be doing this tonight if I have time and tomorrow morning before my test which starts at 1pm.
All I need is around 70% for the chance at an A+, and I need a 43% for the chance at an A. So as long as I hammer out a good day today after my class as well as a good few hours tomorrow morning, then I should at least be able to get around 50-70%. Who knows if I'm feeling confident tomorrow I just might be able to get an 80% on the midterm tomorrow. But the range is so wide, I could get anywhere from 30-80% tomorrow and right now I do not know how I will exactly fare. The pace of the class snuck up on me and I've learned my lesson for summer courses and that is to be fully prepared and to put in the hours. I have a decent understanding of calculus but I just haven't had the practice to solidify my skills. So I will get the practice tonight and tomorrow morning and just try my best.
Sunday 8 May 2016
Volunteering Interviews
So with respect to my community volunteering, I have interviews coming up for both the hospice and the Alzheimer's society. I spoke with the coordinator of the Alzheimer's society and she said there is an opening for another volunteer to come on board. I was so happy and flattered that she thought of me when the opening came about. As I had posted earlier, the coordinator said there may be an opening coming up. However when I later inquired about it a few weeks later, she said there was no openning. So you can see how I was surprised to get a phone call from her last week about this new opening. The position is to be a fitness group social volunteer that helps with the proper functioning of the fitness class for Alzheimer's patients (I think they may be early onset patients). Hopefully I can do well in the interview and impress the coordinator because this is a position I would really want to be involved with. The interview isn't until after my calculus class is over because we decided that would be a good time to start. I'm very glad she is accommodating enough to work around my schedule.
As for the hospice, I had filled out the application form and submitted it along with my two references last week.
I used my best friend as a reference because they didn't require a work reference, and my best friend has a significant business job in my community. Needless to say he has done very well for himself. He is my age and we have known each other for a long time and we have been together on every step of the way. We always did homework together in grade school and we did everything together. Not to mention he is simply hilarious. I'm so happy and grateful to have a best friend like that.
The application took me over an hour to complete as there were a lot of questions and I was trying to give thoughtful responses. Two days later I received a phone call from a lady at the hospice about setting up an interview. I didn't actually talk to her but it went to my voicemail and I still need to get back to her about an interview time.
Hopefully I can do well in these interviews and things will shape up. I need those ECs to land an interview at UBC in 2017!
As for the hospice, I had filled out the application form and submitted it along with my two references last week.
I used my best friend as a reference because they didn't require a work reference, and my best friend has a significant business job in my community. Needless to say he has done very well for himself. He is my age and we have known each other for a long time and we have been together on every step of the way. We always did homework together in grade school and we did everything together. Not to mention he is simply hilarious. I'm so happy and grateful to have a best friend like that.
The application took me over an hour to complete as there were a lot of questions and I was trying to give thoughtful responses. Two days later I received a phone call from a lady at the hospice about setting up an interview. I didn't actually talk to her but it went to my voicemail and I still need to get back to her about an interview time.
Hopefully I can do well in these interviews and things will shape up. I need those ECs to land an interview at UBC in 2017!
Saturday 7 May 2016
20K
I can't believe it's been over 5 weeks since my last post! I apologize to everyone who reads and follows my blog. Frankly I'm a bit embarrassed about my sporadic posting lately. I haven't forgot about posting but I've just been so busy. I started an in person calculus class this past week which is one city over from me and it's about a 40 minute drive from my house. Luckily there's not a great deal of traffic and it's a pretty straight path so it's quite a smooth drive. Anyways I will look to make posting on my blog a priority, because it's something I enjoy so much, and I've been so grateful for all of the people who have chosen to take the time to visit my blog. On that note, I should note that a few months ago my blog hit 20,000 views. I'm so happy that other people seem to like reading my blog. Of course my first post was in March of 2014 so we are just over 2 years old here. I honestly love my blog so much and all of the readers are a big reason why, so I promise I'll post more and I'm hoping it's good content as I really am just winging this whole blog stuff.
So what has been new with me? Well we all know I dropped out of the BCIT program after attending for the January semester. The reason for dropping it is because I'm putting all my eggs into one basket. With the end game being a degree and then medical school. Also I now have full support of my family to pursue medical school as best as I can, so that has really made me feel really good about everything. I am very strongly connected with my family which consists of my mom and my brother, as my dad died when I was around 4 or 5 years old. That made us so close. We are an extremely close family and I want to be as successful as I can so that I can make them proud of me and also to make a significant income to have a life that we could have never even dreamed of. We were very poor growing up. After I was born we had to move in with my grandparents and they supported my mom and us for years. I have an older brother who is doing quite well, but we all want more for ourselves. We love the idea of competition and doing great things. Competition just makes things fun. Not to mention there is a well documented correlation between health and income.
Last week I had a talk with my brother on the phone. He called me because he may be breaking up with his girlfriend. I told him he will always have me and my mom, and he already knew that, but I think he was happy hearing it from me. I can't get over how close we are, I've never seen anything like it. How else could I have been in university for 6 years (1 year off) and been able to pay all of that tuition and be supported that whole time? Not to mention I still have another 2 years to go and I'm still getting some support from them despite that I just recently last month started paying for my own tuition.
Other new things include me going on a mini road trip to Washington state and Portland Ore, next weekend. And then I'm going camping sometime after my calculus class. Then I'm going to New York City with my mom in September! I am so excited about going to NYC but I will post more about that later.
My calculus class is my number one priority right now. Organic chem and biology can be finished after my calc class is over on June 16th. I was surprised with how much I remember from high school math, as our class did some precalc review this week. I'm feeling decent about it but I think my saving grace will truly be Khan Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/). This is definitely the best resource for university/college that I've come across. I don't think they had this when I took first year calc in 2009. But boy am I grateful to have it now. I don't think I need a tutor but I was thinking of it. Another good resource is Chegg. If anyone else knows of any other good resources for learning calculus or science, please post in the comments! :)
Until next time, which hopefully won't be too long from now. And here is to another 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 views! I want to post until I'm in residency and practicing. But I'll work on the fun part of getting in first :)
So what has been new with me? Well we all know I dropped out of the BCIT program after attending for the January semester. The reason for dropping it is because I'm putting all my eggs into one basket. With the end game being a degree and then medical school. Also I now have full support of my family to pursue medical school as best as I can, so that has really made me feel really good about everything. I am very strongly connected with my family which consists of my mom and my brother, as my dad died when I was around 4 or 5 years old. That made us so close. We are an extremely close family and I want to be as successful as I can so that I can make them proud of me and also to make a significant income to have a life that we could have never even dreamed of. We were very poor growing up. After I was born we had to move in with my grandparents and they supported my mom and us for years. I have an older brother who is doing quite well, but we all want more for ourselves. We love the idea of competition and doing great things. Competition just makes things fun. Not to mention there is a well documented correlation between health and income.
Last week I had a talk with my brother on the phone. He called me because he may be breaking up with his girlfriend. I told him he will always have me and my mom, and he already knew that, but I think he was happy hearing it from me. I can't get over how close we are, I've never seen anything like it. How else could I have been in university for 6 years (1 year off) and been able to pay all of that tuition and be supported that whole time? Not to mention I still have another 2 years to go and I'm still getting some support from them despite that I just recently last month started paying for my own tuition.
Other new things include me going on a mini road trip to Washington state and Portland Ore, next weekend. And then I'm going camping sometime after my calculus class. Then I'm going to New York City with my mom in September! I am so excited about going to NYC but I will post more about that later.
My calculus class is my number one priority right now. Organic chem and biology can be finished after my calc class is over on June 16th. I was surprised with how much I remember from high school math, as our class did some precalc review this week. I'm feeling decent about it but I think my saving grace will truly be Khan Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/). This is definitely the best resource for university/college that I've come across. I don't think they had this when I took first year calc in 2009. But boy am I grateful to have it now. I don't think I need a tutor but I was thinking of it. Another good resource is Chegg. If anyone else knows of any other good resources for learning calculus or science, please post in the comments! :)
Until next time, which hopefully won't be too long from now. And here is to another 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 views! I want to post until I'm in residency and practicing. But I'll work on the fun part of getting in first :)
Wednesday 30 March 2016
Confuddled
I don't think confuddled is a word, but I feel like it describes this situation. My EC schedule is in a bit of disarray right now. In the past few months I mentioned in a post or two that I'm trying to schedule my first shift with the pilot project clinic at the children's hospital one city over from me.
Long story short, there was a delay since January because they had temporarily put a hold on accepting volunteers into the pilot project. Well earlier today, my volunteer coordinator finally introduced me via email to my volunteer supervisor at the clinic and said I can get started anytime. Great news right? Well the problem lies within my schedule. I had told the volunteer coordinator that I am very flexible due to my courses being online. But since I hadn't heard back from the children's hospital, I went ahead and made some plans to do a calculus course in person, one city over from me this summer in May and June, but in the opposite direction of the children's hospital. So it would take me 1 hour and 35 minutes to get from the children's hospital to my calculus lecture. My calculus lecture is 4 days a week too. And the lecture is in the middle of the day too so I can't go to the children's hospital on on those days. So I'm only available on Fridays during the week and, on weekends.
Anyways I told the supervisor this through email and I said I would be willing to either start the volunteer position once my course is over at the end of June, or I could possibly drop the course if that is the only way of keeping the position. I would really prefer not to drop the course, and in fact I only said I would possibly drop the course, so I am still not sure if I am willing to do that yet. However I can't do anything more until she replies to my email.
The implications are that I would either have to do the calculus course online or do it next summer (as I'm not a fan of taking in-person courses during the busy times of year in the winter, although I suppose I could if I had to). I need to take both semesters of first year calculus as a part of my bachelor's of science degree. I can still get my tuition back for the summer calculus course, but it just means I would have to do the course later. It might not be the worst thing in the world because then I wouldn't have to do calculus and organic chemistry in the same semester.
All in all, I will make my decision once I get an email back.
Long story short, there was a delay since January because they had temporarily put a hold on accepting volunteers into the pilot project. Well earlier today, my volunteer coordinator finally introduced me via email to my volunteer supervisor at the clinic and said I can get started anytime. Great news right? Well the problem lies within my schedule. I had told the volunteer coordinator that I am very flexible due to my courses being online. But since I hadn't heard back from the children's hospital, I went ahead and made some plans to do a calculus course in person, one city over from me this summer in May and June, but in the opposite direction of the children's hospital. So it would take me 1 hour and 35 minutes to get from the children's hospital to my calculus lecture. My calculus lecture is 4 days a week too. And the lecture is in the middle of the day too so I can't go to the children's hospital on on those days. So I'm only available on Fridays during the week and, on weekends.
Anyways I told the supervisor this through email and I said I would be willing to either start the volunteer position once my course is over at the end of June, or I could possibly drop the course if that is the only way of keeping the position. I would really prefer not to drop the course, and in fact I only said I would possibly drop the course, so I am still not sure if I am willing to do that yet. However I can't do anything more until she replies to my email.
The implications are that I would either have to do the calculus course online or do it next summer (as I'm not a fan of taking in-person courses during the busy times of year in the winter, although I suppose I could if I had to). I need to take both semesters of first year calculus as a part of my bachelor's of science degree. I can still get my tuition back for the summer calculus course, but it just means I would have to do the course later. It might not be the worst thing in the world because then I wouldn't have to do calculus and organic chemistry in the same semester.
All in all, I will make my decision once I get an email back.
Tuesday 15 March 2016
Bad News-But-At-The-Same-Time-Good News
So I have decided not to apply to medical school this summer. I am going to wait until 2017 to apply. The main reason is that I am not ready for the MCAT. I am missing a significant amount of essential science courses that cover MCAT material, and I cannot complete them all by the summer and still have time to review for the MCAT itself.
I've only completed the first half of first year chem and bio, and I've taken cell bio, and I'm currently taking organic chem 1. I've also done first year psych plus more psych classes. Nonetheless that means I'm missing physics, 2nd semester of biology and chemistry, organic chem 2, biochem, and sociology. All in all, I would feel a lot better if I did the courses first, so that I can absolutely destroy the MCAT next summer.
Plus it's not that big of a deal because I had a very low chance of getting in anyways because of my low average. So now I feel a lot better about not rushing my application and applying in 2017 instead of 2016. I am feeling so optimistic and I am hoping I can maintain my momentum and keep up the consistent work ethic from now until 2017 and beyond.
I've only completed the first half of first year chem and bio, and I've taken cell bio, and I'm currently taking organic chem 1. I've also done first year psych plus more psych classes. Nonetheless that means I'm missing physics, 2nd semester of biology and chemistry, organic chem 2, biochem, and sociology. All in all, I would feel a lot better if I did the courses first, so that I can absolutely destroy the MCAT next summer.
Plus it's not that big of a deal because I had a very low chance of getting in anyways because of my low average. So now I feel a lot better about not rushing my application and applying in 2017 instead of 2016. I am feeling so optimistic and I am hoping I can maintain my momentum and keep up the consistent work ethic from now until 2017 and beyond.
Community Volunteering
So I have been in touch with a few different organizations in my community in regards to volunteering. As I mentioned earlier I haven't yet been involved with any organizations since I moved away from Vancouver and back to my hometown so I decided I need to get on this now. I'm actually quite excited about all of the organizations I've contacted. The list goes like this:
1) Alzheimer Fitness and Social Group Volunteer
2) United Way Impact Council Volunteer (is basically a part of a committee that decides how funds should be spent)
3) Recreation Volunteer at First Nations Elderly Assisted Living Facility
4) Hospice Volunteer
These all sound like amazing positions and I think I would get a lot out of these positions but I would also have fun doing them too!
Here is the breakdown for where I am at with actually getting involved with these positions.
For number 1, the coordinator said she already has a volunteer (I guess they only need 1 volunteer), however that volunteer may be resigning and then a spot may open up for me. She said she would know by the first or second week of April.
For number 2, I had seen the position on their website, and I had been trying to get in touch with the office a few times but we hadn't connected yet. I was finally in touch with them today and the director asked me to come in to a group interview that she is having today at 4:30pm. That was definitely good timing on my part! Anyways we will see how that goes. I'll post tonight about where I'm at with them and if I'm able to volunteer with them.
For number 3, I had just left a message with the coordinator today.
For number 4, my local hospice takes in volunteers twice a year because the training is twice a year. I spoke on the phone with the lady at reception and she said she would email me the application package. It seems like a decently extensive application with quite a few questions on things like character and motivation for wanting to be involved with the hospice. I also need two references which I have already secured but not yet received. The application deadline is at the end of April. I'm hoping to get an interview and secure a volunteer position as it is everything I want; both challenging an demanding and helping sick people in a caring environment.
I am looking forward to try to get set up with these positions and determine if they are the right fit for me. My interview with the United Way is only in a few hours so I need to get ready for that - I want to make a good impression as I am very serious about dedicating my time to them. I am hoping it is as much responsibility as it sounds like. I am serious about all of these positions and that is why I'm looking forward to them - because I will likely get a lot out of it if I put a lot into it.
Anyways I will provide updates on these as I hear back from them. I also have some bad news-but-at-the-same-time-good-news about my next two applications to medical school.
1) Alzheimer Fitness and Social Group Volunteer
2) United Way Impact Council Volunteer (is basically a part of a committee that decides how funds should be spent)
3) Recreation Volunteer at First Nations Elderly Assisted Living Facility
4) Hospice Volunteer
These all sound like amazing positions and I think I would get a lot out of these positions but I would also have fun doing them too!
Here is the breakdown for where I am at with actually getting involved with these positions.
For number 1, the coordinator said she already has a volunteer (I guess they only need 1 volunteer), however that volunteer may be resigning and then a spot may open up for me. She said she would know by the first or second week of April.
For number 2, I had seen the position on their website, and I had been trying to get in touch with the office a few times but we hadn't connected yet. I was finally in touch with them today and the director asked me to come in to a group interview that she is having today at 4:30pm. That was definitely good timing on my part! Anyways we will see how that goes. I'll post tonight about where I'm at with them and if I'm able to volunteer with them.
For number 3, I had just left a message with the coordinator today.
For number 4, my local hospice takes in volunteers twice a year because the training is twice a year. I spoke on the phone with the lady at reception and she said she would email me the application package. It seems like a decently extensive application with quite a few questions on things like character and motivation for wanting to be involved with the hospice. I also need two references which I have already secured but not yet received. The application deadline is at the end of April. I'm hoping to get an interview and secure a volunteer position as it is everything I want; both challenging an demanding and helping sick people in a caring environment.
I am looking forward to try to get set up with these positions and determine if they are the right fit for me. My interview with the United Way is only in a few hours so I need to get ready for that - I want to make a good impression as I am very serious about dedicating my time to them. I am hoping it is as much responsibility as it sounds like. I am serious about all of these positions and that is why I'm looking forward to them - because I will likely get a lot out of it if I put a lot into it.
Anyways I will provide updates on these as I hear back from them. I also have some bad news-but-at-the-same-time-good-news about my next two applications to medical school.
Sunday 6 March 2016
No More Backup Anymore But Maybe a New One in the Future
So after much deliberation with my family, I've decided to drop out of the cardiology technology program.
The reason being is that it was taking too much time away from my regular university courses. Remember since the cardiology technology courses are part of a diploma program and non transferable, then they won't be used in the GPA calculation for UBC medicine, thus not helping me in my ultimate goal.
If I stayed in the cardiology tech program, I only would've only been able to complete 1 or maybe 2 university courses per semester - not exactly an efficient use of time.
I know I wrote a long post about it being my backup so that I can get a career and make money to take more classes and pay for them on my own, which would eventually leading me to get into medicine (assuming I get the high marks), but I decided if I'm going to do this, I might as well not do any extra work that won't be helping my medical school applications. So I am using my own savings to pay for my tuition for the rest of my degree. My family was not initially thrilled that I'm dropping it but I just may have finally convinced them that I just might be able to do this whole med school thing (which they didn't think I could do before).
But I might be able to pursue an even better backup. And that is pharmacy. Not only does pharmacy pay a lot more than a cardio tech, but also the vast majority of courses from the pharmacy program at UBC will be used in the GPA calculation for admission into the MD program. And I would get funding from my family to do my pharmacy degree. So as a result, I'd be working on a backup AND improving my chances for medicine at the same time. All in all a very good choice for me right now. Honestly it sounded daunting at first, but I would love to be in school full time for the next 5 years. I would have 280 credits under my belt and if I can perform well consistently, then who knows what my average would be. Plus pharmacy is better than graduate school because with pharmacy I can apply for medicine every year, whereas with graduate school I can only apply in the last year of my master's or PhD.
Before I can apply to pharmacy, I have to complete about 10 half semester courses of science prerequisites first. I'm hoping to finish that by the deadline in January of 2017. But I would have to work at a pretty fast pace. It also brings up the issue because I need to complete labs and I would have to travel to Kamloops this summer to participate in them.
Anyways I'll have more information on what I'm doing this summer after this week. I'm looking to try to focus more on doing my science prerequisites for pharmacy because I don't want to wait until 2018 to apply to pharmacy.
The reason being is that it was taking too much time away from my regular university courses. Remember since the cardiology technology courses are part of a diploma program and non transferable, then they won't be used in the GPA calculation for UBC medicine, thus not helping me in my ultimate goal.
If I stayed in the cardiology tech program, I only would've only been able to complete 1 or maybe 2 university courses per semester - not exactly an efficient use of time.
I know I wrote a long post about it being my backup so that I can get a career and make money to take more classes and pay for them on my own, which would eventually leading me to get into medicine (assuming I get the high marks), but I decided if I'm going to do this, I might as well not do any extra work that won't be helping my medical school applications. So I am using my own savings to pay for my tuition for the rest of my degree. My family was not initially thrilled that I'm dropping it but I just may have finally convinced them that I just might be able to do this whole med school thing (which they didn't think I could do before).
But I might be able to pursue an even better backup. And that is pharmacy. Not only does pharmacy pay a lot more than a cardio tech, but also the vast majority of courses from the pharmacy program at UBC will be used in the GPA calculation for admission into the MD program. And I would get funding from my family to do my pharmacy degree. So as a result, I'd be working on a backup AND improving my chances for medicine at the same time. All in all a very good choice for me right now. Honestly it sounded daunting at first, but I would love to be in school full time for the next 5 years. I would have 280 credits under my belt and if I can perform well consistently, then who knows what my average would be. Plus pharmacy is better than graduate school because with pharmacy I can apply for medicine every year, whereas with graduate school I can only apply in the last year of my master's or PhD.
Before I can apply to pharmacy, I have to complete about 10 half semester courses of science prerequisites first. I'm hoping to finish that by the deadline in January of 2017. But I would have to work at a pretty fast pace. It also brings up the issue because I need to complete labs and I would have to travel to Kamloops this summer to participate in them.
Anyways I'll have more information on what I'm doing this summer after this week. I'm looking to try to focus more on doing my science prerequisites for pharmacy because I don't want to wait until 2018 to apply to pharmacy.
Study, Walk, Gym, Eat
So last week I spent my entire days doing one of the 4 things in the title: studying, going for a brisk walk, lifting weights at the gym with a friend, and eating my 3 meals a day.
I was putting in some serious work to learn organic chemistry. I haven't got any marks back yet or finished an assignment, but I've completed about 15% of the entire course, so I think progress is being made. One thing I'm concerned about is whether my pace in this first unit can be applied to future units, because a lot of what I've learned has been review from 1st year chemistry or chemistry 12. Although it was been 5 and 7 years respectively since I did those courses too.
I was spending at least 10 hours a day studying last week. I didn't study for the whole week but I got in a few good days there. Yesterday on Saturday I took a little break and spent some time researching my chances for admission into Canadian medical schools. There are a lot of schools where I won't meet the cutoffs or requirements this summer, but in 2 years I will be eligble for a lot more schools. Although I do have a strong preference for McMaster or UBC.
I'm in full gear now. The days are longer but I am learning so much more. I also got my sleep schedule back on track which was bothering me before too. All in all, things are good, but the road is going to be so long. I've done two years at 73%. That means I need to do 2 more years at 93% to get up to a respectable 83% average.
My next goals are to write at least 3 exams in April. If I get 80% in all 3 courses and then I finish organic chemistry at the end of April and get an "A" in it, then I will have met the 75% cutoff.
BUT, if everything goes right for me, then I'm expecting to have something more like an 83% as opposed to a flat 80 average for my ocean science and health psych courses. It could go even higher than that, but I guess we will just have to wait and see.
I was putting in some serious work to learn organic chemistry. I haven't got any marks back yet or finished an assignment, but I've completed about 15% of the entire course, so I think progress is being made. One thing I'm concerned about is whether my pace in this first unit can be applied to future units, because a lot of what I've learned has been review from 1st year chemistry or chemistry 12. Although it was been 5 and 7 years respectively since I did those courses too.
I was spending at least 10 hours a day studying last week. I didn't study for the whole week but I got in a few good days there. Yesterday on Saturday I took a little break and spent some time researching my chances for admission into Canadian medical schools. There are a lot of schools where I won't meet the cutoffs or requirements this summer, but in 2 years I will be eligble for a lot more schools. Although I do have a strong preference for McMaster or UBC.
I'm in full gear now. The days are longer but I am learning so much more. I also got my sleep schedule back on track which was bothering me before too. All in all, things are good, but the road is going to be so long. I've done two years at 73%. That means I need to do 2 more years at 93% to get up to a respectable 83% average.
My next goals are to write at least 3 exams in April. If I get 80% in all 3 courses and then I finish organic chemistry at the end of April and get an "A" in it, then I will have met the 75% cutoff.
BUT, if everything goes right for me, then I'm expecting to have something more like an 83% as opposed to a flat 80 average for my ocean science and health psych courses. It could go even higher than that, but I guess we will just have to wait and see.
Sunday 21 February 2016
Biggest Challenge Yet and Over-Riding Desire to Become a Surgeon
The next big thing that stands in my way between me and medical school is this: Organic Chemistry.
This past week I registered for Organic Chemistry I through TRU OL. It is a print based course so my course materials will arrive to my house sometime this upcoming week I'm guessing.
Ever since I had the idea of registering for this course, I've really start to feel the gravity of the situation, both past, current and future. I start to ask myself questions like am I really cut out for medical school? Can I handle the rigors of medical school and memorizing that much information and being so good at clinical skills that I can obtain the references in clerkship to get a competitive surgical specialty at a top program in the continent or even in the country. Then it flows down and I start to think to ask myself if I am good enough to do what is necessary to even get to that point - such as completing organic chemistry, completing the MCAT, completing other difficult courses for my degree like calculus. I haven't had these doubts since I was really young - not since I was about 19 years old - 5 years ago.
But my persistent desire to become a top surgeon over-rides any speedbumps or larger obstacles that may stand in my way. I also have this inner belief in myself. I have a belief that I can achieve great things. I have such supreme confidence when I am 'on point' and firing on all cylinders. The confidence just snowballs when things go well. I'm not at that point right now, but I know I NEED to get to that while I'm still young. It is part of my persona that I be extremely successful. And the younger the better.
This all might sound a bit egotistical, but honestly I can't be modest all the time. The reason is my over-riding desire for my future as a surgeon. I am very down to earth. I come from a very modest background with a lot of disadvantages in my upbringing. But it is the amount of displacement that I have traveled from that point to now which gives me my confidence. I know I can ace organic chemistry and I know I can get my supreme confidence back and get into medical school and do extremely well in medical school and become a top student. I will continue that in my career throughout my training and into my practice and hopefully get involved with research to cure diseases. I am goal driven. I want to achieve all of my medical goals because I am in love with medicine. The power to help people heal and fix their issues is what gets me drunk and high in life. Day 1 of Organic Chem prep starts tomorrow and I am promising myself I will give it all I've got so I can look back and feel good about my mark in the class.
This past week I registered for Organic Chemistry I through TRU OL. It is a print based course so my course materials will arrive to my house sometime this upcoming week I'm guessing.
Ever since I had the idea of registering for this course, I've really start to feel the gravity of the situation, both past, current and future. I start to ask myself questions like am I really cut out for medical school? Can I handle the rigors of medical school and memorizing that much information and being so good at clinical skills that I can obtain the references in clerkship to get a competitive surgical specialty at a top program in the continent or even in the country. Then it flows down and I start to think to ask myself if I am good enough to do what is necessary to even get to that point - such as completing organic chemistry, completing the MCAT, completing other difficult courses for my degree like calculus. I haven't had these doubts since I was really young - not since I was about 19 years old - 5 years ago.
But my persistent desire to become a top surgeon over-rides any speedbumps or larger obstacles that may stand in my way. I also have this inner belief in myself. I have a belief that I can achieve great things. I have such supreme confidence when I am 'on point' and firing on all cylinders. The confidence just snowballs when things go well. I'm not at that point right now, but I know I NEED to get to that while I'm still young. It is part of my persona that I be extremely successful. And the younger the better.
This all might sound a bit egotistical, but honestly I can't be modest all the time. The reason is my over-riding desire for my future as a surgeon. I am very down to earth. I come from a very modest background with a lot of disadvantages in my upbringing. But it is the amount of displacement that I have traveled from that point to now which gives me my confidence. I know I can ace organic chemistry and I know I can get my supreme confidence back and get into medical school and do extremely well in medical school and become a top student. I will continue that in my career throughout my training and into my practice and hopefully get involved with research to cure diseases. I am goal driven. I want to achieve all of my medical goals because I am in love with medicine. The power to help people heal and fix their issues is what gets me drunk and high in life. Day 1 of Organic Chem prep starts tomorrow and I am promising myself I will give it all I've got so I can look back and feel good about my mark in the class.
Friday 22 January 2016
Exciting new volunteer opportunity, but with frustration
Since I had moved back to Vancouver Island in August of 2015, I had not participated in any extracurricular activities (EC's). I had been in touch with the volunteer manager of a children's hospital one town over from me (my town is a small town so there is no dedicated children's hospital) who said she would email me the descriptions of the volunteer opportunities so that I can decide which one I want. I saw her on October 29th and I never heard from her and I sent her multiple emails and voice-mails and I had still never heard from her. The other week, I tried phoning her line in the off-chance that I can get in touch with her to see what was going on. Surprisingly, I actually got her at a good time because she answered her phone. Anyways she said they are definitely still looking for volunteers and she told me about an opportunity that I'm very excited about. It is a pilot project that needs help, and the reason I'm excited about it is because with a pilot project, I can potentially take on more responsibility than a traditional role.
Anyways I was supposed to meet with her on Wednesday, but she was sick. She had emailed me that morning saying she was sick that day (her first email that I received from her) but I never checked that email address that morning. It takes about an hour and 10 minutes to get from my house to the children's hospital, plus I went early and was just waiting. So I wasted about 3 hours of my time that day. Now I am waiting for her to email me back about re-scheduling, but she hasn't got back to me. I know she was in at work on Thursday and I'm assuming she was in on Friday.
I'm trying to be as patient as possible but I am feeling really frustrated. I was hoping to get started before Christmas and now January is almost over and I still haven't even scheduled a shift yet. With the way things have gone, I probably won't be able to get in touch with her for a few weeks or longer. It has happened before and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened again. But the thing is that this opportunity is worth any amount of difficulty in obtaining it. I actually heard students who volunteer with pilot projects usually get in to medical school. Obviously an applicant needs everything else to be at a high level, but if an applicant has a really good volunteer experience with a pilot project where the volunteer took on a lot of responsibility and really showed results in the effort he/she put in, then that would likely put that applicant over the other applicants without said experience, assuming that every other aspect of the application was at a high baseline level.
I guess I could think of it as a good thing that I haven't started yet so I can work on my schooling. As always, there is a lot to do and I need time to do it at a high level. The stakes are higher now that I might just be able to apply to UBC Med this summer.
Anyways I was supposed to meet with her on Wednesday, but she was sick. She had emailed me that morning saying she was sick that day (her first email that I received from her) but I never checked that email address that morning. It takes about an hour and 10 minutes to get from my house to the children's hospital, plus I went early and was just waiting. So I wasted about 3 hours of my time that day. Now I am waiting for her to email me back about re-scheduling, but she hasn't got back to me. I know she was in at work on Thursday and I'm assuming she was in on Friday.
I'm trying to be as patient as possible but I am feeling really frustrated. I was hoping to get started before Christmas and now January is almost over and I still haven't even scheduled a shift yet. With the way things have gone, I probably won't be able to get in touch with her for a few weeks or longer. It has happened before and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened again. But the thing is that this opportunity is worth any amount of difficulty in obtaining it. I actually heard students who volunteer with pilot projects usually get in to medical school. Obviously an applicant needs everything else to be at a high level, but if an applicant has a really good volunteer experience with a pilot project where the volunteer took on a lot of responsibility and really showed results in the effort he/she put in, then that would likely put that applicant over the other applicants without said experience, assuming that every other aspect of the application was at a high baseline level.
I guess I could think of it as a good thing that I haven't started yet so I can work on my schooling. As always, there is a lot to do and I need time to do it at a high level. The stakes are higher now that I might just be able to apply to UBC Med this summer.
Wednesday 20 January 2016
Good news, Bad news
Ok the good news is more like unbelievably amazing news and the bad news is not super bad but just kind of annoying.
The good news is that I got all of my failed courses removed (due to medical reasons). So yeah that is pretty great right? So what is the bad news? The bad news is my new AGPA for UBC Med is only 0.2% different than my new overall GPA. This is possible because during my year off I took a 1 credit chemistry lab and did poorly on it, but still passed, so it remains on my record and would mean that UBC will simply remove that 1 credit course from my GPA, hardly denting my GPA.
But I didn't fully explain the good news. My overall GPA did go up from what my AGPA would have been. My new overall GPA is ......73.9%! 1.1% away from applying to UBC med. I am still below the GPA mark for McMaster because only my failed courses were removed, I still have C's and D's from my first few years of school that is bringing my average down. But I'm trying to focus on the good for now. It really truly feels like I have a new lease on life, with not much holding me back. I'm at 73.9 and I can guarantee it won't ever go any lower than that.
So what are my chances of applying to UBC medicine this year? I have an absolutely excellent chance as long as I get marks in the A range (85-89). Anything over that would be a plus. I don't want to celebrate too early yet, but I am just in a really good mood right now. As you can tell from my last few posts, it is has been an up and down ride as to whether or not I'll be applying to UBC med this summer.
But now, I'm licking my chops like a hungry wolf. I'm not sure what kind of analogy that was, but I think it suits this. There is almost no way that I won't be able to apply to UBC this summer. My marks are only going to be higher than my average, not lower. It would take some serious setbacks for that to happen. But I just realized, the next university couruses I might be taking are organic chemistry. If there was ever something to stop me from my goals, organic chemistry would be it.
I'll post later about which university courses I'm taking next. For now, I'm going to feel good about my new average.
The good news is that I got all of my failed courses removed (due to medical reasons). So yeah that is pretty great right? So what is the bad news? The bad news is my new AGPA for UBC Med is only 0.2% different than my new overall GPA. This is possible because during my year off I took a 1 credit chemistry lab and did poorly on it, but still passed, so it remains on my record and would mean that UBC will simply remove that 1 credit course from my GPA, hardly denting my GPA.
But I didn't fully explain the good news. My overall GPA did go up from what my AGPA would have been. My new overall GPA is ......73.9%! 1.1% away from applying to UBC med. I am still below the GPA mark for McMaster because only my failed courses were removed, I still have C's and D's from my first few years of school that is bringing my average down. But I'm trying to focus on the good for now. It really truly feels like I have a new lease on life, with not much holding me back. I'm at 73.9 and I can guarantee it won't ever go any lower than that.
So what are my chances of applying to UBC medicine this year? I have an absolutely excellent chance as long as I get marks in the A range (85-89). Anything over that would be a plus. I don't want to celebrate too early yet, but I am just in a really good mood right now. As you can tell from my last few posts, it is has been an up and down ride as to whether or not I'll be applying to UBC med this summer.
But now, I'm licking my chops like a hungry wolf. I'm not sure what kind of analogy that was, but I think it suits this. There is almost no way that I won't be able to apply to UBC this summer. My marks are only going to be higher than my average, not lower. It would take some serious setbacks for that to happen. But I just realized, the next university couruses I might be taking are organic chemistry. If there was ever something to stop me from my goals, organic chemistry would be it.
I'll post later about which university courses I'm taking next. For now, I'm going to feel good about my new average.
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