So I have been doing really well of late on staying focused on my courses...like studying all day and all night type of thing. Earlier this year I decided to just step back from other things like the business and just focus on school. I know there is enough time in a week to technically manage both, but I just decided not to make it so hard on myself. I have to walk before I can run anyways, so to speak. But wow the first year sciences are tiring! I forgot how hard these were, and I definitely underestimated them. I've been working on a couple since December, which right now is Gen Chem 1 and Calc 1. And I've been working on Orgo 1 much prior to that as well, but I put that on hold to try to finish Gen Chem 1 first. I don't know if I've posted this on here, but I haven't completed or passed a science course since October of 2011. I did finish a year of first year anatomy and physiology a couple years ago, but I found those courses to be a little bit on the easy side. No math involved. But it feels so good doing these science courses, I got away from them in the past, just to try to get some confidence in other courses because I felt like maybe science was too hard for me. But now I'm definitely getting it pretty well. I'm getting around an 85 in both gen chem 1 and calc 1. But I still have quite a few marks to get with some more assignments in both, and of course both final exams which are worth 50%. So my mark could literally be anything. I have been chipping away at these courses for some time, but this week felt like a good strong week, because the hours put in of pure learning were strong. There was somewhere around 20-25 hours of pure learning. But that figure doesn't include the "in-between" sort of stuff. The in-between stuff being googling concepts I don't understand and other small things like definitions of words or figuring out their context in how it plays in the big picture of the bigger concept and of the unit of the course, and then relating that to how it fits in biologically for the MCAT. So I don't count all the hours that I'm technically doing homework. But I've just started to write down the amount of hours that are high yield learning. My total school work hours this week are easily over 40 hours because it is all I've been doing all day and all night. And the week isn't even over yet for me!
I really like writing about the "machanics" of studying, specifically in the sciences. Just because I don't think most people talk about this stuff. We might all see the A grade at the end of the semester that someone gets, but for me, I'm so curious as to not just how, but specifically how. What is the process like? What were the exact things you did? It seems to be summed up with practice questions and reading the concepts. But I don't know what the disconnect is, because it has proven to be difficult for so many students who enter first year university, and it will continue to be so. So a great deal of people must end up doing the whole school thing the wrong way. We all know about how in first year bio the prof may ask how many of you want to go to med school and 90% of the class raises their hand. But the attrition rate is pretty high in my experience. That being at a general science program at a general Canadian university. I suppose Mac health sci puts high numbers into medicine, and maybe a couple others at lower rates than Mac health sci? But I'm really thankful for the general default pathway to medicine being at least some courses in the sciences. In the states it's pretty well accepted you have to do first year bio, chem, physics and second year organic chem. You can't really get away from that. And then they will calculate a second "science GPA" which is it's own seperate weighting factor aside from cumulative GPA. Here in Canada prereqs aren't universal, and some people never took the sciences and have just studied the MCAT prep books and have found success. But I don't think that is a formula for success. I'm not saying it is impossible for it to work. But it will hardly be predictably successful for all types of students. At least I don't think so.
My study week isn't over though. I'm going to try to have a really good study day tomorrow on Sunday. And then start it all over again on Monday. I have plans tonight with some friends around 5, and after I eat lunch right now (soup and grilled sandwich is getting cold as we speak!), I haven't totally decided whether I'm going to study until then or if I'm going to email profs asking for lab/research opportunities. The reason why emailing will take me a while is because I like to learn about the searchers' field and their research, and try to write something meaningful in my emails, instead of a general "hey do you need free help" email. Because after-all, I am looking for a lab that would give me increasingly more responsibility and opportunities. I am actually incredibly excited for this though! I would love to volunteer in a lab that I like. But I'm just worried that no prof will get back to me haha. It is really close to summer already, but my timeline didn't start in September. And I don't want to have no ECs this entire summer. The ECs are definitely needed to break up the studying. I personally love the traditional ECs. Clinical experience would be nice, and I'm really excited to get involved with research. I've actually been thinking about getting an EMT certification, or something along those lines. I got the idea because the Duke post-bacc program offers the certification as part of their master's degree curriculum. Unfortunately they don't accept Canadians though so I had to cross that off the list. But I still thought it was a good idea so I might explore that option more. I think it would be great experience, but I don't know anything about the field or their training. I took standard first aid many years ago, but I don't know about which certifications to pick and what not. Because I think there is EMT, EMR, and of course paramedic. I wouldn't have the time to be a full blown paramedic, and I'm not sure what the process is like in Canada. But in the US the process seemed easier because the EMT program is very short, and there were plenty of EMT job postings. I don't know if you have to be a full blown paramedic everywhere in Canada, or if you can get away with one of these shorter training periods? It's something I'd like to look in to. I'm not set on it yet, but I want to explore it. I think it would be quite exciting, which is a major plus for me. Might be a good contrast with the lab and the coursework. Just to give me some diversity in my week.
Happy Saturday to everyone and I hope everyone has a good rest of the weekend!
