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.
Wednesday, 18 May 2016
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.
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