Lesson of the Week: Do What You Have to Do

So, today wrapped up my second week of school. As I mentioned in my last post, since I realized my passion and goal to become a doctor a few months ago, I have a hard time participating in anything that is not medical related. Case in point: Social Values in Mass Communication. I have this class Wednesday nights from 8pm-10pm & Saturdays 1pm-5pm. This quarter(which is over in 6 weeks)Ii'm also taking a Health class from 6pm-8pm on Tuesdays and 8am-12pm on Saturdays, The health class I am completely in love with and love attending that class every day, because it's something I'm actually interested in. This mass communication class is so incredibly boring to me that it's a struggle for me to sit in class and actually absorb, or pretend I'm interested, in the knowledge.

Today after health class I went to Trader Joe's to grab some lunch and get some groceries. I had already made up in my mind that I was not going to that boring Mass Communication class. I just could not fathom spending my Saturday afternoon in that class for 4 hours...so as I was driving back to my house...I realized that we all have to do things we don't want to do, but have to do to achieve our goals. This class, is unfortunately a required class for me to transfer to the university and I realized that I needed to suck it up and do what I have to do to transfer, complete my bachelors, and get into med school.

So I rushed home, threw my groceries into my fridge, grabbed two bananas, and sped to class, because I didn't want to be late. I swerve into a parking spot on two wheels, grab my laptop, jump out of my car and book it into the classroom. It was empty. So I'm thinking "What the hell?!?! Was it cancelled?!??! Did we get switched to a new room?!?!" So I feverishly pull out my smart phone and load up my schedule and I see that we are still in the same room. I don't see a cancellation notice. I walk around the building and I don't see any of the 100+ students in my class standing around anywhere. I pass by this older guy, who looked like the professor of the class, but I wasn't quite sure, so I didn't say anything. It's currently 12:06pm, and I thought the class started at 12pm, so I double checked my schedule again and realized it started at 1pm. I exhale a sigh of relief and go take a nap in my car until 12:56pm and went to class. Once again, boring as hell, not even remotely interesting, so I spent most of the 4hrs online looking at pictures of surgical procedures and reading articles regarding anesthesia. We took a quiz at some point. It was common sense questions that any person who watches the news, reads a newspaper or news articles online would be able to answer fairly easily. I bolted right after the quiz and was proud of myself for sticking through it, so I rewarded myself with a 90minute massage...which was sooooo freaking amazing.

So, lesson learned: Do what you have to do, in order to achieve the goals you have set, and if you are good, you treat yourself to a fabulous massage from William! :)

One Step At A Time

So, lately I've been reading pre-med & current medical students blogs ad nauseum! I was SO enthused about jumping on my own medical school journey that I wanted to know anything & EVERYTHING I could about the process & also get to experience a little bit of it vicariously through them. All of this reading has lead to me constantly thinking about: MCATs, med school applications, matriculation, gross anatomy, Step exams, final exams, residency matching, potential fellowship programs etc etc...over and over again in that order constantly every night before I go to sleep. It's to the point where I cannot go to sleep for hours!!!
Last night I was obssessing over administering anesthesia for the first time. Trying to imagine the process: Airway, Breathing, Circulation. Hypnotic, Paralytic, etc.
Then today I realized why people say: "Take it one step/day at a time." I never understood it before because my logic was: How is one to be properly prepared to reach one's goals if one does not have a detailed trajectory mapped out as to know what to expect &  what action to take at each stepping stone?!?!? The answer is simple: One mustn't obssess over tomorrow because all we have ever & will ever have is THIS present moment. So concentrate on this step, this day, this present moment & excell in it. As long as we are always focused on excelling in the present moment, we will always excell.
I think this is a great lesson to be learned by many students on the Doctor track from the blogs I've been reading.
Sidenote: I just played tennis with a friend because I'm trying to lose weight and because I love tennis. Long story-short..he kicked my ass...BAD! I guess I'm a little rusty. Just took a hot shower to soothe my latissimi dorsi....now it's sleep time. Bonus: I don't have to be at work until 2:30pm! :))))