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I’ve been making a lot of lists lately. To-do lists, homework lists, important dates, mailing addresses, potential medical schools, work hours, volunteer application checklists… It’s all about juggling the jillion things I have going right now and staying sane in the process. So far I’m managing pretty well, and even managing to make some inroads setting things in motion for future success. I’m reaching out to a dean who will work with me to perfect my med school applications and help me narrow down (or perhaps widen) my potential application pool. I’m trying to stay involved with the post-bacc group as much as possible in order to make friends and connections there. I’m working hard to be indispensable at my new job, where I stand to make some friends and contacts as well as earning an excellent resume point and a not-too-shabby wage.

I’ve planned out my classes through the end of the program at Georgetown, and provided no registrar mishaps implode my careful plans, I’ll be well prepared for the MCATs and for med school applications next summer. It seems at once to be both far, far away and RIGHT NOW. It’s a weird feeling.

My classes are going pretty well. Biology is… relatively easy right now, although the lab work is time consuming. Calculus is still a struggle, but I’m getting a lot of worthwhile help from friends who are math teachers/experts, so I’m lucky there. It’s a fortunate turn of events too, since it appears my teacher is not ideal for my learning style. He’s a nice enough man, and clearly a genius in his field, but he’s not very good at explaining things in more than one way, which makes it difficult when I don’t think like a mathematician. Lately, he’s been getting obviously frustrated when I don’t quickly grasp a concept, so I’ve abandoned his help in favor of my patient friends who are actually superb at explaining the concepts in a way anyone could understand. So I have faith that I’ll pass the course with a respectable grade at least, and in the end that’s all I can ask for now. I’d love to have a more than passing grasp of calculus, but for now I’ll settle for a passing grade. And just to clarify? For me personally, “passing” means a B or better.

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You know what’s funny? Developing a latex allergy. There’s nothing quite as amusing as taking off your gloves after a microbiology lab to discover your hands are bright red and covered in raised, white welts. A good washing helped them a lot, so it’s clearly not a severe issue… but the timing of the discovery is amusing, no?

Fortunately, non-latex gloves are easy to find these days, so I’m not so worried about it. I’m planning to do a little more digging into latex allergies though, since it would seem that mine is either sudden, or has atleast only suddenly gotten worse. I’ve never had issues at the doctor’s office, and I know latex allergies usually go hand in hand with some food allergies, which (besides kiwi) I don’t seem to have… I’ve also been hearing that latex allergies are becoming more and more common, which leads me to wonder what is causing the increase, especially when more and more health professionals are using latex free gloves now.

In unrelated news, I spent ten minutes or so chatting with a medical student in the union yesterday. I can’t help but think of them as sort of rockstars, since they’re doing what I so want to be doing. Amusingly, he offered me two important facts, one comforting and one frightening.

1. He applied to twelve medical schools and only got into one. Since my current application wish list is only 6-7 schools long, this scares me. Of course, I know nothing about the kind of student he was (is?) but it still gives me pause. I’ve made an appointment with one of the deans of the medical school who advises students and helps them prepare for med school applications, so I’m hoping meeting with him (early and often) will help me make sure I have better success with my applications. I don’t want to apply to ten billion schools since the applications can be expensive….
2. It’s not insanely difficult. That’s right! He said medical school was not killing him. Yes, of course, he said it was difficult, but he said that the difficulty is well tempered by the fact that everything you’re doing is amazing, fascinating, exciting, and there’s a real sense that you’re making a difference. That is exactly what I needed to hear as I try to survive calculus….

Speaking of calculus, I feel like I’m missing something about the process of becoming a successful math student. I feel like I am grasping individual concepts with reasonable acuity, but when it comes to an overall, applicable understanding of the subject as a whole I’m just at a loss. Thoughts?  Advice?

After several days of completely freaking out and viewing my calculus homework as though it were written in a foreign language, I’m finally feeling better.

Having trouble with a class? GO TO OFFICE HOURS. Less than one hour with my professor gave me a much better understanding of what I was having trouble with and what I needed to work on going forward. It’s also helping me to establish a good relationship with the professor, which could come in quite handy in semesters to come.

As for the rest, I lost one potential job thanks to not having the right availability, but I’m potentially being approved for work study which would mean eligibility for quite a few more on campus jobs. I’m also looking into how to start volunteering, as well as how to get involved with the (shockingly inactive) premed society on campus. It’s a busy life… but I’m enjoying the challenge.