You’re ready. As countless people have told you, this entire year has been preparation for this. You are prepared to prepare for the MCAT, the test that will determine your medical school admission chances. Well, that, and whether medical schools are willing to overlook that bio lab grade. Um.
You’re motivated. Your final exams are over, you unwound with dinner and drinks, and your batteries are recharged. Time to tackle this five-hour bastard head-on and show it what you know. Continue reading
Studying for the barrage of science finals and the MCAT, simultaneously, is a relatively independent enterprise. You can try to study in groups, you can attend the review classes, and you can go to the library to be around others, but in the end the process involves you and a lot of text. I tend to avoid the library around exam time, because entering the chemistry library around now is like waiting in line at the drugstore for a prescription during flu season: you’re afraid to get too close to anyone because everybody looks like hell. As an avid people-watcher, I’ve found that coffee shops are too distracting, so my go-to work site is the desk in my bedroom. And I am good at it. I can sit down and focus for hours on end, plugging away at physics or organic chemistry or whatever is on the table that day.
I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. It’s been a long few weeks without a break – tests, tons of work, and a couple of special trips up to my hometown D.C. – one for a date (!), and one for a job interview. So sorry, not sorry, for the delay.
Like this.
The date is the topic of today’s post. It was a nearly-perfect afternoon and evening, but I promise I’m not going to write sappy hogwash about bucolically strolling around the Washington Monument under a backdrop of thousands of kites, although that’s exactly what we did. If you’re looking for that, look for a blog with pink frills and prominent background pictures of roses (or maybe Chelsea Handler and Tucker Max, if that’s your thing). But those of you who know me well know that I am absurdly picky and the mere fact that I even went on a date, much less wanted to write about it, is at least noteworthy.
(Andrea, my date, actually suggested I write about what happened. See? She’s a good one!) Continue reading
Hmm. Which one am I?
A while ago, a friend of mine sent me a link to an article published on a website called “21 Reasons to Become a Vegetarian.” It was oddly posted on an adopt-an-animal website; I tracked down the origin of the article to a doctor named Vernon Coleman, who wrote a vegetarian book “Food For Thought,” as well as other books on politics and, apparently, cricket. He is also an outspoken opponent of vaccinations (hooray, polio!) and “conventional cancer treatment.” Yeah.
My friend, by the way, was a vegetarian and on her way to becoming a full-blown vegan.
Below is the article, with each bullet point from the original article in black answered by my annotation in red. Before you read, you should know that I think vegetarianism is perfectly healthy if done right and not an intrinsic bad. I do take issue with vegetarians trying to convert me, a top-of-the-food-chain steak eater, to vegetarianism. It’s like a Mormon trying to convert dead Jews: a lost cause. Give it up, people. And enjoy the skewering (ha!) of the article below. It starts with a couple of concessions: Continue reading
We’ve started our review course for the MCAT. I wrote about the MCAT back in October, where I attempted to defuse my fear surrounding the test by referring to it as an actual cat. Unfortunately, I have to treat it like a real thing now, with books and studying and practice tes- oops, I just vomited a little bit. The overwhelming scent of failure is nauseating.
If you remember the SAT Subject Tests, the MCAT is sort of like 5 subject tests all mashed together. It covers general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology, and verbal reasoning/essay-writing. It’s about five hours long, computer-based, and evil. Continue reading
I posted this elsewhere, but since it’s personal, I’ll repost here.
“My best friend is a Duke fan.”
Shudder.
About twice a year (sometimes three), I think these words to myself and physically recoil. How could I be associated with such a being? How could I justify my fandom as a Tar Heel when treason runs so close to home? Continue reading
I should say that it’s pretty impressive that I, a legendarily klutzy individual, made it through nearly two-thirds of the academic year without a significant accident in a chemistry lab. Alas, my streak ended yesterday after a disastrous experiment. Continue reading
Over winter break, I finally took the plunge and went on Birthright. For those of you that don’t know, Birthright (technically called “Taglit Birthright”) is a program that sends American Jews on a ten-day trip to Israel… for free. It sounds too good to be true, but there’s no catch. It really is free, even airfare. All Birthright requires is that you’re Jewish and between 18-26. I returned the day my classes started again here, so I’ve just now beaten the jetlag to write down a few thoughts: Continue reading
Dear ESPN:
I appreciate that, as the unquestioned Worldwide Leader in sports news and entertainment, you have to cover the most relevant and interesting sports-related information of the day. Really, I do. I understand the Tim Tebow phenomenon, of blanket coverage for a mediocre rookie quarterback, and I understand the attention given to the NFL Draft, Yankees and Red Sox baseball, and Duke and Lakers basketball.
(I don’t understand the hours of unending coverage of the World Series of Poker, but that’s for another letter.) Continue reading
crashing resident 