Going
into the final, my head was above water and all I had to do was nail the
final exam and move on to next semester. Unfortunately, I'm not
feeling to wonderful about that last exam. It was indeed the most
difficult exam I have ever taken. It made the first few med school exams
look like art class. ( although for some people, that may be a terrible comparison.) I am eagerly and reluctantly waiting for my scores
to find out if I have proved myself enough to move on. If not, all I
can do is suck it up and move on. I thought to myself, and I realized
that if I could go back and do anything differently, I wouldn't. I worked
hard, studied hard, and kept sane.
The
last few weeks a lot has happened. To recap a bit I'll discuss my final
hockey game. My team ultimately made the finals of the intramural
league with a record of 8-1. Having only lost our first game. The team
we met in the finals was not who we expected. It was the team we had
beaten several times before, and rarely gave us any trouble. Most of
their team were 4th semester students, which meant they wanted to win
their last game before leaving the island. With the Tin-foil Stanley cup and the intramural sports champions t-shirt on the line, we were going
to have to earn it. After the first of two periods we were ahead 5-3.
My team was tired from working hard, and we knew the opponent wasn't
going to quit, and we were right. We extended our lead early on to 6-3
but unfortunately, that would be the last goal we scored. With 5 minutes
left, they closed the gap , 6-4, 6-5, 6-6. And then, they took the
lead. We worked and worked to grab the loose pucks and had plenty of
chances, including sending a few over the net, and a few off the post.
This semester we did not hoist the tin foil cup, but it is definitely
leaving me hungry for it. There is always next semester.
I
spent the week after the game studying the average 12 hour days in the annex near
my apartment. At times, taking a nap with my feet propped up, and my
class t shirt under my head. Having 4 days to recall an entire
semester's worth of material isn't nearly enough. The brain can only
retain so much, needing ear plugs just to keep it in.
knowledge retention devices
Nonetheless,
I managed to get through those days, trying to recall every minor
detail of some random cycle or whether an individual enzyme was turned
on or off by phosphorylation. Because I have already mentioned the exam,
I wont put you, or myself through that traumatic experience again.
The
morning of Tuesday the 16th, I had my bags packed, excited as ever to
come home. As per usual, I had an unsteady stomach due to waking at 5am and
not being able to stomach much of anything. The cab driver picked me
up, as well as several others students from across the campus area. As I
may have mentioned in an earlier blog post, The drivers in Dominica are
great, considering what they have to deal with. The roads dip and turn
and wind around and make you feel like you are on the "teacup" ride at
the local carnival. Now, I love roller coasters, but I can't handle the
teacups and I never could. After an hour of driving the roads resembling
the twists and turns of our own small intestine, I made it to the
Dominican airport.
The Dominican road system
The plane we flew out on was small. It reminded me
of a pack of gum with not one but TWO propellers. The flight to San Juan
went smoothly and I finally was able to start this blog at the airport Mcdonalds.
Little did I realize that the American Airlines system being
down was quite the issue. They checked my bag without
issue. After lunch I met a few friends from school at the terminal and
waited for boarding. And we waited, and waited and then our flight was
delayed, followed by cancelled. As frustrating as that was, I felt like Tom Hanks in the movie called the terminal, where he was unable to
leave the airport. So I wandered until I found a plug to charge my
laptop, waiting for the the worldwide crash of American's system to come
back. A few hours after our flight was cancelled, we were finally able
to reschedule our flight for this morning at 6:40 am and I stayed the night in San Juan.
View from my San Juan hotel room
So
my hockey teammate Slava and I went to dinner at the Buffalo wings
place and grabbed a few brews, courtesy of American.
Then we went back
to a respective hotel rooms within the airport. Last night I was able to
talk with Sarah for a while until Skype cut out another dozen times.
She even made me another song that she mixed herself! I loved it :) And
this is where I have to make a shout out to her cat Chewy and his many
faces from the last four months.
And Gizmo :-)
I
have to say, for only getting 5 hours rest, that bed was the most
comfortable I've had in months. ( My bed at school is concrete with a
sheet.) So far today, I had two eggo waffles with Nutella and peanut
butter sandwiched between them. That combo is divine and highly
recommended. Today, my flight started on the right foot and so far has
been swell. I am very eager to get home and see my family and friends.
It's funny to think about, but the last time I was this excited, I was
accepted to med school. Now, I cant wait to get home.
Thanks for reading,
From high in the skies,
Nick
PS! I'm coming home part 2 is below!!!
My friendly roommate
Inside Ross Main Gate
The day of my birthday some friends were kind enough to make me a cake, give me a cookie while blowing out a lighter for the candle, give me a pack of vanilla crackers while I was studying, and another bought me Chinese for dinner, including a periodic table shower curtain from Sarah!!. I have some great friends.
If you have never seen this before, I was told that this is the common cashew. You know, the nut. This whole thing is wasted, the green part is dried and roasted and fills the can. It takes an entire tree to fill a can. Hence why they are so expensive :)
Brad at my birthday
Stephanie, Jeremiah, Tamara, Carina
Kim and lumberjack
Tamara, Logan, Carina and Matt
A friend of mine named Anthony invited me to try something called Bubba (bubble?) Tea. It was tasty. It was Honeydew flavored, the balls next to it are something similar to Tapioca.
After our string of exam before the final, we went to Tulips. With Kim and Brad.
The faded rainbow, frequenting the Dominican landscape.
The sunset, waiting for the green flash
when I got home I had some mexican food from Mexican village and a Margarita
And for those that didn't know yet...
I PASSED MY FIRST SEMESTER OF MED SCHOOL!
cheers! and bring on semester 2 Thanks for everyone's love and support!
Nick
