Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head

Funny how rapid the weather changes here in Southern California. Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day. Today it's been a gloomy, rainy day. Honestly, I prefer the rain. However, I believe that once I leave California (at least So.Ca.) I am going to miss the perpetual sunshine. Plus, the rain is always much more pleasant when you have someone to snuggle up with. Oh well!

So here we are, back in full academic swing. I already am not fond of my Pre-Calc professor. No offense to him, I'm sure he is a great person. He just seems to be rather stiff and not very personable. I believe this to be true of most math professors (basing my assumption on the 3 I have had in my college career). I've come to many conclusions regarding the typical personality and psychological traits of professors who teach certain subjects. Biology (or life science) professors tend to be quirky, happy go lucky types while Chemistry professors seem to be rather rigid, laugh at their own jokes, rather odd and not have the best interpersonal or social skills. Math teachers tend to adhere to the motto "my way or the highway." I came to these conclusions based on the various interactions I have had with professors in these subjects. I know not everyone who teaches Biology is happy-go-lucky, and not everyone who teaches Chemistry is odd, but I have noticed a trend...

I also noticed a trend like this in music and the types of people who fall into certain instruments. Lead singers have a power struggle, everyone must look up to them, they must be the center of attention in all aspects of their life and they must be in control of everything. Lead guitarists are usually the "hot" ones, with their own sense of style. Usually they are the "funny" one's with big personalities. The bass players are the "cool" ones, the calm-cool-collected and tough ones who are usually the talent in the band and most looked over. Funny as well, but in a much more subdued, intelligent manner. Drummers are the wild card who literally live life to the beat of their own drum. They're usually the one's who are different from the rest of the band, have their own thing going on and are either shy or extremely outrageous. Again, these are gross over generalizations, but you get the point!

Happiness Is All The Rage

Today was the quintessential southern California day. It was sunny and a beautiful 65-70 degrees. Sadly, I spent most of my day studying Pre-Calc and Physiology. It's amazing how much time passes when your studying and how little material you actually cover.

While I was putting off my studies today, I decided to complete one more college application. I now am in the process of finishing my application to UNLV. I think this should be my last one. With this one complete I will be looking at 4 applications. Currently, my ASU application is complete. I believe USF and DePaul University in Chicago are pending on my Citrus transcripts, and now I have UNLV that's in the works. Applying to college is so much work. I never knew all the steps involved and all the documentation entailed. I went to three different post-secondary institutions and have had to request official transcripts from all three, not to mention High School transcripts. Then there's the FAFSA, and all the financial aid documentation that comes along with that. Not to mention the application fee of $20-$60 dollars. This whole time I thought you just submitted an application, a transcript, and were done with it. I heard it's a good idea to apply to at least 30 Med-Schools when you're submitting applications, I can only imagine how much time and money that must cost. Well, thank goodness I have about 2-3 years before I have to go through that process!

On a side note, I really wanted to post this song by the promise ring. I felt as though it was the perfect soundtrack to such a beautiful, sun filled day. This song always makes me happy, I hope it will make you happy as well!

Get Over Yourself

So another semester back in full swing. I must admit the 2 week break was nice, but now I am terribly out of academic shape. Last semester I was able to spend days at a time studying a subject, even dreaming about it. Now, I can't even seem to want to print power points. Give me a couple days, I'm sure I'll get back in the groove of it all.

Today was my stint at the hospital. Every Friday morning I volunteer, and it's either hit or miss. I either have a great day, or an unmemorable day. Today I overslept and didn't bother to do my hair or put on make-up. Of course the one day I don't fix myself is the one day I run into three attractive USC Med-Students on their break. Oh well, c'est la vie.

On a patient discharge today, as I was waiting with my patient (and as the med students were hanging out) I noticed a man and his wife get out of their car. The man was very skinny, but still looked like he could put up a good fight (health wise) I looked at him and new he was being admitted for something serious. After I left my patient and went back to my department I was immediately sent on another discharge or rather admit. I go to admitting and sure enough, I was admitting the patient that caught my eye. As I went to greet him and his wife, I pulled his wheel chair and noticed the wife give her family members a big hug and hold back tears. The man also held back his tears. I then had to hold back my tears, because I knew this was bad. I tried to crack a bad joke on the way up to their floor to alleviate the situation, which seemed to lighten the air as much as could possibly be.

After I left them in their new "home" and walked back to my department I started to think about mortality and how one day we will all be gone or have to live in a hospital in our last hours. It puts life into perspective and makes all of our daily worries so trivial. It was especially hitting for me since lately I've been really down since having my braces put on. I know it's petty, but the braces brought back all of my insecurities I had as a kid. And really reflecting on all of this has made me angry and not myself lately. I've been snappy, irritable and not as outgoing as I like to be. I was supposed to do that admit today. It was a slap in the face to get over myself. There are bigger problems in life. Children are going without food and people are dying. Life is too short to sweat the petty stuff and dwell on the past or hope for the future. All we have is now and today. We can't control tomorrow, just this moment. We can't control how other people treat us, only how we react to their actions.

When I went through my most recent break-up, what really helped me was to focus on others. My motto became "it's not about you, it's about everyone else." I began to live that. Lately, I've only been living that when it comes to my career. Today I learned it's time to implement that back into my everyday/personal life.