Sorry I've been AWOL. I had an essay to finish last week which was handed in on Monday (not the best essay I've ever done but probably not the worst either). I have also been frantically going through all my lecture notes and making revision notes as my first exam is in 15 days....15 DAYS!!!! I found out I had a 2:1 for my lab report which is great as it is worth 50% of the module, so I'm pleased with that.
So, 2 months of hell starts here really, I have 2 weeks until my first exam, and then 4 weeks of exams, followed by another 2 weeks (I think) off for revision before one more final exam for the year. I have to do an assessment in the summer as I had to miss it earlier in the year, and after that (resits pending obviously) I'm finished. Then it will be a long summer of GAMSAT revision (oh my dear god I have no idea how to begin), volunteering and dissertation reading (I'm at the point when I'm thinking of my dissertation already, oh my goodness!!!!) I'll be a 3rd year....already....this degree has flown by!
I've loved this degree, and I'm sure that if I end up doing postgraduate I'll love it too, but I can't help but hope and wish that I'll get into GEM for 2013. I know I'm one of the thousands who have the same dream, I'm just hopeful I'll get an interview. Anyway, enough wishing, time to relax for the evening as I'm absolutely shattered. Think I'm going to watch some trashy TV with my other half and then off to bed nice and early.
Wednesday 25 April 2012
Tuesday 17 April 2012
April Cinema
I spent the day with my other half today, working this morning and then we popped to the cinema to see 'The Cabin in the Woods'.
We also saw 'The Hunger Games' last night, so I guess if you're a film fan this might help you choose between them (or encourage you to see one or neither of them, I'm not sure). Lets start with 'The Hunger Games'. This was fantastic, I absolutely loved it, was mildly irritated by a couple of things, it is a little 'Hollywood' in some respects, but I really did enjoy it; I hear it is a trilogy so I'm really looking forward to seeing the next two movies! Usually I read the books before the films come out, but I was really keen to enjoy this for what it was, I have seen the play and read the novel for 'The Woman in Black' and I spent the whole film trying to second guess what was coming next, I was also a little irritated by the fact that it was so different from the novel and so I decided I would read the book after seeing the film.
Now onto 'The Cabin in The Woods'. I should point out I'm quite a big film fan, I love horror, thriller type films, but I am a HUGE wuss, if I'm scared, I hide. I hid for a relatively large part of this film. If you watch the trailer, you would be forgiven for thinking that you're going to see a combination of 'Hostel' and 'The Hills Have Eyes', it is more than that, in some ways and in others not quite as graphic or tense. I really enjoyed it however; it frightened me, it was on quite a few different levels, literally, and had an ending I really didn't expect, but I perhaps would have altered the ending slightly again, but it was completely worth the ticket, which after seeing 'The Devil Inside Me' was a welcome relief. (Do not waste your money on 'The Devil Inside Me', the film was finally getting going and then it ends, awful film, complete waste of money and time!)
Now I'm going to revise Osteoporosis, a bit of a change from watching scary movies, but necessary I believe if I want to pass my exams next month. If you have any films you think I should see, please feel free to let me know - I'm always happy to watch new films!
We also saw 'The Hunger Games' last night, so I guess if you're a film fan this might help you choose between them (or encourage you to see one or neither of them, I'm not sure). Lets start with 'The Hunger Games'. This was fantastic, I absolutely loved it, was mildly irritated by a couple of things, it is a little 'Hollywood' in some respects, but I really did enjoy it; I hear it is a trilogy so I'm really looking forward to seeing the next two movies! Usually I read the books before the films come out, but I was really keen to enjoy this for what it was, I have seen the play and read the novel for 'The Woman in Black' and I spent the whole film trying to second guess what was coming next, I was also a little irritated by the fact that it was so different from the novel and so I decided I would read the book after seeing the film.
Now onto 'The Cabin in The Woods'. I should point out I'm quite a big film fan, I love horror, thriller type films, but I am a HUGE wuss, if I'm scared, I hide. I hid for a relatively large part of this film. If you watch the trailer, you would be forgiven for thinking that you're going to see a combination of 'Hostel' and 'The Hills Have Eyes', it is more than that, in some ways and in others not quite as graphic or tense. I really enjoyed it however; it frightened me, it was on quite a few different levels, literally, and had an ending I really didn't expect, but I perhaps would have altered the ending slightly again, but it was completely worth the ticket, which after seeing 'The Devil Inside Me' was a welcome relief. (Do not waste your money on 'The Devil Inside Me', the film was finally getting going and then it ends, awful film, complete waste of money and time!)
Now I'm going to revise Osteoporosis, a bit of a change from watching scary movies, but necessary I believe if I want to pass my exams next month. If you have any films you think I should see, please feel free to let me know - I'm always happy to watch new films!
Saturday 14 April 2012
Medical School Panic
So, in one month I'll be finishing my 2nd year. Excellent and I'm finally healthy enough and my ankle seems stable enough (touch wood!) to begin my volunteering, which is amazing. I also have the shadowing sorted for the summer, alongside the project I've been working on which has been amazing, but I can't help feeling my application isn't going to be strong enough for this year. I did a practice UKCAT test yesterday for the first time (I didn't even know what was involved) and it was ok I suppose for a first attempt, aside from the numerical section which was absolutely appalling, which does not bode well for me at all. I really didn't want to rely on the GAMSAT too much as it is such a beast I wanted 2 UKCAT Unis and 2 GAMSAT Unis and now I'm worried that I'm going to have to go for 4 GAMSAT unis.
I have absolutely no idea how this is all going to pan out, I had everything planned to the nth degree and then I messed it all up by getting injured. Completely my fault, but it isn't going to make me feel great when I have to take yet another year to apply again if I don't get in this time. I'm a mature student (I'm still the right side of 30 but still!) and I just feel frustrated. I'm seeing on forums that people who are quite honestly fantastic candidates getting rejected from all 4 choices, even with high scores, high academic grades etc.
If people who are:
a) Younger than me
b) Have better academic credentials than me
c) Have higher GAMSAT/UKCAT scores than I can ever hope for
d) Have more voluntary work experience than me
Aren't getting offers, what am I supposed to do? I just hope that I get one offer, I don't mind where, I really truly don't, I'll be happy with any of the 6 places I want to apply to (I haven't narrowed it down yet, open day season is upon us!) were kind enough to offer me a place I'd be over the moon. I can't quite get my head around people being offered places and then saying that they're not sure they're going to take them as it wasn't their "first choice"... *DON'T APPLY TO A UNI UNLESS YOU'RE HAPPY TO TAKE THE PLACE*.
Anyway, I'm going to stop ranting, just having a moment of complete and utter blind panic! I'm going to go and revise, because one thing is for sure, I'm not going anywhere unless I pass my degree! Thanks for reading.
I have absolutely no idea how this is all going to pan out, I had everything planned to the nth degree and then I messed it all up by getting injured. Completely my fault, but it isn't going to make me feel great when I have to take yet another year to apply again if I don't get in this time. I'm a mature student (I'm still the right side of 30 but still!) and I just feel frustrated. I'm seeing on forums that people who are quite honestly fantastic candidates getting rejected from all 4 choices, even with high scores, high academic grades etc.
If people who are:
a) Younger than me
b) Have better academic credentials than me
c) Have higher GAMSAT/UKCAT scores than I can ever hope for
d) Have more voluntary work experience than me
Aren't getting offers, what am I supposed to do? I just hope that I get one offer, I don't mind where, I really truly don't, I'll be happy with any of the 6 places I want to apply to (I haven't narrowed it down yet, open day season is upon us!) were kind enough to offer me a place I'd be over the moon. I can't quite get my head around people being offered places and then saying that they're not sure they're going to take them as it wasn't their "first choice"... *DON'T APPLY TO A UNI UNLESS YOU'RE HAPPY TO TAKE THE PLACE*.
Anyway, I'm going to stop ranting, just having a moment of complete and utter blind panic! I'm going to go and revise, because one thing is for sure, I'm not going anywhere unless I pass my degree! Thanks for reading.
Tuesday 3 April 2012
April Already
This year is flying by, in fact the last three years have flown by. Three years ago I moved in with my better half, since then we've bought a house, been to the Maldives, got married and I've (almost) finished two years of my BSc. It literally feels like yesterday that I applied to study for my BSc and applying to med school was a distant ambition, now it is a very real, current, task. I had an email from my course director last week saying we need to start thinking about our dissertation topics through the summer, which will make me a 3rd year!!
Whilst lots of exciting things have happened, I've also had some negative things, I've injured myself and been rather poorly (as you may have read at the start of the year). I'm still not 100% better, but I'm 100% better than I was on the 1st January this year. However, we were watching "Hospital Sydney" last night and there was a man on there with multiple brain tumours having surgery to stop him from being paralysed for the last few months of his life. He and his wife were so happy to find out that his prognosis was for 3-6 months rather than a couple of weeks and it just made me feel a little sad. I was lying in bed watching this, and it made me think, yesterday was the 2nd April, on the 1st January I had a low pressure headache due to a pretty gnarly lumbar puncture and I was lying in bed doing exactly the same as I was last night (with added pain of course), 4 months ago, yet like everything else it feels like yesterday! I lay there and couldn't help feeling sad that in the short space of time that has passed between me being so poorly and me getting back on my feet again, essentially the man on the TV would have exceeded the lower end of his life expectancy scale.
I don't take my life for granted. I'd love to go to medical school, but my life won't end if I can't. I have so many wonderful things going on in my life for which I'm grateful for everyday, but every now and then it amazes me just how fast it all goes by. Life is a bit of "blink and you miss it" sometimes and I've noticed how many people don't appreciate how lucky we all are to be here.
Anyway, I'm just grateful for everyday I have and even when it is cloudy or rainy outside, or something doesn't go your way, remember it could always be worse.
Whilst lots of exciting things have happened, I've also had some negative things, I've injured myself and been rather poorly (as you may have read at the start of the year). I'm still not 100% better, but I'm 100% better than I was on the 1st January this year. However, we were watching "Hospital Sydney" last night and there was a man on there with multiple brain tumours having surgery to stop him from being paralysed for the last few months of his life. He and his wife were so happy to find out that his prognosis was for 3-6 months rather than a couple of weeks and it just made me feel a little sad. I was lying in bed watching this, and it made me think, yesterday was the 2nd April, on the 1st January I had a low pressure headache due to a pretty gnarly lumbar puncture and I was lying in bed doing exactly the same as I was last night (with added pain of course), 4 months ago, yet like everything else it feels like yesterday! I lay there and couldn't help feeling sad that in the short space of time that has passed between me being so poorly and me getting back on my feet again, essentially the man on the TV would have exceeded the lower end of his life expectancy scale.
I don't take my life for granted. I'd love to go to medical school, but my life won't end if I can't. I have so many wonderful things going on in my life for which I'm grateful for everyday, but every now and then it amazes me just how fast it all goes by. Life is a bit of "blink and you miss it" sometimes and I've noticed how many people don't appreciate how lucky we all are to be here.
Anyway, I'm just grateful for everyday I have and even when it is cloudy or rainy outside, or something doesn't go your way, remember it could always be worse.
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