Week 1 - The Adjustment
Finally, my cohort and I experienced a full week of class and I can't say I saw one person who wasn't tired already.
The hardest thing right now is trying to figure out how to study and exactly WHAT to study. Everything is different right now. Going from being out of school for a while and then jumping head first into a program with no idea about what to expect like this had my head reeling. There's so much information coming at me, and it's coming so fast - so it seems. Gone are the days of test reviews and extra credit. All of my classes are exam only and the lectures cover at least 3 chapters minimum each week. I'm sure it'll be fine, but it just currently feels like I'm swimming in the deep end and I don't know which way is back to a shallow area. `
Here's a look at what my semester 1 schedule looks like just so you can get an idea:
Monday: 9am-4:30pm ; Tue: 8am-5pm; Wed: 8am-3pm / 6:30am-2pm; Thur: 2pm-6:30pm
As you can see, time is a weird concept to grasp. There's assignment after assignment, a lot of self-teaching and barely time for work and sleep. It's an adjustment. It's going to take some time, but it'll soon become routine.
J1's are what my program calls it when you begin your Junior 1 courses, then there's J2, S1, and S2 when you're ready to head out the door. So, I'm currently a J1 and next semester I'll be a J2.
Time Management
The staff sat us all down the first few days and drew up a mock schedule of what our semester would look like. They plotted out time for studying, then added in leisure activities and sleep. The room looked at the board and I'm sure we all died a bit on the inside - there was absolutely no time for anything, barely sleep. When adding up all the "recommended" hours of study per credit hour - we were already beyond a scope of 24 hours we're naturally given in a day. They pushed the idea that we should all be aiming for 8 hours of sleep. Tell that to the girl who sat next to me in Patho nodding off every 5 seconds, the one next to her fighting to stay away, and myself who was blankly staring at the powerpoint wishing I could be back in my bed and cringing thinking about when the 4 hour lecture would end so I could nap before the next 4 hour lecture.
The Labs
We piled into our labs for the week eager and confused all at the same time. We had shots and oral med administrations and full patient assessments to do and so much content to absorb then demonstrate. From breaking needles to not finding pulses, I'd say the week was a success. Finding a lab partner is pretty hectic business. You don't want to find someone who isn't going to be conducive to your learning style, or who is going to have you both moving slowly. Also, personalities. So far, I've been shuffling through trying to get it right, and I can't say I've found my match just yet. Either way, I'm sure I'll be fine before final check-offs, as soon as I catch my breath and relax.
Friends
Basically, I'm sure they understand 100%, but I had to cut them off. Not end our friendship, but I had to really exit our group text finally because I have really bad FOMO (fear of missing out) and would see messages about hanging out and want to say "I'm down!". I had to exit for my own sanity and concentration purposes. Once I get a hang on things, I'm sure I'll be able to see more of them, but as of now - my only open window for real fun is in April.
Basically, week one was fun and it looks like the rest of the semester will be, too. Haha.
- Begum, Over and Out! ;)
(I don't own any copyrights to any photos/graphics used in this post)
If you made it this far, go ahead and share, like, or tweet about it!