The Quickie

I don't have much time, so I'll make this quick. It's 2am here and I have officially been studying for 14 hours straight. Let's see if I can form some quasi-legible sequences of words at this point, shall we?

It's been a very busy week wrapping up quizzes and assignments and beginning the daunting task of studying for midterms, (insert griping and moaning here).

I have been having trouble focusing so I've figured out some clever ways to trick myself into studying. For those of your student out there... you're welcome. At first I thought the problem was studying in my dorm room.

This is pretty much what I looked like. Thus, I spent the next few days experimenting in various sections of the library to no avail. My failed experiments just resulted in public temper tantrums like these that NO ONE appreciated. BTW, that website warms my heart and makes me feel not so alone, if you couldn't tell. Thanks, Whittaker.

Eitherwho, I finally figured out that my procrastination was primarily induced by running into difficult material that either bored me or frustrated me to the point of distraction. Enter, MacBook Air. Once I jumped on that little guy, who I love EVER so dearly, I was toast for a good 20 minutes. I know what you're thinking... 20 minutes? That's nothing. But those 20 minutes add up rather quickly and pretty soon it's 1am and you're still on the first set of slides in your first class, banging your head against a wall. No bueno.

So, I make the same assumption any modern, Apple-loving, 20-something college student would make...

"There's gotta be an app for that."

Oh, there is.  The Self Control App. Set that timer for however long you think you will need and you are completely locked out of any tempting social media-esque websites that are trying to ruin your life, 20 minutes at a time. By locked out, I mean locked out. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Nothing will get you into them. I may or may not have tried... twice.

Speaking of 20 minutes... TIME'S UP! Gotta get back to it.

Ta ta for now.

Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.
Chinese proverb

Rhymes with Orange

My Suitemate, Jainika, took this incredible photo at Grand Anse Beach.

 I am getting my keister kicked in school right now. Based on the learning strategies I am working on, I should be studying pretty much all day, everyday. I think their technique is interesting enough to share with you and may even help a few of you out that are still in school. Plus I eat, sleep and breathe this stuff so there's really nothing else to talk about. :)

Step 1: Skim material that will be presented to you in lecture. This is probably the most important step yet the easiest corner to cut when crunched for time. It makes sense that it is the most important step because seeing an outline of the "bigger picture" helps you take in the smaller points your professor is trying to make without scurrying to take every word he/she says down on paper. It also allows you to ask questions in class to combat any material you may be struggling with. This step should take about 45 minutes per class. All you need to do is look at the titles of sections in the chapter, any bold or italic lettering and take a peek at the end-of-chapter review questions to see what information is likely to be tested on.

Step 2: Engage in active learning during lecture. Get plenty of sleep, take organized and thorough notes, participate and ask questions. Also, bringing a water bottle to class has been proven to increase learning retention and test scores. Your brain is 80% water after all! Lectures are usually about 50-80 minutes.

Step 3: Review the material within 24 hours of lecture; less than 3 hours after class is ideal. You will retain more information from the lecture if you review it immediately! Make it your own; combine your notes from class with your notes from the book highlighting items you feel are most important. Create diagrams and tables of the information you don't understand. This is the longest step and should take as long as you need to have accurate and efficient notes for your test review. Create flashcards if necessary.

Step 4: Weekend weekly review. Go over the set of notes you created for all the lectures you had that week. The more material you can review each weekend, the better off you will be. Since you have already gone over this information three times by now, you should be able to go through this step in about an hour per class.

Step 5: Review for the test. This should be as simple as jogging your memory with major terms and processes that you've learned. By now, you have seen the material 5 times - the recommended amount of times it takes to truly retain something in your long-term memory.

For those of you visual learners out there, here's an illustration of what I just said. :)

Okay, okay. Enough with the geeky stuff. On one of my study breaks, (my DES counselor recommends 5-10 minutes of mild exercise for every 45 minutes of studying), I decided to take pictures of my daily commute for your viewing pleasure. It starts in the Veterinary Surgery Lab (MY FAVORITE PLACE!) and goes all the way home to my dorm.  In an effort of full disclosure, some of the following pictures are stolen from my friends' Facebook pages for you.

Proof that Vet students are cooler than Med students:

Legitimately, the exit signs in the VSL. 

Laughing.

These people sell food right out of their Toyota Previa van at lunch. I hope I'm never  so low on time, that I can't walk the extra 50 yards to the student center... Desperate times call for desperate measure, I suppose. 

The view from the top of the Campus Mountain.

Just when you think you're done there are more stairs to climb.

Above the ginormous staircase leading down to my dorm on the beach.

Said ginormous staircase. Look closely, people. It just keeps going and going and going and going....

Ahh... finally home. View from my front door step. Life's rough.

I stole this from my friend, Kristin. This isn't on my walk home but it's on my commute to the library!

The commute to the library is amazing. But I walk it like I'm on death row ...

...because this is the library. NOT so amazing. Wah, wah, wah.

This is a picture I took on one of my much needed study breaks. 

Sunset by the library fountain.

Not only do I have 2 exams and a huge paper due this week but midterms are just two shockingly short weeks away.  The stress kind of makes me want to run into walls, so I am desperately searching for a healthier outlet. While eating lunch in the student center the other day, I discovered how other medical students handle the impending doom.

Hilarity ensues...

I've been missing my doglet EPIC amounts lately especially since he was the BEST at making me forget about my stress. Apparently, he has been a gigantic troublemaker back at my parents' domicile. Jumping on the counter, digging to Grenada, cleaning his dirty paws off in their fountain, creating forts and tunnels in their bushes (searching for a different route to Grenada?), setting the alarm off at night; the list goes on and on. How could MY perfect little angelic Levi be capable of such things?!

So, naturally I asked for proof. 

And proof is exactly what I got.  You gotta give him credit for trying to wash up before dinner...

Leviathan Leviticus Mattiaci Del Monte! I am SO disappointed! Luckily I have incredibly patient and kind parental units who haven't sent him to a hungry Vietnamese family... yet. In fact, they're spoiling him ROTTEN.  Ingrid sent me this picture the other day of her Granddoglet's first cow joint from Lawrence's Meat Co.

Levi, could you try a LITTLE harder to look like you're miserable and missing me? Yeesh!

Pretty sure I am going to come home to a dog that looks like this:

Wait for it...

BAM! Yeah,  he'll even change colors from all the table scraps.

But in all seriousness, I am lucky to have such supportive parents. They have all done SO much to get me here. Taking care of Levi for me while I am in the dorms is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. How about a virtual round of applause? 

No? 

Okay then... moving on. 

Now the part I know you've all been anxiously awaiting. Drumroll please...

I SAID... drumroll! Why do I gotta do all the work while you just sit there?

This week's Fruit-of-the-Week: Citrus × sinensis

I totally wiki-ed that. It's just a fancy term for your everyday orange. But here, it's GREEN. Does that make ANY sense to you? A green orange? I don't how or why they REFUSE to make it orange, (there are ways, I'm certain of it!). I bought a bunch of them at the campus farmer's market this week. They taste the same, smell the same, look the same on the inside except they have gigantic pesky seeds that act as total speed bumps to your typical consumption experience. Here's some pics of the ones I bought.

See, they're green on the outside and orange in the middle. Weird, right?

Breakfast this morning. They sell these quartered watermelons at the farmer's market on campus which make the most REFRESHING snack in the middle of a hot day in September!

If there is one thing I have learned in Grenada it's the calming power of a good sunset. It sets about a minute later than the day before everyday. I love how reliable it is. We lose daylight early, around 6 or 7 at the latest,  which is still odd to me since I am used to warm weather being associated with daylight till about 9pm. Speaking of weather, we are having THE CRAZIEST thunderstorm right now. I have never heard thunder so loud! It shakes the whole building. Love it! Definitely NOT going outside... but still... LOVE IT!

Alright I gotta get back to the grind... If you want to receive an e-mail with new posts, plug your e-mail address into the little box in the top righthand corner of this page that says, "FOLLOW BY EMAIL." 

Ciao from the Caribbean!

"If you knew how much work went into it, you would not call it genius." - Michelangelo on the paintings in the Sistine Chapel

YOLO

Blog·ging: verb. 1. to put off till another day or time; defer; delay.

I really, really, reallllllly don't want to study right now, but I have had too much Red Bull to not be productive so I have decided to procrastinate via blogging. Forgive me if the following ramblings are jumbled beyond recognition due to my current caffeine-overdosed mental state.

So much has happened since my last post. Where to begin? I suppose chronological order would be a good way to go. 

Black Sands Beach by my dorm

Last week we had our first Tsunami Warning. There was a 7.9 earthquake off the western coast of Costa Rica. Now, for those of you geography gurus out there, you're probably thinking that's the wrong side. Well, you're right. The NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center mistakenly sent out a Tsunami warning to the entire Eastern Caribbean. Fail. 

About 2 hours after the initial warning was sent out, the school finally decided to tell us that the NWSPTW was "just kidding." Not cool, people. Just. Not. Cool.

I've been attending lectures about how to get the most out of lectures over the past few weeks. The SGU Department of Education Services has been hosting workshops on study tips, note-taking, time management, and multiple choice test-taking - all of which have been extremely helpful. I can't get over how many resources are available to the students here. It's such a small school, so the amount of individual attention each student gets is refreshing compared my previous university of 25,000 students. I can tell you that, so far, what they have been showing me has been working because I've gotten A's on all my tests so far! Please, save your applause for the end. :)

St. George's

 I still absolutely love Grenada but have struggled a bit with some of the adjustments. For example, I have to buy bottled water which is expensive. The tap water, even when filtered, was making me sick. We don't always have hot water first thing in the morning, which would be fine if our dorm wasn't FREEZING because of the air conditioner. But the positives DEFINITELY outweigh the negatives. This is a funny picture my roommie caught of me "studying" on the campus pier. You can't see it, but I DO have a highlighter in my hand with my hand on my textbook... I call it studying by diffusion.

I'm working really hard in school, I swear.

I have developed a new love for Indian food. Holy cow. This wonderful woman makes the best Samosas on the planet. Actually, I can't really say that since hers are the first I have ever tried. But regardless, they're amazing. For those of you unfamiliar with Samosas as I was before I got here, they are basically savory roasted vegetables, curry and love wrapped up in a flaky, delectable pastry shell. She sets up a huge buffet every single day in the gazebo on the upper side of campus. I can't tell you how grateful I am for this because it is the only form of food I can get without having to hike down the mountain in between classes. She also has a ginormous cooler with Redbull in it. I'm developing a slight addiction to caffeine, (insert health warning/risks here).

I went home last weekend to be a bridesmaid for one of my best college friend's wedding. The day before I left, I pulled this little gem out of the jar Dinger made me.

 Why yes, yes it is. Creepy, right?

Sunrise on Black Sands Beach before my flight.

When you all come to visit me, make sure you sit on the RIGHT side of the plane for the BEST views. :)

It really was bittersweet to leave this little rock in the Caribbean Sea that I have grown so fond of in such a short time. I was SO excited to see all my favorite roommates from college. We haven't all been together since 2009 and we were all flying in from all over the place. Molly from her position on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Lindsey from Law School in San Diego and me from the Caribbean. Dinger picked us all up in a LIMO and the rest is a blur. Oh, and I sat next to Hank Azaria at the Miami Airport. The extent of our conversation was:

Me: "What flight are they boarding?"
Hank: "MIA to JFK"
Me: "Cool, thanks."

OMGosh!!!!!! I decided to take the "celebrities-don't-phase-me" route. But really, I WAS FREAKING OUT! I thought it would be rude to be like, "OMG, CAN YOU SIGN MY BOOB?"

Kidding. I would never do that...

SPRINGFIELD REUNION 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I absolutely ADORE these girls. Please excuse Tato's (Molly) face. She has no manners. The bride was getting her much needed beauty rest for the big day that night so she is not pictured.

SUCH a gorgeous bride. And can I brag for a second? She did her hair and makeup HERSELF.   Gorgeous. 

The next day was Stinky's (Christina) wedding. We all met in her bridal suite for brunch and mimosas and to exchange presents. We all pitched in and got Stinky a naughty "gift basket" and she gave all of us bridemaids adorable pink flasks with our name's engraved on them. THE CUTEST. The wedding was beautiful and I was honored to be a part of it. They are such an inspiring couple. And Eric (her husband) is one of those people who we immediately accepted (probably much to his dismay) as one of the girls. We all love him dearly.

This picture portrays them perfectly. <3

The bridal party.

From left to right: Tato, Dinger, Stinky and me. Wish Tree (Lindsey) was in this pic! Tato, get on it!

For those of you who don't know, that's my tall, dark and incredibly good looking boyfriend, Gabriel, on the left.  Can you see why we call Lindsey, Tree? Cheers! :)

It was a short trip, but SO worth it.  I took this picture after cleaning out my wallet when I got back to the island. It made me smile because it reminded me of what an INCREDIBLE summer I had this year.

You know you've had an amazing summer when your coin purse has currency from all over the world. 

 I jumped right back into school the very next day which has definitely kicked into high gear. I'm stressed and busy and don't have time to breathe let alone eat during the week so I apologize for the inconsistent posts. I took this picture of one of my professor's hand writing. If you can read ANYTHING on the board, I'll give you a cookie. That's a lie. I'm broke as a joke. How about a high five?

Adding to his existing condition of "five-year-old handwritingitis" is the fact that
he REFUSES to erase the board all the way when he runs out of room. SO annoying. 

This weekend I got to let off some steam at my friend's birthday party. It was hosted at her parents' wine and tapas bar called YOLO and was an absolute BLAST. YOLO stands for "You only live once." So fitting. The setting is this incredible part of the island called Port Luis Marina. The balcony of the restaurant was right on the water overlooking the dock. We met a Yacht crew who were sailing to Trinidad & Tobago the next day to get it worked on.  They took us on the boat (ship?) which was parked about 20 yards from the restaurant's patio, (SO COOL!). What an awesome job. They just sail this thing around until the owner needs it. If I flunk out of vet school, you'll find me on a yacht! (Just kidding, Dad.) But this is a common occurrence for Grenada. A lot of  yacht crews port here and you'll run into them at any of the whopping 5 bars on the island.

These girls are TOO much fun.

On the Yacht. NBD.

Second celebrity sighting of the past two weeks: I met Dr. Pasquini, DVM, MSc, ABC, XYZ, GYM... who teaches veterinary anatomy at SGU and also wrote SIX vet anatomy textbooks. One of which I have already studied from in a Comparative Domestic Animal Anatomy course I took in my undergrad at CSU. Not going to lie, the nerd in me was TEN times more excited about this celebrity introduction than Hank Azaria. Don't worry, I didn't ask him to sign my boob either...

Sorry, I know this is a long one and I won't be offended if you need to get back to your regular lives. There's just SO much to tell you! I'm almost done, though, I swear. As per usual, I have a new fruit to tell you about. The West Indian Cherry. Love it! Ophelia introduced me to it when she cooked me dinner the other night. She's such a little Suzy Homemaker. And Ophelia's Signature Salad? Delicious. 

Ultimate school spirit. SGU shot glasses. 

 Alright, alright. I have no more excuses. My room is clean, my laundry is done, my blog is caught up.... back to studying. Cheers from the Caribbean!

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power. - Alan Cohen