Another day in the life of...

So today was another day in my life. While I've had a rough past couple of days, I have to say in some ways today's events weren't as bad as they have been. Except, wow....I've been disturbed all day. I usually get up at 6:30 to get ready for school because I like to get there about 10 minutes early and get my stuff set up. I went to bed a little later last night and as such as a little more tired, so I reset my alarm for 10 more minutes (yes it really does help). In that 10 minutes I had one of the freakiest dreams I've had in a long time. I won't recount it because well I've told it twice now and it still continues to bother me. However, it did end when my ten minutes were up, something I am grateful for and it freaked me out enough that I jumped up and turned on all of the lights in my path. I'm still not sure I want to go to bed tonight, just in case.

The rest of the day wasn't bad except for that niggling feeling caused by the dream. I managed to pay attention during lecture and take decent notes, something that doesn't always happen with me. Then the afternoon came. We had a set of lectures from the Colby Foundation, which is an organization set up to promote organ donation after a set of parents lost their 14 month old son due to a near drowning (he was brain dead). First was a lecture from a researcher on organ transplantation which was interesting. Then a lecture from a man who works for an OPO (organ procurement organization). Then the mother of the little boy got up to talk to us about the foundation. While she was telling her story, I'm convinced that a majority of the class was teary eyed with everyone secretly trying to hide tears or wipe them away. I was glad that when the few people who asked questions of her thanked her for sharing her story, because I don't know how she did it. I think I would have fallen apart every single time I had to tell the story. Maybe she does and just hides it well. It was a moving series but at the same time, the sadness of it all still weighed heavily. It's odd because the little boy died because of the carelessness of one person and lost his life, yet with his organs he managed to extend/save the lives of at least 3 other people. The second person who talked was also particularly hard for me as he was talking about removing life support and basically waiting for a person to die, something I have unfortunately encountered only a couple of months ago.

After the talk, I went to the gym immediately to try to work off some of the weight on me. It worked some and I managed to have a very productive evening doing school work. I'm still a little afraid to go to bed though.

What is wrong with the world?

Today, 26 people died in two shootings. One in Alabama, one in Germany. I haven't read the details of the shootings really, except for the fact that there was no reason for them (is there ever a reason to kill innocent people). If the shooting had just been in the US or just been in Germany or centralized to somewhere not here, then I would think that there had to be something wrong with that particular place, but this is on opposite sides of the ocean. There are pictures of people sobbing, a story of a deputy who's wife and daughter were killed in the Alabama shooting who was saying "it was supposed to be me." It's all a tragedy. I'm not a peace love, and happiness kind of person, but I do believe in peace, love and happiness. And having respect for the human life. It's mind boggling that there are people who can just open fire and not care who goes down, especially not themselves, since often after causing their destruction, they kill themselves, which is the case in at least one of today's shootings. It's such a tragedy that there is no value to the human life anymore.

My day today....

I know it has been a while since I posted, but today was one of those days that should be written about. This is basically going to be a rundown list so bear with me. So for the first time since I started med school, I overslept by a lot. I didn't wake up until 7:24 and I have to be to class by 8. By taking a super quick shower, barely drying my hair and walking very fast to school, I managed to make it to my seat by 7:55. We just took our final for our first system (this is where we actually get into learning clinical stuff rather than just basic sciences). I missed a B by 0.7 points for the class despite a massive amount of effort of my part that seemed to be interrupted by the fact that I had a major adjustment to my braces the day before, accompanied by massive pain.

The morning was compacted by 4 hours of basic lists of memorization for our newest system (Neuroscience). I don't mind Neuroscience because the brain and its functioning and yes, even the things that go wrong with, fascinate me and I have contemplated the psychiatry route (though this is more neurology than psychiatry, but nonetheless). It's simply the fact that I would like to possibly pull off an A in this system. It's probably a long shot, but I'm tired of being mediocre and would like to be excellent at one thing, at least.

So then lunch time. I made myself and Jon sandwiches and soup for our lunch. When grabbing my bowl of soup from the microwave, I managed to slosh it all over my hand and the stove underneath the microwave (this is the second burn I've had in the past week due to my idiocy).

When I went back to school for our neuroanatomy lab, I ended up having to work with someone who I can't stand, which only frustrated me more. Then I was called upon for a quiz. I was so frustrated plus the nervousness of being called upon one on one with a professor, made me forget what I was doing. I only managed to get a good grade because the professor helped me out.

For probably the worst part of my day, Jon had to leave. I know this seems silly, but ever since we have been back together, when one of us has to return to our respective towns, it has been extremely hard on both of us. We managed to be able to spend this weekend together without me having the pressure to study so we were able to do what we wanted. It was great and then it had to end. It literally feels like I am being torn apart when he leaves (I know, cliche) but true.

So that was my day...