Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Before the start of this quarter, I said to myself that I was going to be better about studying, especially for organic chemistry. As I waste time on the night before class, time that should be spent doing study problems from the chapter but instead I am spending pounding out this blog post…I can say that, so far, I’m failing miserably: I opened my chem textbook and, after skimming through some scintillating reading about the reactions of alcohols, I decided to do something else.
I can maybe claim some small amount of success, first having actually opened the textbook, and second not running towards the TV after abandoning hope of school-related progress. Maybe.
My working theory at the moment is that my apartment is not at all conducive to doing homework. Unfortunately, I don’t have any good solutions to this particular problem…
Monday, December 15, 2008
- BIOL SCI 210-A, Genetics and Evolutionary Biology: A
- CHEM 210-A, Organic Chemistry I: B+
I can live with a B+… considering that I had very little indication of how I was doing, especially relative to the class (it’s curved around a B-), and I wasn’t devoting as much time to studying as I should have. So–what that seems to indicate to me is that if I actually study more… I will pwn.
Okay… now, once I catch up on work, I can go on vacation and actually enjoy it.
One half of one quarter (does that make it an eighth?) is over and done with. The damage: slightly better than the class average on the organic chemistry midterm, and an A (just barely–almost was an A-! *gasp*) on the bio midterm. Biology seems to be a solid A at this point (not counting lab), while chemistry will require a constant vigilance on my part to do well on the remaining quizzes and the final in order to get what I’d consider to be an acceptable grade. (High standards, blah blah blah.)
There’s a part of me that believes that I never found chemistry to be this difficult…but that same part probably has a romantic view of my undergrad career. It’s also entirely possible that having to deal with a full-time job takes away from the time I need to study and really understand the material.
All the same, I think I will gripe about how science courses really do not seem suited to a schedule of being held only once a week.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Organic chemistry continues to be a thorn in my side–but this week the problem was being blindsided by an unexpected question on the quiz. Identifying functional groups in molecules == guh? Not prepared for that. I think this means I really have to buckle down. There’s no room for error, for slacking off at this point.
Biology–much more enjoyable than chemistry at this point. Don’t know why. Maybe it’s because it doesn’t have the effect of making me dumb as a post when confronted with study problems.
I have the feeling this would be much less stressful if I weren’t also trying to work full-time at a mentally demanding job.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Classes for the fall quarter started off with a bang on Wednesday. The first batter in the order? Organic chemistry. Now, jumping into organic chemistry cold feels a bit like being dumped in the deep end of the pool and you weren’t that strong of a swimmer to start with, except I was pretty competent at chemistry back in the day. That’s what happens when you don’t exercise that part of your brain for awhile, I think. I’m pretty sure, however, that if I flounder around a bit–um, I mean, work hard, with tenacity and determination–I’ll get my sea legs.
Let me explain. During the first 30 minutes or so as the prof talked about acids and bases, a vague sense of panic crept in, replete with an overage of self-doubt and fears that I may have to go back and retake a year of chemistry. The experience was what I suspect being lost in France and only barely remembering bits and pieces from the 12 years of French you took in grade school and high school feels like.
The rational decision may be to go back and take general chemistry, but I’m stubborn. Well. I’m going to go off and do some problems from the textbook, and depending on how the first quiz goes, I’ll make a decision then.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
It’s kind of weird, after having gotten used to the weekly trips to Evanston, to have only office work on my schedule for the week. It was pretty good timing, however–no sooner had I finished class for the summer that I had to pull team lead duties in place of a co-worker who went on vacation for two weeks in sunny Cancun. The days were long, but we finally, finally, FINALLY, hit our limited production milestone for the new product we’ve been working on for…oh, at least the last two years. And I got to leave a more tangible mark on the product than I had previously, as my signature was required (as a member of the core program team) for the signoffs. I’d post them but I think those documents are company confidential. ;)
You’d think that I’d have some room to breathe after that, but I then was pulled in for the next week to support what can only be described as a very important activity that would have far-reaching impact on the business if it went badly. We survived, mostly in one piece ;) but the stress levels remained high. Thankfully, Labor Day weekend was well-timed, and I got to relax a bit…except for the hours in which I tried to catch up on being MONTHS BEHIND on housecleaning. At least I got to vacuum the carpet and clean the toilet…
The upshot of all that is that I really, really want to take some vacation before the fall quarter of school starts. The only problem is that I don’t know where to go that doesn’t cost money (which, at this point, I’m reluctant to part with any). I just want to chill somewhere that isn’t here or Chicago. I suppose I could do a road trip to NYC. After all, I’m due. I’ll just have to suck up the cost of gas, I guess.
Speaking of school, I finally registered for fall classes: Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, and Organic Chemistry. Two classes, three times a week. My schedule is going to be ridiculously full and I anticipate running out of steam fast… all the more reason to try to squeeze in some vacation before embarking on this masochistic activity of mine. Just gotta tell myself that it’s all worth it and remind myself that I have a lot of family and friends supporting me.
So, I got an “A” in my summer bio class. Hooray! Now, if only that were a positive indicator of how I might fare in this upcoming quarter…
In the meantime, I’m overstressed at work and am about ready to kick its ass. No, strike that; I’ve been ready for about the past six months. Also, NAM is teh b0rken right now and I am despondent. And my iPhone is still updating to 2.0.2 and I’d like it to just finish already.
The summer biology class is winding down, and it’s time to think about classes for the fall. Only… it’s kind of panic-inducing, with what seems to be so much to do and so little time. Relatively speaking, this was a pretty easy class. It’s only going to get harder from here… I’ll be going to class three times a week (two classes a quarter — two days of lecture and one for labs), which means 600 miles of commuting per week on top of homework, studying, and working on getting clinical/research experience.
Now, depending on your point of view, the commute is either an inconvenience to be tolerated or a burden of increasing weight that will eventually break my back. I don’t mind the drive itself, but when you add it up, it’s a pretty big chunk of time–and money. Unfortunately, there isn’t any better option, short of giving notice at work and going to one of the schools around here.
Anyway, here’s to hoping I pull this off somehow.
Some bad habits don’t die, even when it’s been years since you’ve practiced them–like procrastinating on homework to the point where you try to pull an all-nighter to get it done…they’re not as fun when you’re doing them by yourself.
“We could be / Sitting in the computer lab / 4 AM before the final paper is due / Cursing the world ’cause I didn’t start sooner / And seeing the rest of the class there too…” –”I Wish I Could Go Back to College,” from Avenue Q
Also, where’s my iPhone, AT&T / Apple? Direct fulfillment, my ass… *twiddle*
The post-baccalaureate pre-med program at Northwestern assumes that you are a complete career-switcher (for instance, you studied the humanities in undergrad) and have never taken any of the med school prerequisites in college. With that in mind, they provide a structured program with chemistry, physics, and biology courses that should satisfy most medical schools’ requirements for admission.
All well and good, but I did happen to take some of the prerequisite courses–definitely physics, and maybe one or more chemistry classes (general and physical). Now, back when I formulated my plan of working before going to med school, I got the impression that my college credits would be good for about five years before I’d have to take them again. Given that it’s been six years since graduating, I have been preparing myself to retake some classes that probably I don’t need to take again, like physics. At a rate of ~$1300 per class, though (and I would have to take three physics classes), if I can get away with not having to retake classes, I’d certainly save some money.
The admissions counselor at Northwestern with whom I spoke said that it’s a good idea to find out directly from the schools I’m interested in what their policies are regarding academic requirements. So, I sent out emails asking about how recently prerequisite classes need to have been taken to the addresses I could find for the various admissions departments of the schools in the area: Northwestern, UIC, Rush, UofC, UW-Madison, and MCW (Loyola admissions doesn’t have an email address published, only a phone number). Registration for fall classes at Northwestern has started and it would be a good idea to know whether or not I really need to take chemistry and physics this upcoming quarter…
The responses? So far, no one has said that there’s any “expiration date” on credits. Hooray! Pre-med might not be so expensive after all! :) Now, all I have to do is try to remember just what classes I did take back in college and match those up against the schools’ requirements…