The Dog Ate My Homework

or...the kid painted on my lab report...think it'll work?

Memorable Moments

"There's a saying in Chemistry that goes, "when you make hydrogen gas, you must blow it up."
-My Chemistry Professor

Now, that's my kind of class!

Dear boy sititng behind me...

Dear boy sitting behind me in Chemistry review class tonight,

I don't care if you know all the answers to the practice test and really don't need to be here to study, you still chew your gum louder than any person on the planet. Figure out that equation.

With warmest regards,
The 30something premed.

Hands-on Experience

My son fractured his elbow today. Loads of fun, really

But here is what I took away from my experience. Call me emotional or whatever. Call it hospital lunacy. Driven mad by hours in waiting room syndrome. Or something. But.....

So far, I haven't gotten a lot of support from the people around me on this whole "going back to school" thing. I usually get told that I'm crazy or asked how I am going to handle doing everything. There have been some eye-rolls, too.

Sad. I know.

But when we were at the orthopedics today (who ROCKED by the way...I may have found my new calling!), they asked if I was in medicine and I said, "well, not really, I just started my pre-med courses", they went crazy! I mean, took me out and explained to me, in detail, the x-rays and what each line meant and what each blob meant, asked me about my questions, told me how excited they were for me...I mean...over the top but STILL! It felt so good to be encouraged!

Now. This isn't to say that there are not people around me who DO encourage me, it's just they are a whole lot quieter than the not so encouraging people.

And, truthfully, I should probably have blogged more about my son's soccer injury but...well...he's in a cast for 2-6 weeks and that's about all there is to share, really.

My 2nd admissions email

I won't lie to ya, I already got an email from a prestigious school in the Midwest that pretty much scared the snot out of me and I can pretty much guarantee that unless I get a perfect score on the MCAT's I won't be attending...that and a full ride but...I digress.

......ahem.......

Here is my 2nd email from an admissions rep:

30-something premed,
Thank you for your interest in ________. Applying to medical school is a very competitive process in which there are no guarantees of acceptance. Although we have no specific pre-requisites we do recommend several courses to prepare you for the MCAT and for success in medical school. Those courses can be found at _______. A potential applicant should also be exploring his/her interest in medicine with some direct exposure to the field. This can be done through physician shadowing or through volunteering in a hospital or clinic. A good score on the MCAT is important, but it is only one part of a holistic review process that takes place for every applicant. Good luck!

I'm a little scared....

I had the WORST dream last night....

Oh man. It was a doozy.

I dreamt that I got a 0.0798 on my exam and was told to round it to the nearest significant figure and multiply it by 10 and that would be my score.

EIGHT PERCENT???

And then, it gets worse.

On the bottom of the page was a note from my Chemistry professor. It read:

"Chemistry is a difficult science that is changing everyday. Some people just aren't smart enough to handle it."

Are you kidding me?

I think I need to be more careful about what I choose to eat before bed time.

Just sayin'.

The First Exam

I am a Type A personality.

I like everything in it's place and I like things to go exactly the way I have planned them.

Just so you know...

I also don't like to get bad grades. Ever.

In fact, the first time I was in college I had to take golf and bowling....I got a C in those classes. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Totally ruined my GPA and to this day I despise both activities. Who gets a C in bowling. For. Real.

So, along comes our first Chemistry exam. No big deal...only it's a VERY big deal and I've spent a lot of time studying.

In fact, just last night, I was staring longingly at the clock wondering when would be considered TOO early to put the boys to bed. 5? 6?

What are the odds that I'm the only Pre-med major out there thinking those thoughts?

Cuz, let me just tell ya, I can't stay up all night studying anymore.

And, 4 boys don't allow you to study AT all, at least while they are awake.

6:30. 6:30 sounds like a reasonable bed time, don't ya think?

Kitchen Conversations

Me: (sitting at the kitchen table, reading my chemistry problem) I need to find how many grams of Cinnamic alcohol are contained in a sample mass of 0.469 g....

The Youngest: (happily playing with moonsand on the kitchen table, not missing a beat). Well, I think we only have one Graham in preschool but we have lots of girls!

Dear Couple in Love

Dear Couple in Love,

I know how you feel. I remember being that head over heels in love with my man way back in the day. The anxiety of being separated from him for an eternity (aka, 50 minute class).

However, if you must participate in a 10 minute lip-lock, please do not block the entrance to my classroom, thus forcing your fellow students to awkwardly sidle past you and the excessive amounts of drool puddling on the floor.

Thank you very much,

The 30something premed

When I Grow Up.

I guess I should tell you a little bit more about why I am even back in school.

I wanted to be a rock star when I grew up. Well, actually, that's not true.

At first I wanted to work at Sea World and train dolphins but I don't like the smell of fish and can't stand hot weather so, you know, that idea flopped.

Then I decided I wanted to be a rock star. So, I went to college with the noblest of intentions. Got my degree in education, just in case the whole rock star thing didn't work out for me. Which it didn't. Obviously.

I taught in the public school for a few years, worked at our local church for a few years and had babies for LOTS of years.

Thanks to those babies, I got to spend lots and LOTS of time in various doctor's offices, learning the in's and out's of fine parenting.

And what different rashes look like.

And how to avoid poison ivy.

And how to call poison control.

But that's a whole 'nother blog....

A long the way, we added my Grandpa to the crew and added ever more random medical knowledge to my brain...like chronic pulmonary obstructive disease

cardiac stints

AAA repairs (and no...it's not just a traveler's club!)

and on and on.

I started to think, hey, I could do this! I could be a doctor!

Maybe this is what I should be when I grow up....

Update on Class Politics

As the rather friendly girl that I am, I was chatting with Miss Future President today and told her I was once Class Pres, way back in the day.

She asked me how soon after polls closed I knew I had won.

She said, "Did they, like, email you?"

Me, "um, well, they didn't HAVE email back then...so they just called me."

......sigh......

Class Politics

I bet you didn't know this about me (and that should be no surprise since a lot of you DON'T know me at all) but, I was class president my first time around in college.

That's right. Me. Junior and Senior Year. The Pres.

Well, apparently it's that time of year at school. Time to run for student council!

Oh, the flashbacks. Think I should run again?

Just kidding.

Apparently they have rules about that...but I digress.

One young lady hopped up in front of Bio class today and declared her candidacy for Freshman Class President. She went on to give a rather lengthy speech about how she has great plans for the class and all the wonderful things she wants to do.

.....sigh.....the memories......

And then she said, "So, if you have any great ideas you would like to share with me, I'd love to hear them. And if I agree with them, then I might do something about it. Or I'll just do what I want."

Think I have a chance if I run against her?

Chem Lab....Ooops

So.

The first night of chem lab.

I'm afraid to admit this.

I hooked up the bunson burner to the water. Not the gas.

Yeah.

I did.

What just happened?

We just had our first group work project. I'm not so good at group work. I'm just not. I like to do things myself but, let me just tell you that I was SO grateful that a group of girls let me into their group. Phew!

The assignment was to answer a question and then write a brief paragraph discussing our answer. Pretty simple and I thought we did just fine.

Until I heard the first groups answer. YIKES!

Honestly, I thought they copied their answer out of Encylopedia Brittanica (if that still exists.).

And then we had to answer. I started with "Well, our answer isn't quite so flowery but here goes!"

Maybe it was the wrong thing to say....

After the class, I approached this other group and just asked where they got their information. I meant no harm. Really.

Her response. "From our brains."

(insert look of surprise on my face) "Oh"

"Yeah, see, WE just graduated from highschool last year, so all this biology vocabulary is still fresh in our minds. Maybe if YOU had just graduated, you could remember it to."

Ouch. What just happened there?

I about died laughing as I walked away and sat down to read my latest copy of AARP's monthly record...

First day Jitters

You know that feeling in high school when you walk into the cafeteria and you aren't sure where to sit because, well, you know that where you sit on that first day makes all the difference in your social standings?

It's not like that the 2nd time around in college. You just hope and pray you can still fit in to a desk designed for an 18 year old and that you can sit close enough to the board to be able to see without glasses.

And that no one will make fun of you.

I think I succeeded. I think.

I also realized that I just might be older than my biology prof. That was sad.

Attending class with "real" freshman is rather funny...and maybe annoying...and I would like to take this moment to apologize to any professors I had the first time around for being, shall we say, arrogant and "know-it-all-ish".

Case in point: Our Prof reminded us to buy our specialized lab book at the bookstore. It cost $55. Yes, that is a lot of money. And yes, the whining was IMMENSE!

"I already spent a ton of money on books?"
"Can we just borrow it from a friend?"
"Photocopy it?"

It took every ounce of strength I had not to stand up and yell out, "Dude! I just had to rearrange my GROCERY BILL to buy this book! Quit your crabbing!"

But I didn't.

Because 1. Saying "dude" would only prove my age.
and 2. Yelling about my grocery bill would only prove my age.

So I sat there and chuckled and waited for the whining to stop so the lecture could begin.

Ah....this is going to be interesting.

Wild Hare

I have this wild hare. I want to go to med school. And yet...I am old.

Not REALLY old...just 14 years older than the freshman who are in my general biology class and my Gen Chem class.

It's weird.

Weirder still? 4 of the students in my Gen Chem class were MY students when I taught junior high.

Just sayin'.

But I digress.

Hi. I am a thirtysomething pre-med student. Nice to meet you. I am raising 4 sons with the help of my ridiculously wonderful husband. We have a cat and a dog. I already have a degree in education but, you know, that just wasn't exciting enough so, I'm going back to school.

And yes, I've heard it before...I'm crazy.

Here's the deal. The stories I have from my first 2 weeks at school are just too much to hold in, so I have to blog. I HAVE to write them down. And laugh. And maybe, eventually, I might have to cry.

And I want to share them with you.