Neuroanatomy

Um why am I about to pull an all-nighter for a ONE CREDIT CLASS?! I don't know what's more ludicrous, the amount of material packed into this tiny course, or the fact that I'm willing to lose sleep to study this nonsense. Literally nonsense.. I am just memorizing facts at this point..

Studying woes

I try not to study late into the night. I value sleep waaaaay more than cramming useless info into my brain. Also, I don't know if this is true for other people, but I have a strong emotional tie to testing. Not only do I feel stressed before an exam (normal) but I also get kind of blue, only to bounce back, free and happy afterward. Late night study sessions just seem to facilitate even greater negative feelings in me. But as I mentioned earlier, I slacked off for the past couple of weeks, so I need to put in my time tonight. In order to keep me going for at least a few more hours, just jotting down some things I am thankful for:
-that my 6 year old computer is a friggen beast! I currently have 10-15 tabs/documents up and it's still trucking along. Usually it'll slow down a lot after opening a few files, but for some reason tonight it is on its A game.
-that I'm not sleepy. I'm going to grab some coffee in a minute, but my body is still willing to stay up
-that this is my last test in this class! To be perfectly honest, I did not enjoy it. Maybe I will look back and wish I put more into it, but all I can think of is the chaos and confusion I had to deal with on a daily basis with 100 dental students running around and sawing things.
-music. It is keeping me sane at this point while I try to get my act together.
-Jesus! That he gives me perspective, and helps me realize that there is more to life than studying and school.

Joe-I Wanna Know

This randomly came on the radio while I was in the car today. I looooooooooooove 90's R&B! Perhaps there's a bit of nostalgia from back in the day mixed in with my opinion, but songs these days do not compare to what I grew up listening to. I'll skip through a lot of R&B that's currently popular when I'm flipping radio stations, but I will always stop for the classics.

No.. motivation...

Sigh. The past 2 weeks have been study FAIL. I've been in La-La Land, a far away place where anything to do with Gross Anatomy is strictly prohibited.

Anyway. Spontaneously went to go eat pho with some old faces tonight. I think I needed that break.. but somehow I'm still on that break, even though it's been like 5 hours..

AHHHH. I need self-discipline!

Angus and Julia Stone-Big Jet Plane

Troy Davis

A man on death row, even though he may be innocent. While unfortunately this is not a unique theme in the judicial system, this particular story has been haunting me since I heard about it for some reason. Kept thinking about it today, and I am following what's going on right now. He has not been executed yet, as I type these words, even though he was scheduled to around 7pm. I cannot fathom what he's going through right now (is he anxious? at peace? in agony?) and my heart goes out to him, and his family. Obviously, I can't say for certain that he is an innocent man, but if there is substantial reason to believe that he did not do the crime, he should NOT be executed at this point!

Edit. He died at 11:08pm. This is not right. Rest in peace, Mr. Davis.

Going to the almost dentist

As a dental student, I get free cleanings at school. And my roommate, who is a 3rd year dental student, is in need of patients. So it was a win-win situation today when I went in to get my teeth cleaned by my roommate. I've never been personal friends with my previous dentists, so it was an interesting experience having a buddy get all up in my grill like that. I apparently have some weird, but "beautiful" (says the attending dr, who was overseeing everything) teeth. A couple of my teeth are rotated, I have something in one of my sinuses (the attending is making my roomie look this up and talk to some pathologist about this... sorry, J), I have an extra bone in my palate, and an unexplained indentation on one of my molars. And I have 2 caries/cavities. :( So I have to go back for another appointment. This is by far the most comprehensive check up I've had but in all honesty, it was fun! What's a better way to learn about teeth but to look at your own?

It's Monday and I'm tired

Let's call this an entry, and a night. I went swimming today, though. 30 laps woo woo.

What a relief

It's a great comfort knowing that I'm not in control.

Cloudy

The view from my window.

This weather makes me feel a mixture of happy and sad, with a touch of nostalgia. Actually, heightened nostalgia, because I'm going home for the day!

I cleaned my room this morning, the first step in my quest to stop being lazy. Yay.

Complacency

I try to live by the idea of never becoming complacent. This is not because I hate complacency-no, it is the exact opposite: I could easily crawl under the warm blanket it offers, and find refuge in it forever. I'm prone to craving comfort and stability, even at the expense of growth.

In the long run, I don't believe that this is what I want out of my life, and ultimately/more importantly, not what God wants.

But lately I've been Lazy. With a capital L. With everything. Hopefully I'll snap out of this soon.

"It's always darkest before the dawn."

Florence and the Machine-Shake it Out. 

Sing it, girl!

Little Yellow Leaf-Carin Berger

And then, high up on an icy branch, a scarlet flash. / One more leaf holding tight. / "You're here?" called the Little Yellow Leaf. / "I am," said the Little Scarlet Leaf. / "Like me!" said the Little Yellow Leaf. / Neither spoke. / Finally… "Will you?" asked the Little Scarlet Leaf. / "I will!" said the Little Yellow Leaf. / And one, two, three, they let go and soared.

Loupes day

We had a loupes fair today at school. Loupes are essentially glorified binoculars, but are useful in dentistry, especially for ergonomic purposes. Honestly, the session was just mass chaos and confusion for me. Vendors were saying completely contradicting information, and I had no clue what to look for in ones that were right for me. I decided not to purchase anything today because I wanted to weigh my options before I invested in a product that I'll be using for the rest of my career. But at this point, it seems like I might as well throw them in a bag and randomly just pick one. Indecisiveness..

9/11

Probably the only reason why I remember specific details about where I was when the 9/11 attacks occurred was because people kept saying that I, along with every other American, would. Nevertheless, the memory exists: I was in my 9th grade Spanish class, sitting at the far side of room. Someone knocked on the door and privately spoke to the teacher. Nobody noticed anything different for a few minutes, but then our teacher broke the news to us about what had just happened in New York. Shortly after, the principal made an announcement on the intercom saying that we were all allowed to stop class and turn on the televisions to watch the news. That was when I watched the Twin Towers fall repeatedly, as more and more information gathered during the looping images.

West End

Yesterday, my roommates (+friend) headed to West End to play, and ended up taking pictures.

I like this pic! A moment of unadulterated happiness. We were trying to do a jumping shot, but got this instead.

Today I just studied, studied, studied for my test on Monday. So sick of talking about/looking at the external carotid artery. Hope I do well!

TGIF

I've been coming home exhausted every day this week, but I'm okay today for some reason. Feeling pretty mellow, well rested, and up for anything tonight. Glad that the week flew by quickly though.

Good news on the Dentsim front: passed my second #18 Class II today! Barely, but it still counts. I've been so focused on studying for my Gross test that Dentsim has sorta fallen by the wayside.. today I just wanted to pass, and leave so I could go back to the cadaver lab to study. I think dental school is all about prioritizing what's important at the moment, and what's not.

Happy birthday, little brother!

My brother is 23 today! One of my favorite people in the world.

The Cinematic Orchestra-To Build a Home

I went home for the weekend, and left my toothbrush there. I meant to pick up a new one after school yesterday, but forgot. My dirty little confession: I haven't properly brushed my teeth since Monday morning. :X The best I've done is flossed and rinsed with mouthwash. But I bought one today, so I'm so looking forward to giving my pearly whites some TLC tonight! Is this TMI? Whatever.

Correatown-All The World (I Tell Myself)

Rainy Tuesday. Just caught a few episodes of Friends.. I honestly LOVE this show. I haven't seen it in a while, but it was perfect "unwinding" tv, especially with the weather. It never ever fails to make me laugh, even though I've seen almost every episode, multiple times.

Anyway. We opened the skull today in Gross Anatomy. My group's brain oozed out and was mushy so we had to throw ours away. And I passed one of my Class II #18 tooth preps! After mucho failing. One more to go..

Edit. I have to include this quote from the NYT for the day, on how competitive getting into preschool/private school is these days. It is disturbing yet amusing: "One of the lucky 17 who got into Trinity’s kindergarten class with no previous connection to the school, and who helps make it diverse, is the daughter of Rajeev Bhaman, a portfolio manager, and Gala Prabhu, a management consultant. The low acceptance rate led the couple to apply to nine schools in a process Mr. Bhaman described as 'my full-time job for four months' and 'way more difficult than anything I’ve done academically in my life, including applying to university in America from India.'"

Ridiculous.

Unexpected finds

I went to the outlets today. I didn't expect to find anything I would be excited about, but ended up buying my first pair of ankle boots, thanks to the Labor Day sales going on. The price was right, and the boots have an understated/simple but classic look which I like. This actually makes me look even more forward to the colder weather.. got big plans for these!

Guilty pleasures

I hate to admit it, but one of my guilty pleasures is watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Yes, they can be shallow but at the same time I love watching the family dynamics. Plus it's nice to escape reality for a bit and get sucked into another world that is very different from mine. E! has been playing episodes all day this week, so it'll be on when I get home from school and I'll watch an episode or two. It's so mindless that it helps to forget the stresses of the day lol.

I saw some of the marathon today but missed the newer episodes. Hopefully I'll get a chance to catch up with it later.

Fall

Happy 3rd day of September!

The weather is cooling off. This season has always typically been characterized by changes, by adjustments to a new routine, by a certain freshness that can only be found in these couple of months of the year. I think it might be my favorite. Summer has been good to me, but I'm actually looking forward to fall.

Sleepy!

So tired.. been sleepy since like 9pm but just got home and gotta keep up my blogging streak! To make this quick, I'm just posting an amusing video I saw the other day. It's not as sketchy as the video freeze-frame is making it out to be. But yeah-Google is kind of creepy! One time I was having an ant problem in my house and FOR SURE I did not email or gchat anyone about it (I even looked at my history after the episode), but there was a link advertising how to get rid of ants on the top of my inbox. Weeeeeeeeeeird.

Ok, GOOD NIGHT!

Scrubs

Got my scrubs today! To commemorate, here I am, modeling the top.. even though the main point of the picture, the embroidery, is kinda hard to read. It just says my name and "Dentistry 2015". Exciting.. but I am sure the novelty will eventually wear off, since I have to wear this everyday for the next four years.

I had Dentsim again today.. def got fed a piece of humble pie, coming in to class feeling high and mighty after my last competency. Class II #18 tooth preparations are no joke for me! Good thing we're not going to be tested on them.. for now. Hopefully I'll get better so that I don't eff up anyone's teeth in the future.