5. Classes. Left.

Yes, people, you read that right. FIVE classes left of my first semester of medical school and it truly has been a whirlwind. Even though we have five classes left...we have about four lectures per day, so roughly twenty new lectures stand between me and the end of an amazing four months. But who am I really kidding? There is no such thing as an "end" when you enter the world of medicine, or any professional avenue that encourages/requires life long learning. I think that is why I was drawn to medicine in the first place, with every new study completed, a new drug produced to help children with seizures, or a new medical discovery, it is the unknown that keeps our species pushing to find those answers, and it really is incredible.

It is a rainy Wednesday evening and I just got up from a much needed nap. I try not to take naps, because the people that know me..a nap to me is someone else's total sleep time haha. It is really easy to get behind here so every hour has to be carefully programmed. Sleep to long? There goes potential study time, but for me today: Sleep>Study. Since there are so few classes left, and going on five weeks of material for this next exam, a bunch of our semester grade comes down to the last and final week of 1st semester. As of yet, we have had: Mini 1: 10%, Mini 2: 12% Mini 3: 13% and Two Anatomy Lab Practicals: 10%. So all students have a total of 45% completed going into what is termed: "Hell week on the island". To be honest, I do not think it will be that bad as long as you budget your time wisely. 55% of our grade is determined in less that seven days, which means you could be doing phenomenal, but then completely blow it in the last week. WHICH IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, just putting it into perspective. Our first hurdle is Mini 4, which is about 190 questions and is a beast of an exam. It is the most information covered at one time for an exam (5 weeks) than we will ever have on the island. Talking to some 4th semesters, they all say that Mini 4 of 1st semester is the hardest exam they have taken to date, because of the shear volume of material. Two days later we have our Histology practical (5%) and the next day we have our last Anatomy Lab Practical-Head and Neck (5%), and two days later, yes, ONLY two days, we have our cumulative final worth 25%. It will be a tough week, but as long as you do well on Mini 4, you are setting yourself up really well for the final, and that is really all I am putting my energy towards. *fingers crossed*

I have been trying to stay on top of material more so this week as my Saturday morning will be filled helping out with US Navy's  "Continuing Promise" mission. The US Navy is doing an incredible thing throughout the Caribbean that help residents get the care they need. They will be traveling on the USNS Comfort Ship and I'll be sure to post of picture of it within this post, as it truly is incredible. There are about 4,500 physicians and nurses aboard who will try and give care to as many patients as possible and Ross University has the privilege to send students to help out throughout the week they are here. I am SO excited to just be in the presence of some of these amazing caregivers and help give back to this beautiful island. Knowing myself, I know that having my Saturday morning and a bit of the afternoon away from studying may cause me to question if I should go, but I just feel that we are enrolled at Ross to become the best version of ourselves, and by me going, it will give me that boost of motivation to get through these next two weeks. I have signed up for physical therapy, internal medicine, and cardiology, so we shall see how it goes!

Overall, I am extremely happy that I am here. I messaged my mom last night: "going on hour number 18, but I wouldn't want to be putting this much effort into anything else." Which is SO true. Why work hard at something for so long when it doesn't even make you happy? I blame part of that on society, but then there has to be something inside of you that is willing to take the leap and make the change if you are doing something that you do not like. Like I have said in one of my posts before, I may not have wanted to be a doctor since I was a little girl, with a sign on my door that says "Dr. Cronk" or have been "following my dream" ever since. I am far from that, it took me awhile to figure out my path in life and you know what? It's OK. Being 26 or 27 (just had a birthday, wooo to being 27!) and not realllyyyy sure if you are in the right field is normal and I think a lot of people look at me and think I have it completely figured out. WRONG. There are some days I question if this is what I want to be doing for the rest of my life, but like I said to my mom last night, I wouldn't want to work this hard at something if I didn't want to do it. There are two types of people in this world. The people who understand what they love and will fight for it, and there are those people that do it just to get by. You can't be in the latter group here. You just can't. You have to wake up everyday and KNOW..I can do this. I am here. I am ready for today. Sure, you can have those moments of doubt, but then you have to listen to that inside voice and know deep down that you are here to practice medicine. You are here to make a difference in this world, as this world is in such desperate need of physicians. You can do this. You got this.

As this novel of a post comes to a close, I did want to mention the amazing and thoughtful comments on my blog and instagram, you all are amazing and help me keep going when the nights get very long. Also, I have gotten a lot of messages recently asking if I could give out my personal email to answer questions about Ross and the island, and although I would LOVE to, I think it would be best if questions were asked on instagram, as most of my pictures talk about Ross and the island itself. Just search @d1todr and you should see that recognizable face pop up:) You can also leave comments on here, which I get a notification by email when a comment is made. I will try and check my emails on a consistent basis!

Off to go over today's lectures, and the fact that it is already 6:45pm, I might be up a tad later tonight. But you what? I am ready for it. 5 lecture days. Final: Aug 17th. Barbados for a week. Semester 2.

I can do this. I got this.

Bye for now,

--E xo

Obviiii:

USNS Comfort. Wow. 

Can't wait to help out on Sat!

Dominican Sunset

Our lockers :)

How we hang out together.

How I can study and workout at the same time!

Clinical Skills lab!

Everyone loves Emma hugs.

New student center!

Love him.

3/4 sisters