more about the soonger |
oct/nov/dec 1998 |
One month into school...Wednesday, October 21.Just when I was saying that school's almost here, one month has already gone by. Second year pharmacy is quite the leap as compared to first year. Yours truly has been on a huge keen fest. Hitting the books on a daily basis, jumping in the pool to get back into decent shape, and trying to stay social. Man, time management skills are working OVERTIME. Trying to keep on top of things has been priority #1. No time to goof off in rez like last year. Have to put in the time to get the same crappy grades! First test is this Monday-- pharmaceutics. (If you want a detailed of my itinerary, you can check out the other webpage a friend of mine and I co-update. You can see what kind of nonsense I have to deal with. Saturday, November 14.How often do I touch this page? Whoops-- guess all this pharmacy stuff has me too preoccupied to remember to update this page. For those who are still checking, I'm still alive. Second year has its ups and downs. So far, the tests I've got back have been pretty good. Papers, on the other hand, haven't been so good. In one of my classes, I got totally ROCKED by the prof. She gives me SO MUCH feedback on everything that I've handed in, it's not even funny. I'm glad she takes the time to tell me what she thinks I can improve but when I compare my stuff with my classmates, I don't know why my mark is significantly lower than theirs. Quality-wise, mine's not that much worse than theirs yet the marks aren't there. Perhaps she's out to shoot me down. Whatever the case may be, I have three more opportunities to correct matters-- all I'm aiming for is a 70 in the course. As for other matters, I did manage to get away from work last Thursday. To those who know the Toronto pub scene, I managed to go to the Brunny. I told myself last year that I wouldn't go again but guess what I do? Last year it was a Friday night and things were TAME compared to Thursday night! I could not believe how many drunk guys were picking up girls! People who didn't know each other making out on the dance floor? What kind of crazy place did I get myself into?! If it weren't for my pharmacy friends there, I think I would have feared for my life! Let's hope my vow never to return again will hold... Better get back to my studies. I have a huge medicinal chemistry exam this coming Wednesday. Hopefully I'll be able to pull off a half-decent mark in the course. After all, the chem degree should help me out considerably... CRUNCH TIME!Monday, December 14.I can't believe the semester is drawing to a close. Don't have a heckuva lot to show for myself. I've been really good at taking care of myself-- been swimming 3-4 times a week, eating well, haven't been sick (knock on wood), and I've partied quite a bit in the recent past. |
Monday, December 14. (continued)Tomorrow marks the first exam of the Christmas season. I'm prepared for my first exam, professional practice. The second exam on the agenda, microbiology, is still in the works. I've covered the material a couple of times but a couple more times won't hurt. Completed the practice questions the professor gave us and they went well. Just need to commit those bugs into memory... which ones are Gram negative??? The rest of the week looks like a write-off. Going to be a BIG GEEK and lock myself in my room to do all that studying. Of course I'll find time to venture down to the library and do some e-mails and web-surf, plus go to the AC (the Athletic Centre) and go for a swim. For those UT students out there-- when are they going to finish up with the construction by the field house stairs?! I hate going down that cramped staircase. Soonger can't wait until the 22nd-- the final exam. I'll be heading back with my friend, Renee, back to Windsor and we're going to live it up! We're free people and we deserve the time off. Of course, she'll have more reason to celebrate than me-- her man is back in town and she hasn't seen him in a while. As for me, I'm just hoping I can get all my X-mas shopping done in 2 days without having to settle. Want to find the right gifts for everyone on my shopping list. Hope it won't hurt the pocketbook too much. Maybe I can give them an IOU and buy the stuff on Boxing Day (Dec 26th to those Americans out there) to purchase them on sale... Note: Soonger is trying to be fiscally responsible these days... After all, I'm not made out of $$$ Light at the end of the tunnel...Monday, December 21.I can almost see that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. The day started very early for me-- 6AM to be exact. Had to do that last minute cramming for the Health Systems exam I had at 9AM. You know what? That little work I did beforehand this morning was time lost sleeping. The exam from last year was no indication of what it was going to be like this year! For fairness sake, the exam was based upon the material presented in the course. However, the level that was taught in the course and the application to that material was several fold levels higher in thought. Don't get me wrong-- the class has the intelligence to answer the questions but let's say the time provided (3 hours) was not sufficient to produce answers capable of a second year pharmacy student. I was writing for 3 solid hours with the exception of the odd time-out to open up my hand to avoid it from cramping... Tomorrow, I have a lab exam. It's not practical-- it's entirely based upon theoretical material and data analysis. The thing is worth 6% of my total grade in the course so I will work on it accordingly. (Six percent is something I'm not going to throw away!) Tomorrow also appears to be the time when my classmates are going to party it up. After the exam, several of us are going to a nearby pub called Einstein for some drinks and cheap eats. Since Renee and I have plans (to get ready to go home!) I don't know if we're going to head there or go out for Thai food... will ask her for further details. Looking forward to go home and relax, enjoy myself and bathe myself in laziness... |