Ethical question...

Here's a problem I've run into recently in my Organic Chemistry class.  I'm sure of you have face similar situations or even been on the opposing side.

We all know that OChem can be one of the trickiest courses to score well in on the way to completing med school pre-requisites.  We all (or at least most of us) have to work our fricken butts off to even achieve a decent grade (B or C) let alone pass the course.  So, some of the students in the class have taken to cheating in various ways.  This includes handing out old exams from previous semesters, working together on tests (in class!), hiding notes in calculators...you get the idea.

The question is, do I follow suit and cheat as well?  Normally I am highly against this; not only because it's wrong, but because I actually want to push myself and feel good about my accomplishments.  Many of my fellow students are pre-med also so these are the people I will be competing against when applying to med school.  So if they cheat and get an A, and I stay responsible and get a C, I'm the one who looks like the worse student.  Now granted I understand that the decision between me or them is not soley based on this grade, but hey it really just isn't fair.  Also, it's not like I can go into a med school interview and say "oh and if you noticed that my OChem grade is lower than some of my classmates it's because they cheated and I didn't."

How do I combat the gunners?  What would you do?

No wonder no one reads this thing....

I suppose if I made an attempt at posting once and a while I might actually get some feedback on this blog of mine! Ha

Many thing have happened since my last post. When was that? Four months ago!!

Since then I've been in school since August (working on pre-reqs and gpa repair), I've been working full-time (still), and I've been volunteering in the ED at my local trauma 1 hospital. In other words life has been kicking my butt as of late.

I was sick last week and went to the doctor to get tested...no flu, no mono, and not strep!? How curious is that? My tonsils were the size of golf balls, no cough, slight fever, headache, aches and pains, chills, etc. I even had the classic white bacterial spots in the back of my throat. Not strep?? So I still don't know what I had, but I'm all better now. Unfortunately though I missed an OChem test which I wasn't able to make up. Murphy's Law is a bitch!

For now I'm doing okay and I haven't given up. Hopefully I'll be taking the MCAT in the spring and applying this summer! I may not be competitive, but dammit I'm persistent!

Tonight however is my night and I'm going to a hockey game! A rare treat for a Friday night normally spend in the ED. Go AVS!

And back....

Wow I'm really horrible at this blog thing...talk about lack of consistency when it comes to posting! It's been almost two months now!

I actually just got back from another trip overseas. I was gone for nineteen days so that did contribute a bit to my lack of postingness. I plan a much bigger post with hopefully a few pictures within the next week. Today I'm off to the mountains for some camping and whitewater rafting. I'll update soon!

As always, thanks to my readers...if there are any at all! Hah!

Trying to be patient

By nature I think I'm a very patient person....when it comes to interacting with people. When it comes to my personal growth however I can be very impatient. At this point I'm fighting the urge to be annoyed and pissed and all over bummed.

I haven't recieved my letter (accepted or declined) from SBU and it's working against my nerves. I know everyone says don't put all your eggs into one basket but I was really hoping to get in. I wanted to get in not only because it would be a great school to do my post-bac at, but also because I think it would be a great experience. In light of what has happened I've realized that I may be confined to Denver for the next semester. As much as I wanted to get out of here for a bit I'll have to tough it out. In the meantime I will be putting together another application for spring semester at SBU as well as applying to UT Austin. I'm not to keen on the idea of moving to Texas but because of family connections there it is an option that I have to consider. For now though all I can do is apply to my alma mater to start my post-bac career.

My trip to Europe is coming up in the middle of May so at least I can be excited about that! One last hoorah before I have to buckle down and work myself to death with school and a full time job. I'm excited though about getting back into the academic swing of things and to me the motivational part seems like half the battle.

I'm still curious who else out there is on a path similar to mine. If you're heading back to school for post-bacs because of a low gpa and you've read this, then please comment! I would love to get in touch with others in the same situation as myself. For all those med blogs that I read...keep posting! Reading your blogs helps to keep me motivated in my downtime. Keep on keepin' on!

Unmotivated

Holy crap...it's been almost 2 months since I've posted. As the title states I just feel very unmotivated to post. This is mostly because things relating to the "road" ahead are slow and I'm looking for that instant gratification! I know that I've got to keep focused and keep chugging along. As I've stated before I have a long road ahead of me until I can even apply to Med School, but I can't let my self stray.

I also realize that the more I post the more it will help keep me on track. I'll probably recieve more comments (if only a few) which will also help to keep me motivated. Funny how blogs begin more as a personal journal, but as they garnish more attention they can almost morph into a sort of forum.

I'm still reading med blogs and dreaming of becoming a doc. To keep myself organized, here is what is in the pipeline as of today:

- After 3 weeks of health screening and 3 more weeks of interviews and meetings I have one last meeting with the head volunteer at my hospital where I will hopefully start volunteering on friday nights. I'm excited and terrified at the same time. I can't wait.

- Still waiting for an acceptance letter to the school I applied to. This is for my post-bac work. Obviously if I don't get in I will just take my post-bac classes here; although I was really looking to switch things up a bit and gain some new life experience while also going back to school. I'm tired of my life revolving around a job, and I'm ready for it to revolve around school again.

- Once I've got next semesters class schedule figured out I'd like to enroll in a MCAT prep course. I hear Kaplan is better than the Princeton Review. Any opinions on this matter? I've also been thinking about getting my basic EMT certification. I figure it can't hurt.

So that's where I'm at right now....pretty boring right! I'm ready to get moving! I need something to stimulate my brain. I need to hurry up and get on that "road less traveled!" I know...I'm just impatient. Hahah

As always, any advice, comments and/or constructive criticism is welcomed. I've got a lot to learn!