Four tests and Final four

Despite my wonderful strategy, I've been kind of stressed out this week.  The first three tests were okay, but by the last one, the stress finally caught up to me. It just stinks that we had 4 tests in a one-week span. What's more, the last test could have been moved to Wednesday instead of Monday, but a few people voted to leave it on Monday, so the prof refused to change the test date. Everyone felt like they got screwed out of two extra study days and some people were really upset (including me!).

To top it all off, in the midst of my 6-hour study session on Sunday, I heard that VCU won their basketball game, which means that VCU made it to the Final Four for the first time ever! (They had never even made it to the Sweet Sixteen before). Richmond went crazy that night! People flooded the streets, music was blaring, and a couple of cars were definitely damaged from people jumping on the hood. It was pretty wild. I don't really like basketball that much, but it was hard not to get excited about it! Go VCU!

Here's a picture of me rocking the black and gold!

My life gets kind of boring

I haven't posted much in the past several weeks, but that's because nothing really exciting has happened lately (with the exception of spring break). Here in Richmond during school, it's been just one long week of classes and tests after another. This is more like what I originally thought grad school would be. I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't that bad, but now I see that it is that bad (and worse!) at times. Not all the time, which is nice, but it seems to happen all at once in week-long spurts.

I've had 2 tests in the past 2 days, and I have no idea how I did. Usually I'm good at gauging what grade I got, but this time I just don't know. I'm pretty sure I passed, but that's as far as my confidence goes. I'm not freaking out about it though. I definitely have a more laid-back, stress-free attitude when it comes to tests these days. Now that I've gotten my first C on a test in grad school, I've realized that it's not the end of the world (...and the required meeting with the professor wasn't that bad). So my new philosophy is that I'll study and try my best, but I'm not going to sweat the small stuff. My goal is to be a good physical therapist, NOT get the best grades.

In contrast, here are some of my classmates' philosophies:
The minimalist: "If I get an A, that means I studied too hard. All we need is a B average and I want to do the bare minimum." (Yes, someone actually told me this!)
The cram and dump: "I'm going to study the night before the test, dump out all the information I learned, and immediately forget everything." (Hello? We need to remember this stuff in the clinic someday!)
The comparers (and complainers): "I study so hard and everyone else is doing better than I am. It's not fair!"
The overachievers: "I have to get all A's, so I'm going to freak out over every test, project, practical, lab, and any other assignment."

I like to call mine the Best, not Stressed philosophy: I'll do my best to learn the material, but I won't stress out over grades. It's helped me keep my sanity this semester!

Spring break flies by

Why is it that one day of classes can drag on forever, but an entire week without classes seems to go by in an instant? C'est la vie! The relativity of time is a constant mystery. Anyway! My spring break was fun but somewhat exhausting. I went home to MA, then to NY, PA, and NoVA (in case you don't know, NoVA is apparently a term for Northern Virginia. I didn't know that until this year, although I agree with making a distinction between NoVA and the rest of Virginia!)

The highlight of New York (besides getting to see my old friend Melissa again) was seeing a Broadway play! We waited in line for 30 minutes to get discounted tickets for "Jersey Boys", a play about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. I was only familiar with a few of the songs, but the play was entertaining and unexpectedly funny. I wish I could see more Broadway shows because I really enjoy them. I'm glad we got discounted tickets though, because it's so expensive. Then again, everything in New York is expensive! And the city is crowded and dirty and kind of scary, to be honest. I had fun there, but I would never want to live there- and I experience that sentiment every time I go to any large city. After NY, Richmond feels small and cozy; perfect for me!

When I visited Julia, she made me lunch and had gotten me cupcakes for my birthday. She's recently gotten married, so I got to see her new apartment. She and John and I had interesting discussions about politics and how college for the masses is a waste of time and money. I don't think many people would agree with our ideas on these topics, but that's why it's nice to talk to people who share many of the same values and are just as conservative as I am! Another reason for stopping at Julia's house was to pick up a mattress that they gave me. They were going to get rid of it, but I decided to take it since my mattress is old and uncomfortable (and I hate to pass up nice free stuff!) So now I'm going to go to sleep on my comfy new mattress and enjoy the last night of my break.

Car-less

It's been weird not having my own transportation. I'm used to just hopping in the car and going wherever I need to go. During the week I take the bus to class, so it's not that big of a deal, but on the weekends I feel like I'm stuck at my apartment. The thing I hate the most is being dependent on other people for rides.

The good thing is, I've been walking around a little more. On Friday, I decided to walk to the bank because it was such a nice day. Then I went for a run outside. On Saturday, I wanted to make cookies for my friend Meike's birthday party, but I didn't have all the ingredients I needed. So I walked to Kroger (which is only 5 minutes away from my apt). Then I walked the extra distance to Tropical Smoothie Cafe to get a drink. It was actually really nice to walk around Richmond in the beautiful weather. But I still miss my car and I'll be really grateful when I can drive around again!

Warning: Curves ahead

Grad school is going to be full of ups and downs. Luckily, after a few downs, I finally feel back "up". I got my grades back from my two hard tests, and thankfully the professors curved the grades! I'm definitely grateful for those extra points. I'm going to have to study better for the next round of tests, but the good part is that I now have an idea of how the professors write their tests. So I should be able to study more effectively. Theoretically, at least! :)

It's really funny how some of the slackers in the back have such a hard time paying attention. Granted, it does get a little difficult to stay awake when it's 2pm and the professor decides to dim the lights so we can see the powerpoint better. I sit in the second row and I get a little drowsy at that point too. But there's always coffee (and other caffeinated drinks)! If you know you have the tendency to fall asleep, why not bring soda, or red bull, or go to bed earlier? There's this one guy in my class who used to doze off all the time, until finally one of the professors told him he needed to find some way to stay awake in class. His solution to the problem was to stand up during class, so now he stands at the back of the room for an entire two hours during Micro lecture. It is too funny!

One of the things I hate about M&A is that we'll learn about some kind of special test and then we'll learn that it's not that valid or reliable and we'll hardly ever use it. WHY ARE WE LEARNING ABOUT IT THEN??? It just doesn't seem reasonable for a PT guest lecturer to come in and demonstrate a special test, then say "I've worked with shoulder patients for 30 years and I've never used this". Last class, Dr. Puzzle told us about a special test for the cervical spine. Then he asked us what we thought the evidence was for it. Let me guess: NOT GOOD. And we were right.

I did get some exciting news this week! We got matched to our clinical sites and I got my top choice! I'm going to be at VCU hospital working in the Rehab/Neuro/Brain injury unit for 6 weeks. I'm glad I finally know where I'm going to be this summer. After that, it's just another curve in the road.

White hair, weekends, and whatnot

This weekend was fun. My classmates and I needed to do something to relax after a long week of studying. So I went out to eat 3 times this weekend with different groups of people. I probably shouldn’t have spent the money, but it was so worth it to hang out with everyone! Kelly was gone again this weekend, but Audrey and I have been hanging out a lot more. We worked out together this weekend and watched a movie and drank wine together one night. We’re hanging out more than we did last semester, which is nice because I need that roomie time!

I’ve also met some nice people at my church- Hannah, who is a nurse at Memorial Regional, and Erin and Katherine, who are teachers at local schools. I’ve been going to a young adult Bible study on Monday nights and it’s been a fun time of fellowship. I enjoy having some friends in Richmond that aren’t in the PT program and don’t know anything about it. Sometimes I just need a break from everything PT-related.

Now for some depressing news: I found a couple white hairs on my head over the past few days. Grad school must really be stressing me out if I’m getting white hair already!