UPDATE: I have included pictures of my weekend for you all to see. Instead of going camping, we went glamping! Scroll down through the post to read about it.
My Vocabulary List
PathAssist: Short informal term used for Pathologists' Assistant
AT: Anatomical Techniques
DM: Disease Mechanisms
HISTO: Histology
TWO WEEKS UNTIL FINALS.
The hard work this semester has really paid off for me. I have really enjoyed my semester in and out of school. From celebrating birthdays, new friendships, anniversaries, to exploring Morgantown and surrounding areas on the weekends, I have had an amazing time this semester. After being out of school for three years, I am proud of myself for getting the job done this first semester.
I am excited about the next few months because I will have family visiting me soon. I miss being near my family, but I talk to them every day, so that still works. I have had the chance to talk with some of my close colleagues in medical school and they also plan to make a way to visit me this summer. This summer will be somewhat of a reunion for me with all of my close loved ones.
Going into summer and fall will definitely be different. I wouldn't say I'm worried about the semesters, but I'm going to stay on top of things since I heard that spring was my easiest semester. Honestly, I wouldn't say this was the easiest semester, but definitely manageable with the right study habits, school/life balance, etc. Overall, it's hard to believe that we already have one semester down out of the first year.
Out of all my classes for this semester, I would say AT was the most challenging. It was not difficult, but just sooooo much information to know. AT is also the class that actually prepares you to be a first-hand PathAssist. Additionally, DM was not bad as I expected. Overall, I have done exceptionally well in both AT and DM with them being two of our more challenging courses. I wasn't sure if I was going to need to adjust my study habits for this semester, but I have not had the need to. I do well studying by myself, but I plan to meet a couple of my classmates for the spring and fall semester to study and practice the material we learned for AT. I feel AT is the course where you should definitely practice with someone to really understand what you're doing and why you're doing it. Our instructors have encouraged this to our class multiple times, so I will make sure I'm doing that for the remaining year for the additional practice.
As for my other four classes, those have all went very well. I feel like those are a bit easier and does not take as much studying as AT and DM does. A few are really self taught classes, so I think that's great practice to see how you manage your time with your more difficult courses. Overall, all my courses went smoothly.
Unfortunately, I did not get many pictures of specimens the last few times in AT lab, but I did make a play-doh kidney. It's missing a few anatomical structures, but it did happen to give me additional practice grossing a kidney.
The cutest play-doh kidney known to man:
I want to truly thank again all the support I received in these first four months. My family, my boyfriend, a couple of my classmates, and instructors for the understanding they have shown me. I would be lying if I stated that I wasn't slightly nervous coming into this program...I definitely was. Graduate school is not the issue, but knowing how to manage school all over again is the main thing. Additionally, being in a cervical collar for a while and wearing a CAM boot was not the most helpful either, but I MADEÂ it happen by hopping right along through this semester.
We have a few more actual exams before the finals, so my boyfriend and I are going camping this weekend. I'll meet with a group of my friends on Friday, and then my boyfriend and I are headed out on Saturday. We'll be going on vacation after finals, but this will be our relaxation before the finals come. I'm pretty excited because we have not went camping since we lived in Florida. I'll update you all later on how that goes!
Glamping Weekend UPDATE: My boyfriend and I drove about two hours away from Morgantown to go camping. Once we arrived to our destination, there was a glamping site available for one night. Instead of pitching our tent, we wanted the glamping experience. We just celebrated our anniversary, so we decided to make this an additional anniversary present to ourselves. We waited for the tent to be cleaned and prepared, then moved our luggage in. Surprisingly, it came with a hot tub, which was lovely! There was a local farm down the road where we purchased fresh eggs, fresh sourdough, and milk. We explored the surrounding areas by hiking trails. The area is absolutely gorgeous!
I am currently sitting on the porch of the glamping tent reviewing for our HISTO final on Monday. Honestly, I couldn't ask for anything else right now. After a long week, this was just what we needed. It will be a short stay, but I'll definitely miss this place when we head back home tomorrow.
Last month of the semester:
Since I will be on vacation for my break, I do not plan to be anywhere near a computer for a few days...At least I hope not. That means, I will not post again until I'm back from break.
Please keep any questions coming up that you may have. I enjoy answering them!
For those curious about my YouTube channel, please feel free to message me for the link. We are excited for you all to join us.
Until next time.
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