Diving In

The original MCPHS building. When they needed to upgrade the facilities they decided to simply build around it rather than tearing it down, which I think is pretty nifty.

          I can’t believe it’s already October. It seems like I just arrived in MA a week ago, and I’m already approaching the one-month mark for classes. I’m really glad that I had just over a week to settle in to my new place and job before classes started, because once they did, life started getting busy. Classes started on Sep. 4 and my first exam (genetics) was on the 16^th. Then, in the last week I had an exam on Wednesday (primary care psychiatry), another on Friday (pharmacology), and a third on Monday (pathophysiology). I sort of shut off from the outside world during that and then had quite a decompression day after the last exam. That didn’t last too long though because I had a group presentation today (ethics and issues of PA practice) and my second genetics exam is next Monday. Fun times.

Stress relief: baking!

Aside from studying for exams, these last few weeks my focus has been on adjusting to the PA program, and just being back in school. Even though I did an EMT program and genetics course last fall, the set up then was a bit different from normal, so it has taken a little while to get back into the swing of classes, homework, and the balancing act with work. Since all the PA students take classes together, we don’t pick our schedule or classes. The program coordinators figure it all out and we just go where they tell us. This term I only have classes three days each week, and on Mondays and Fridays I usually only have one class because two of the classes scheduled for those days are partially or completely online. It’s nice to have two short days, but this does mean that Wednesdays are loooong. With the exception of one hour for lunch, I have classes from 10am to 6pm. Most of my classes are 1-2 hours, but my last one on Wednesdays is 3 hours. I’m not sure who thought it would be a good idea to put the longest class at the end of the longest day, but it’s not a scheduling move I’d recommend. The saving grace is that this class is one of the most interesting and the teacher is interesting, informative and hilarious. She’s also pretty good at timing our mid-class break so we can refresh ourselves and come back ready for more.

Having fun despite being shutout from Mixfest

Life hasn’t been completely all work and no play for me, thankfully. My apartment mate and I went apple-picking at the beginning of September and have been enjoying homemade apple goodies ever since. Then a few Saturdays ago some friends and I attempted to go to Mixfest in Boston. I say attempted because there were too many Backstreet Boys fans who got there ahead of us and we weren’t able to get close enough to really hear or see the concerts so we left, but we still had a fun evening walking around Boston. The next weekend my parents were able to come for a visit, so I got to do a bit more playing. They came into Boston with me on Friday so we could explore once I got out of class. We went to look at the lovely church I can see on my walk to school, then walked everywhere, from MCPHS to the Fens to Fenway Park to the Prudential Center to Copley Square to the Public Gardens and the Commons, until eventually I gave my tired parents a break and we took a T into the North End rather than walking there as well. All our walking was rewarded by some delicious Italian food and cannolis. The next morning I was supposed to work, but I was able to switch shifts and get the entire Saturday free. We had lots of ideas of things we could do, and it was hard to choose, but we ended up going to Portsmouth, NH. Not only was it a lovely and fun town, but we arrived in the middle of some sort of fairy festival and were soon surrounded by small children wearing fairy wings and building fairy houses. On the way back to Salem we stopped in to J.T. Farnham’s in Essex to get some fabulous seafood. All in all it was a wonderful weekend and a nice break before the craziness of exam week. 

Everyone loves cannolis

This month should be interesting. Now that exams have started, I probably won’t have quite as much time for exploring and hanging out with friends, but I knew that was coming. Some of the second year PA students have said that October is the month when the first years start crying. We’ll see how accurate that is. Thankfully the weather’s been nice and there’s a nearby park that is quite nice for studying, so I can at least get some sun and fresh air while I’m reading and cramming away. On the plus side my White Coat Ceremony is just over a week away, so I’ll soon look like a legitimate health care provider. As to work, that should be interesting too because October is tourist month. We’ve already started to get some fun foreign coins in the tip jar and yesterday was the first time I had to give detailed directions to the Salem Commons. It sounds like it could be stressful, but at least my coworkers are chill, tips are good, and my manager is trying to keep things light and fun by having costume days on the weekends. Now, for the first time in years, I actually have to figure out a Halloween costume. Should be fun.