2nd Term Rants and Ravings - Part I

Okay, so this blog hasn't been updated in a while. This is bad news for my non-existent readers. Anyways, I am almost done with 2nd term...4 weeks left and thought I'd share my thoughts so far.
One sentence answer would be that 2nd term sucks giant donkey balls. I hated it and everything that can possibly go wrong did happen this term.

First off, my roommate and I got an e-mail from housing the Friday of the week we leave that we will be staying at the craptacular Grand Anse since SD-6 was not ready. While this is not too bad, the bad part was how SGU Housing informed us of the situation...first off the e-mail as sent on the Friday before classes start...which was a Tuesday. They sent the e-mail after 5:00 PM, knowing that students have questions that they didn't give 2 shits about to answer. Well, we eventually got to move into SD6 but there were no hot water or internet for several weeks.

Secondly, while it seems that the classes carry less credits this term...they are a hell of a lot more work. You have heard the adage that med school is like drinking from a water fountain...this term was more like drinking from a shark infested ocean. I like physiology...it's work but good work. Neuro I can take or leave depending on who is doing the lecture. Some of the neuro staff needs to work on their notes..while the presentations are okay, the notes are a laundry list which frequently consists of clothes with skid marks. The less said about immuno the better....which is a shame since, the course can be made very interesting.

Oh yes, and despite building a new dorm to accomodate students, the school still doesn't have enough space for students...i.e. me. My roommate and I failed to win the lottery, have yet to be placed on the waitlist...and have signed a lease.

Bottom line, the sooner I get off this island the better.

My experience in SGU so far + midterm experience

I'm not gonna lie. I've fit in at SGU pretty well which means I've adjusted to the island life. What?...30 minute wait for a sandwich....that's actually pretty fast....1 hour to get a haircut....I'll bring my notes. You get the idea. Oh and the heat doesn't bother me anymore...there's always a cool breeze to keep your nether regions cool.

I've started stuyding with friend and that has helped me out thus far beause this guy stays on the top of his stuff and is compelling me to do the same. So, basically, he studies something and I quiz him and then I study something and he quizzes me. So, it's been working out and so far, I've been able to keep up with the class for Anatomy and Biochem.

As far as mid-term exams go, it was a few weeks ago. I crammed like a mother for that. Anatomy was the first and I felt the most prepared of all the exams for it and got the lowest grade of the three exams on it (shows what I know). Histo was another cram session....did 6 lectures in the morning of the freakin' exam and also went over all the slides 4 hours before the exam...considering that the grade was a high B.

I was pretty burnt by the cramming once Biochem rolled around. They did 9 lectures the week before the exam and studying for Anatomy, I neglected to catch up. And FYI, Dr. Trotz's Lipoprotein lecture took me an hour to decipher...which means trying to figure out what the hell I was supposed to know from the slides. So, this meant various hours of coffee fueled studying along with asking myself if I am made for Med school. I also called home eight times and tried to get some advice from my parents. Parents are great....they know just the thing to put you at ease. So, I bascially spent the entire day doing lipid metabolism and synthesis and the morning of the exam, woke up at 6:00 AM and started going over all the pre-unified stuff. And I also did Dr. Dasso's 4 lectures on cell signaling and fed v. starved states. Due to time constraints and the fact that my head felt like it was filled to capacity....I skipped over Dr. Trotz's last lecture. So, the exam seemed fair...I made a couple of stupid mistakes but still managed to get out of the exam with an A. So, very happy about that.

So, there's still 5 weeks of class left and 1 week of exams and then I am back to the greatest city in the World, New York.

Unified Grades are in!!!

So, today I have "officially" received all the grades for the three subjects on the unifieds. I went in with an apprehensive feeling comparable to your gut falling out your ass at the speed of light. That was because I was behind on all the subjects and due to time constraints (and lack of interest and patience) I had to skip a lot of stuff.

Gross Anatomy & Embryology - I finished the lungs and the first part of the heart stuff in 2 days. I skipped Mediastinum (lack of interest) and autonomics (time constraint). I also didn't get a chance to review the stuff on the back and the arms untill 3 hours before the exam itself . Oh and let's not forget that I skipped the entire Embryology stuff that we have learned so far -- Grade: 80%

Biochemistry - I was up to date on the first few lectures but I had to catch up on all of Dr. Trotz's lectures (about 8 lectures) in two days. I had to skip Dr. Davidson's lectures on Bioenergetics and intro to metabolism -- Grade: 80%

Histology - Oh God, this was bad. I was up to date on the lectures on epithelium, connective tissue and cartilage. I went to most of the lectures and retained what I could when not falling asleep. I went over more than half the stuff (bone, blood & hematopoesis, muscles) the day of the exam, around 6:00 AM and had to skip the nervous system -- Grade: 84%

So, the moral of the story is KEEP UP WITH YOUR CLASSES!!! I can't emphasize that enough for myself. I was afraid I failed the exams simple because there were so many questions that I wasn't sure of and really had to reach in order to get the answer. But I was lucky and did not end up as being part of Dr. Davidson's statistics of kids who failed the unifieds.

I have been good since the exam and have managed to keep up with anatomy and biochemistry. I hope to do a decent amount of embryo this weekend simply because the embryo stuff are easy "gimme" points. That said, midterm is in 2 weeks...as I type this, I have soiled myself at the thought of the midterm. I hope the unifieds were an accurate representation of the midterm or future exams.

I am going to go take a power nap and then it's off to the books.

Incognegro GN Review

So, in between studying for the Unifieds that's on Monday, I gave myself a much-deserved break. I mean, you can only read about the damn enzymes and lungs and the heart for only so long.

Incognegro came out last week but I've been waiting to read this ever since I first saw it on the solicits. It's an exploration of racial identity and tension set in the 1930's. The main character is Zen Pinchback, a journalist who has a syndicated weekly column. Zen is also a Black man who is "light-skinned" enough to pass as White and does investigative reportings on lynchings in the deep South that usually went unreported.

The main plot is that Zen's brother, Alonzo has been accused of murdering a White girl and according to Southern justice, he's all set to be lynched. Now, it is up to Zen to try and save him.

I am not going to reveal the ending of the story. The story is well-paced and is layered with twists and turns. The author Mat Johnson, based this story somewhat on his own experience. He stated in the intro of the book that he too has the physical similarities that Zen possesses and growing up in a mainly Black neighborhood, he felt out of place. So, he used to invent and "incognegro" identity for himself and pretend he was a spy in the war against White Supremacists. The story is also inspired by former head of the NAACP, Walter White who also did his own "incognegro" investigations.

Johnson doesn't restrict his story to dealing with racial identities but instead deals with identities as a whole. It is a very well-crafted story and will stay with you long after you have finished reading the book. Warren Fleece's art is done entirely in black & white (what else?) and suites the story well. It's not grandoise in any scale but complements the story perfectly well. He is also adapt at capturing the different facial expressions that too many of today's artists seem to sacrifice in the favor of style.

Since I am not in the United States, I was unable to purchase this and had to resort to downloading it and reading it on my computer. But you better believe that as soon as I get back to the States, I am buying this.

Unifieds.....AARGH!

So, there's this little thing called the unifieds are coming up...coming up as in it's next Monday. It's 25 questions from each of the three classes and it's basically designed to see how well you've been studying and if you've been studying right. It's a figurative kick in the nutsack for those who hasn't been keeping up with the class. I would like to think that I have been somewhat keeping up but nonetheless I am still behind 1 or 2 or 4 lectures (thank you anatomy), so I might be getting a kick in my sack.

At any rate, I think I've become acclimated to the tropical weather as evident by the fact that I sweat less...and here I am speaking of buckets of sweat. Anyways, time's up and I have to get back to studying.

It's been an interesting ride

Okay, so I finally started medical school this week and today marks my 10th day here in Grenada. So far, I feel that I have adjusted well to the island life (except for the copious amount of sweating). Needless to say, I was a little nervous coming here. See, I have so far lived a life that rarely required me to travel outside my comfort zone and even if I did have to travel outside that zone it was for a brief preiod of time which I block out later.

But coming here was a big decision for me and so far, it seems that I have made the right decision. I haven't run into any of the problems that I was worried about....yet. My luggage was safe and sound (albeit broken handle on one of my bags), customs didn't do any cavity searches (yayyy!) and my roommate and living quarters are decent enough. I still don't know why the hell they call it a "Double kitchenette"...there's nothing double in the damn kitchen...let's see...one microwave (that doesn't turn), one refrigerator, one stove, one sink....yup, nothing double all right. But the plus side of the dorm room is the room is very cool (temperature-wise) and the internet works. So, those little things makes the loss of personal space bearable.

Now, let's talk about the classes. Anatomy seems interesting...but the course companion or compendium sucks enormous balls. It's seems disorganized and all over the place. We so far had Dr. B lecturing. He did a good enough job but the compendium again creates some problems. I don't expect to be have the instructors hold my hand but a little clarity is not too much to ask for. Biochem has been a blast from the past with all the lectures about macromolecules. The instructors are nice and they really want you to focus on understaning the concept rather than memorize details...i.e. structures of AA's and stuff. They also tell you during the lecture what they want you to know vs. what you don't need to give a flying freak about. Next, is Histology...which is my kryptonite. Out of all the subjects I have dreaded, this is at the top of the list. But my fears have been allayed...Dr. P. is a kick ass lecturer and the compendium is the histology bible to me. Anatomy department should get a three day lecture from Dr. P. and the Histology Department about how to write a course compendium properly. I took medical histo in Georgetown and I gotta say the SGU Histo blows them out of the water. I actually learned what a basement membrane and its functions....I went through 3 months of Histo at Georgetown trying to figure that out. And finally, last but not least....the Bioethics class....Zzzzzz. It's necessary but is also very boring and seems to cut into study or R&R time. I still went to all the lectures since I have a tendency to creat a slippery slope once I start to ditch lectures.

And finally, the locals here are very nice. I met quite a few of them at the Bazzar and of course they handle a lot of the administrative aspects of the whole enrollment and registration process. I am still new so I am not going to say that everything is sugar and spice and everything nice. But so far so good. I was polite and they returned the favor.

So, all in all not a bad week. I am anti-social so I don't really know a lot of people yet. Hopefully, I can alleviate this condition.

Punisher MAX Annual #1 Review

I am not ashamed to admit that I was a late-comer to Garth Ennis' Punisher run on the Max imprint from Marvel Comics. But let me tell you something, once I read the first issue I went out and bought both Punisher Max hardcovers and bought the TPBs and singles to catch up. This title is on my regular pull-list. While I was gluttonously devouring these comics, I read on the web that Ennis will soon be leaving this title. I stared at the screen in disbelief and then proceeded to curse out Marvel and Quesada for their motherlovin' wisdom for ruining one of the few things I like coming from Marvel Comics. I was all ready to hate the new author coming on board since there is no possible way that he can measure up to Ennis. That brings me to this book.

The annual is written by Mike Benson, who is rumored to be taking over the title from Ennis. I was ready to hate this book. Before I even opened the book, I noticed the lack of presence of Tim Bradstreet from the cover chores. I started reading and to my surprise before I knew it...I finished reading it and moreover, I didn't hate it.

Benson crafts a simple yet dark story about a crew being hunted down by the Punisher. Frank has already taken out the entire crew save for one member who is doing anything to stay alive, even flagging down the cops and confessing to murder. The story is told entirely from his perspective and the Punisher plays more or less a phantom in the story. He's there and then he's gone. Benson's execution is flawless and he really fleshes out the terror that the criminal feels knowing he is to meet certain doom. This is helped greatly along by the art provided by Laurence Campbell. Campbell paints a gritty, dark and ugly world filled with toothless strippers and pavements filled with blood. His art has a scratchy style and reminds me somewhat of Bill Sienkiewicz's work...except it's not as abstract. I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would.
I felt that Benson had crafted a decent enough story which many had been unable to do (i.e. Daniel Way, all of 90's Punisher stories) but he still has Garth Ennis' rather big shoes to fill as far as the Punisher is concerned. But I am not going to write this guy off and I will give his first story arc or so a fair chance. Make me proud :).

Final grade: 3.5/5.