Random

Man, I'm exhausted. I've been procrastinating and postponing my next blog post for almost two weeks now. Not that I hate to write it's just the time. I feel like I need 48 hours everyday because 24 is just too little. I'm always compaining about my limited time. The day I actually have enough time, now that will be news. I wake up, read, pass out. Then get back to reading. It's the circle of med school. I'm not exaggerating you know. Life is like this:

And it's not even funny. Which reminds me, I've been thinking about the future. My future. See, I have a time frame under which I get my career going , get married, have kids in that order. But see I will be in my thirties before any of these are possible. Now, that I can't happen. I might as well forget about kids. Another problem is, who's going to marry me in my thirties. This is all wrong. The only solution is to start looking for a potential candidate now so that I'm set in a few years. I don't know. I just don't want to die alone.

Birthday.

As I get older, the more forgetful I become of things like dates, people's names and even my birthday. Yesterday morning after I took part in push and shove to get into a matatu, I realised that my birthday was coming up in two days. I remember how birthdays were a big deal for me. How special I felt if people actually remembered. I'd remind everyone I knew. I needed a card, call, cake or else......Now, the only plans I have include an overdue salon visit and a hot date with Moore and Gray(textbooks). The strangest thing is that I can't be bothered. I'm very indifferent. I guess I'm growing older. I don't need gifts to make me happy or special. I won't base my happiness on trivial material things. That I think is wisdom which is most important. But this doesn't mean I won't accept gifts. That won't change.

So You Want To Be A Medic...

I'm just close to a month into the course but I think I can pass a thing or two on to those planning or preparing to get into the course. MBChB that is. First, all the rumors you hear out there are probably true. Within the past one month, I've done more reading than I've done the whole year. This I did not complain about because I was told that I'd practically be living in the library for the next few years. What no one told me was about the disappointment I would feel after sitting for my first test. I contemplated drowning my sorrows in a bottle of vodka. It just did not make any sense after all the reading. I've also been spending a lot of time in the dissection lab. As a result, my clothes stink such that on lab days, my dad makes me sit in the back, even with the AC on. I see how much he dreads picking me. Formalin is part and parcel of the lab. I don't think my non-med friends would want to hang around me in the near future. And if you thought the teachers in High School were mean because they gave you weekend homework, I'm not sure what you'd think of the lecturers here. You'll have a whole new perspective of the word 'mean'.
You still think you'll find time to go out for 'Blankets and Wine' or enjoy a movie with your friends. Think again. You're not studying for a BA (Bachelors of Being Around), a lecturer once told us. Your time will be spent getting to know Ganong, Lehninger, Snell, Last's and others. (These are names of authors). You'll start refering to them like you know them personally. Our daily conversations go like, "Lehninger said..." .....Finally, I came into this course with the obvious long term goal to be a trained medic. That's changed. My goal is to get to second-year. There's no guarantee. Getting to there is an achievement. They say that's when you can call yourself a medical student. Despite this, I'm happy to be here. I'm neither complaining nor trying to discourage anyone. Follow your dreams and work hard.
I feel inspired to quote Maya Angelou, "If your dreams don't scare you, they're probably not big enough."

Epic.

Have you ever met someone who took your breath away. Someone who mesmerised you. Someone who made you loose your concentration and even forget the place, the time or what you were doing. The way they carry themselves calls out to you and grabs your attention with or without your consent. I have heard of people who light up a room just by their presence but I never believed it. Today I can say that I'm a believer. He walked into the room with an air of confidence. Not superiority or pride. Just the right amount of ego. I'd never seen him before. He wasn't in our class. He looked too knowledgable for a first year. I was surprised to see him walk to our dissection table. He began to talk and I listened. His voice was clear. His tone relaxed. At this point in time, to say that I drifted away would be an understatement. I didn't care about any dissection. I think the feeling was the same with the females on our table. We even ended up mutilating some structures. He was year ahead of us. He gave us advice and asked about our experience so far. He was smart and great with conversation. Perfect. When the time came for him to leave, I felt like I would miss him. I didn't want him to leave. The thought of never seeing him again.....I decided to follow and ask him to come back again. But my legs failed me. Getting back to work mode was difficult. He disoriented me. But I'm not complaining. I came to the conclusion that maybe it was best I didn't have him in my dissection group.