Personal Reflection

After reading my blogs it feels like I lost my "triflin" ways and learned that I need to stop procrastinating and get on my "a-game". I'm pretty amazed about all the things I was able to talk publicly. Some topics we went over never even came up in conversations with my close friends! 1. I think I grew in terms of being more knowledgable in how to be more leadership material in the real world. As everyone probably already knows I want to become a pharmacist and eventually a pharmacy manager. This field requires major leadership skills and with the topics, books, and discussions we had I think I will do a better job. 2 My thinking has changed in many ways. For bigginers, the thought of my future has become so much clearer. What I mean is my goals and how and what I need to do to achieve them. As far as possibilities in the world, my mind set was always that anything and everything is possible. 3. I've never engaged in hard times with students, barn stormed, nor did speed interviewing like we did in class. These were the best activities because it expanded my horizon so much and I got so much insight that I never had. It helped me get more connections and information that can potentially help me later on. 4. I liked how we got to speak our mind about sensitive topics, blog about our goals and progress, and lastly how our professor is the coolest professor eva!!! 5. No complaints, honestly. And no I'm not sucking up :)6. Maybe make it 3 times a week for 1 hour 15 minutes each?

Sound Bite

The most important thing I have learned this semester is RESPONSIBILITY. The requirements of this class and course outline was basically to help us, the students, know what we really wanted to be in life and what paths to take to achieve it. Far most the most useful class I've taken in my college career.

Sunday Meeting

As I stated in my Business meeting, Sunday was a hell of a day for me. I woke up Sunday morning at 8am and didn't go to sleep until Monday at 6pm, yeah monday at 6pm. The only thing I had on my mind was all the things that was due the next day and how worried I was. As far as the planning went, the only thing I planned for the week was all the things that were due Monday. As for the rest of the week, I planned it all yesterday. For example, I have this homework that is due tonight then Wednesday I have a presentation in my other class and have a paper due as well. I'm trying to knock everything out and pacing myself so I dont get an anxiety attack and end up popping xanax pills. LOL JK.

Business Meeting 2

Once again, my buddy and I met this morning to discuss my completions from the prior week. It only last about 15 minutes this time because we both ended up coming late. I told him how I began to study for the test (pCAT) and how I finished all the work that was due yesterday and late last week. Monday was hell of a day for me because I had so much due so I had my hard times with him as well. How was it a hell of a day you ask? Well, let me tell you too. So yesterday I had an Organic Chemistry lab practical, lab notebook due, and a genetics lab exam! Ugh I did not sleep sunday night at all...it was horrible. I ended up getting a B on the genetics test, but dont know about orgo yet. BUT i did end up completing the lab and it worked so I'm not too worried. After that I told him I might or might not see him next week because I have exams so we might just talk over phone.

More first steps...

Another one of my steps was to begin studying for my pCATS. It was a busy ass week for me, but i managed to start reviewing the bio section on Friday because it requires the least amount of time for me (since i took so many freaking bio classes!) I started to go over the stuff I learned in Bio 101 and wow was that hard. It felt like I never learned it so I kind of skimmed through it and moved onto the more advanced stuff, which I was more familiar with :) All in all it took me about an hour before I got hungry and ended my studying for the day.
As far as the other subjects go, I don't think I will start in depth studying because I have finals coming up and thats my top priority as of now. Once school ends more time will be dedicated towards other subjects.

The Buddy System (Buddy: Tim)

During one of my classes last Thursday, I asked one of my friends if they could be my buddy. At first he seemed pretty confused, but then i explained to him that its an assignment for my other class so it can help me focus on the things i need to get done. This couldn't have been a better time because I have so much stuff due in the next week. Basically, we decided to meet today morning at 8am for no more than 20-30 minutes. When we spoke on Thursday, I told him that I needed to get a certain list of things completed and you are suppose to be my "inspiration". As directed, he made a list with the most important duties on top. My duties included things such as starting research, revising a paper, and writing a paper for another class. To my suprise Tim actually texted me during the weekend and was like "hope your on top of your shit home boy" lol. So even with his sarcasm, he was somewhat dedicated to this duty of basically making sure I did my work. So today when we met, he pulled out the list and asked me which tasks I completed and which ones I left blank. Out of the 5 things we jotted down i completed the top 3 and the fourth one, but not the 5th one which was to look for a new laptop. I was quite happy with myself and he congratulated me too. After checking in was done, I told him I had a rough time revising my paper because the TA made so many damn comments that it became irritating. So I guess I threw in some hard times in there. He told me about the writing center and how they are a great help so i kept that in mind. Lastly I told him we should meet again next week at the same time and day so I can check in with my other tasks I need to complete. That was all we basically spoke about and it took around 25 minutes for the whole meeting.

First Steps Exercise 1

In class and on my planner wall I planned to purchase books and review material for the pCAT exam. Instead of purchasing them, I asked my friend who already took the pCAT exam if he had purchased the books. Luckily, he did and of course he agreed to let me borrow them. I haven't started to really do hardcore studying due to current school work, but that is my number one goal during the summer. The pCAT book basically consists of all material that was covered during the pre-requisite classes, so yes a hell of a lot! I'm definetly freaking out, but hopefully everything will be ok...? Wish me luck..:(

Reflecting On Fear (part 2) /Hard Times (not as funny as Juicy's)

The type of resistance I felt had to do with all these stupid lab reports that are constantly due, but this week its different. Since the end of the semester is slowly approaching, the lab TA's think its a good idea to bombard us with tedious reports that should have been spread out during the semester instead! I just found out today that not only do I have a research presentation next week, but a lab report due the same time. Besides that, for my other 2 labs I have reports due the same week. I'm starting to get stressed out, but luckily not feeling the way I used to during organic. I think this would also be stage fright because I'm feeling nervous and worried if I will finish in time. With that much said, I plan on starting today and just hauling ass all week so I dont spaze out during the weekend. Usually, if i didnt have to do all the other reports, I keep the one thats due every Monday until Sunday. Now that i think about it, this week isnt the best time for that.

Reflecting On Fear

Barbara Sher claims that when you come across any experience or task that may be new to you, the feeling of uncertainty and self-doubt begins to take its toll. This feeling is nothing new to me and to be honest, there have been numerous occasions when I felt this way. The most common types of resistance i have felt is thoughts of failure and thoughts of giving up while I still can. A perfect example was during last semester when I was taking Organic Chem 2. Everyday I walked in with moist palms and a queasy feeling in my gut because I kept thinking to myself "I'll never get through this, I'm going to fail, what am I doing here, etc..." The main reason for these resistances was due to rumors about the class and how hard it is in general. I hated Tuesdays and Thursdays because I knew I would have to go to class and be taught something that I might not be able to understand for a long time and something that needed constant practice. The type of fear this was was Stage fright because its feeling of uncertainty and self-doubt. I was completely uncertain how I was going to do, but ended up sticking it out until the end. When we face our fears and take a deep breath and start working on it slowly, it is possible to overcome it. As time passed, the feelings of uncertainty didn't go away but they decreased. As Dr. Rock said in class, vomiting/diarrhea suppresses and the queasy feeling is the most you will get. Fortunately i didn't experience the first two but the queasy feeling depressed slightly. So the underlying message would be to take things slowly and step by step to avoid feelings of giving up and self-doubt. I moved through this by doing exactly what i mentioned, taking deep breathes and taking the course step by step and not jumping into the lake before pointing your toes to check the water. I asked for tutoring, made study dates with friends, made note cards, etc... It wasn't enough so I will take the course again :(, but at a community college.

Moving and Shaking and Interviewing Dr. McCurdy from Ohio Northern University

Another step that was outlined was to contact a Pharmacy Dean of any pharmacy school and ask them important questions about my concerns and questions. In class, Angela Dade had mentioned to me that she knew a pharmacy dean in the University of Ohio Northern because her daughter was enrolled in the program. I requested the deans information from her and made sure to give him a call. I had called him late in the day on Friday, but obviously he was gone for the weekend. However, I left him a message explaining the reason for my call and if he would be able to call me back. Today around 2:30pm he returned my call. Dr McCurdy was a very pleasant individual to speak with and he clearly answered my concerns about his school and how the program works there.

I mentioned Angela's name and he was very delighted that he was recommended to help out future pharmacy students. I asked him questions about the requirements needed for his school and if he was kind enough to mail me a brochure. He told me that he would basically summarize the brochure over the phone so i didn't have to wait a week for my questions to be answered, which again was very helpful. The main question i had for him is how admission was conducted in Ohio Northern and he told me that this university is more for students who enroll into the 6 year program straight out of high school. It was sort of a disappointment to hear that out of state students have a 1:20 chance in getting in. However, even though i didn't hear what i wanted, he did give me an insight on which schools to apply to since I am a biology major and what pharmacy schools look for in their applications.

Overall, this step turned out to be two things. A step towards my goal on being accepted into pharmacy school and becoming a pharmacist as well as an interview. I believe that this was way out of my network since the contact information was given to me by another individual who just got involved in my network. I was very proud of myself that i finally took the initiative and gave Dr McCurdy, or any other dean, a call to get my answers clearly resolved. A special thanks to both Angela Dade and Dr. Robert McCurdy.