Stress Level

Yesterday I took the day of from work so that I could spend most of the day at Kaplan studying for the MCAT and also so I could meet with my pre-med advisor and update him on my progress thus far.

The meeting itself went quite well. If all goes according to plan, I will be working with him (volunteer; ~20 hours per week) this summer doing research in emergency medicine. Pretty cool! (so much for enjoying my last summer off ...)

The studying also went well. Not only did I accomplish a lot, but I am also feeling a bit more comfortable with the format of the exam -- reading 3-4 paragraph passages, and using my knowledge of physics, chemistry, organic chemistry, anatomy, physiology, biology and genetics to answer "what if" scenarios.

I've been prepping for about 10-15 hours a week since November, save a few weeks during the holidays where I did little to no work. Despite the constant prep on the science stuff, this is really a psychological battle. A 5-hour grueling mental marathon that determines my fate.

No pressure there.

I'm trying to work on my level of stress ... and not being too successful. I wish I could find an hour a day to get to the gym, but every free moment I have is dedicated to either Organic Chemistry or the MCAT. I felt the stress building all last week, and into this week. Joints aching, feeling very tired, drained and cranky.

However, I did get a good night's sleep the night before last, after dreaming about filling in tiny little bubbles on a Scan Tron sheet for 8 hours the night before that.

Even though it's not my style to relax, if I don't chill out soon, the wife is going to beat me. No, don't tell me to try breathing exercises -- they only make me light-headed. I refuse to take any chemical that falls under the controlled substance/narcotics family, so that's out.

Hmm. I know! I think I'll go shooting this weekend! Woohoo!

Posted by LA at January 31, 2003 10:57 AM | TrackBack