Looking for Work

It's been like a couple of weeks since I last posted. I was busy working in the Pizza Restaurant, for long hours everyday. I had to quit it a few days ago, though. I got in an argument with the owner, who is a first time owner and manager. He didn't know how to talk, or how to carry himself. It was a pain dealing with him. I had to quit. I feel good that I don't have to deal with him anymore. I'm a very likeable guy, and a very hard worker and good listener. If you don't how to manage me, you don't know nothing about management.
Right now I'm filling about 10 applications online everyday. I've been to an interview with a company on Thursday, and had a 2nd interview with them the very next day. I believe it went very good, and they liked me. They told me they are interested in me, but they wanted me to work nights. I cannot work nights. It just doesn't work for me. When I'm make it to medical school and become a doctor things might be different. Anyway, they will try to find me a different shift. I expect to hear from them on Monday.
I have another interview with a different company on Monday, and another one with another company on Tuesday. Just trying to keep my options open.
on a personal note, things are getting better between me and my wife. We are seriously trying to work out our differences, since we both interested in keeping this marriage from falling apart.
School will start in a couple of weeks, and I'm yet to decide on what to register for. I'm only planning on taking 5 credit hours, since that what I can pay for. I used all my financial aid for undergrads, and I have to pay out of pocket for all my classes.
I took a CNA class 3 years ago, and I'm yet to take the test for the license. I need it to start some meaningful volunteering. There a little clinic for people without health insurance, that I want to volunteer in, since I personally use it. After I lost my full time job about a year ago, and lost my medical insurance, I started using this clinic. It offers access to family practice doctors, and it has it's own pharmacy. you only pay $15 to see the doctor, and $4 for each medication you need to take. I'm interested in the undeserved and minorities medical services. Volunteering there will help me learn more about what to expect.
I also need to start studying for the MCAT. I plan to take it in April, but time flies quickly.
That's all for now!

Pizza guy

I started a new job 3 days ago, in a little pizza place. It's much rougher than I thought it would be. The hours are long and the pay is minimum wage. The thing is I don't have a set schedule yet. So, I don't know how many hours I'll work or what days. That will be decided later.
I want to start preparing for the MCAT, but cannot find the motivation to do it. But I will soon.
What did you guys do to help studying for the MCAT? What material did you use?

While at it, u guys enjoy this Calzone :)

So, I was checking my favorite website SDN, when my iPhone made a kind buzz indicating that I got a new e-mail. It was from our Pre-Med adviser. He was informing us that there are changes to the MCAT. The writing sample will be eliminated effective January 2013 (Last time the writing sample will be administered is September 2012).
Of course, I heard that before, but I didn't realize that it will affect me, since I was planning on taking the MCAT last April. Now, I have to take it in April 2013, since my graduation was pushed back 1 year. So, to me, that was news. I was so happy, and very excited. You ask why. Well, for starters, I cannot spell (Damn you Microsoft Office). I don't know what happened to me, but gradually and surely, I started loosing command of how I spell. Plus, English is my second language, which makes things a lot harder, if you wanna be writing a competitive essay. The second reason, I cannot type, for the life of me. I'm 35. I've been using computers for years. But I was always looking at the keyboard whenever I'm trying to type something. Every time I go to the computer lab at school, and see how fast them kids type, I get blown away. Every single time. A few months ago, I decided that I want to learn typing. So, I bought a typing software. I think it's called Mavis, or something like that. I tried it for a couple of days. I kept getting frustrated, but at least I learned the position of every key. Now I can type, but my speed is so low. I'm trying to get faster, but I cannot use the software. It's too boring. So, for now I'm good since I don't have to worry about typing essays on the MCAT. Oh Yeah!

Crazy year

Hey guys! It's been a while. Many crazy things happened in the past few months. I had a horrible Spring semester, failing almost everything. That includes Org II and Lab, genetics, Cell Bio, Marine Bio (all F's). I managed to get a B in Ecology (I really liked it).
The reason is I'm having problems with my wife, and I don't know if I can keep my marriage from falling apart. We have two kids, 5 and 3, and we have a 3rd one on the way. Which makes things more complicated. I really hurt my sGPA through the years. I bet it's in the low 2.0's now. I have to calculate it. I was planning to apply this cycle, but after failing all these classes, I won't be able to graduate on time, and my gpa is way way too low. I'm thinking about applying next cycle to MD, DO, Caribbean, and Post-Bac Programs. Trying to be objective here. I know my chances are very slim, unless I kill the MCAT. I'm planning on taking it in April 2013, so I'll have like 8 months to prepare for it.
The thing is my willingness to study now is very low, and I'm kinda depressed. Will see how that goes. I will stay on top of this blog, and post as often as I can.
I'm not taking any Summer Classes this year. I'm not employed, so I don't have anything to do. Just no motivation to start studying.
That's all for now!

I was soooo busy

Hey, guys. Sorry for being away for a long time. I just couldn't get a chance to come and post here as often as I should. Anyway, I finished my physics II class in the summer, and got an A (yay). This fall semester, I'm taking General Biology II, Microbiology, Organic Chem I, and Physics I (got a D last time I took it). So, I'm very busy with this heavy load. I'm doing good in all classes, except for the Org I. We took our first test last month, and only 2 people passed it (No, I'm not one of them). So, I'm kinda struggling with it for right now. In the other classes, I'm like the star student :)
We had a recruiter from Ross University (Caribbean) visiting our school a few days ago. I was really interested in what she was saying. She gave us a good idea about how the life in the island is like, and what we need to do in order to get accepted there. I know that many people are against the Caribbean route for different reasons stigma related. For me, I don't really care. I think you can become a fine doctor, no matter where you go to school at. If you study hard, and learn what you are supposed to, you will be just fine.
So, for me, US MD, US D.O., or Caribbean MD is good enough to make you a good doctor, and to make your dream come true. So, I'm wide open.
I should start studying for the MCAT. I'm planning to take it late March, early April 2012, so I'll be ready to apply in June. I need to rock it, to make up for my shortcomings in the transcript (GPA around 2.77 and many withdrawals). I'll be happy if I get the GPA to over 3.0
I'll try to start studying for the MCAT next week. I don't want to have to retake it. That will suck. I wanna be able to apply in the first day, to get as a good a chance as I can get myself to have my application looked at.
Well, I have a Physics test tomorrow, and I'm yet to start studying for it.
That's all for now!

 

Summer II is over

I cannot believe it was almost a month since I last posted. What is wrong with me?? I'm sorry. Anyway, today was the last day of Summer II. I was taking General Physics II. Today was the final. I'm averaging an A so far. If I get an 83/100 on my final, I'll still end up with an A in the class. I worked so hard in this class. We averaged a chapter a day, and a test every week. It was a grind. I'm glad it's over. I cannot wait for the next semester to start (in 2 weeks). Again, what's wrong with me?
I'm supposed to start preparing for the January MCAT. I'll have like 5 months of preparations if I start right away. Cannot wait to start the application process. It will be so much fun :)
That's all for now!

4th of July Weekend

1st of all this will be my 1st 4th of July vacation in years. I always had to work on the 4th of July weekend (Weekend Shift). I'm going outta-town with friends for the long weekend. Very excited by that. In the mean time my Physics II class is messin' me up. We had our first test today, and I did very bad. I won't let that ruin my vacation though :)
For some strange reason, I can't wait for the Fall semester to start. I think I got tired of the intensity of the summer classes, and a 1 chapter/day pace. It's very overwhelming, especially when dealing with something tricky like Physics.
Enjoy your 4th of July weekend :)
That's all for now !

2nd half of summer

Hey guys. So, I'm having my final for the engineering class I'm takin' on Monday. Then I'll have 2 days before the start of the 2nd session on Thursday. I know that I said, I wanna take the 2nd half of the summer off, but I changed my mind. I wanted to brush on my math especially differential equations in that month and a half, but I thought would rather take another engineering class so in the fall I'll be more flexible with my schedule.
I want to start studying for the January MCAT, but I don't seem to get around to start. I'll have to take the Mcat without taking Organic Chem II, since I'll take Org I in the fall then take the test in January. But it will be my test drive. The main one will be the one I'll take in April. So, unless I get a 40+, I think I'll take it again anyway.
That's all for now.

Surgery

Hey, guys. Sorry, I've not been posting in a while. I had a shoulder surgery more than 2 weeks ago, and it made it very hard for me to type. So, I feel better now, and back to blogging.
Because of the surgery I had to miss more than two weeks of my summer classes (5 weeks in total), so I had to drop Organic I, because there was no way that I will catch up. I thought I'll be able to spend some time studying in the time I was away after the surgery, but I was in so much pain, that I couldn't study, since I was living on pain killers basically. But I stayed in my engineering class, since the material was easier, and the instructor was willing to work with me. I have about 10 more days to finish this session, and I'm gonna take the 2nd session off to nurse my shoulder pain, and start studying for the MCAT. I'm planning to take the MCAT twice before I apply (next summer). I'll take it in January 2012, and again in April 2012, so I'll be ready to apply in June 2012. So, I figured 6 months preparing for it will be enough :)
That's all for now.

1st day of summer classes

So today was my first day of summer classes. I'm taking Organic I, and an engineering class. Our Organic chemistry instructor asked us to read the first 2 chapters today. This is about 100 pages. What??? I'll try to read a lil, but I'm sure that I won't be finishing half of that. Because I'm tired, and I feel that I'm behind already. It's been a while since I took general chemistry, so all the concepts are kinda foreign to me at the time. It will take some time to come back to me.
This is the book we using for the class

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-5th-Paula-Bruice/dp/0131963163/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305594044&sr=1-1

I didn't sleep well last night. I was so mad that Miami lost to Chicago. I kept waking up, and remembering that. What a dreadful feeling.  Damn you Bulls!
That's all for now!

Home Work

First, I'm sorry that I let myself down by not posting everyday. But I found it to hard to do daily. I'll try to do it 2 or 3 times a week instead. At least I'll have something to talk about.
So I spent all day today working around the house. I moved my computer and the TV from the  living room to the guests room, which we don't use. My wife said the couch in the living room is tired of me, and she doesn't want me ruining it, by laying on it for hours watching TV. So, I moved the TV and my computer to the guests room (my room now :)
One last vacation day before  summer school. Gotta enjoy it.
That's all for now!

Chess book

When I thought about starting this blog, I promised myself that I’ll post daily, no matter what. I find this a very challenging thing. Mainly because nothing much happens in 24 hrs that you think will interest your readers. But I remember when we had medschooldiary.net how much I enjoyed reading whatever other pre-meds posted. They might not think it was important or interesting, but I loved it. For that reason, I’ll try to post daily, and see how boring it turns out to be J

Monday I’ll start my summer classes, so I have 6 more days to enjoy. I’m reading a chess book called “Chess for Beginners” by I.A. Horowitz. I used to play a little chess back in the days, but I haven’t played it in years, so I’m trying to re-learn it. I remember all the rules, but I forgot all the tricks. They say Chess makes you keep your brain sharp, so I need that to compete with all the young pre-meds J. Hopefully I’ll finish it in a couple of days. I signed up with chess.com for a free account. They let you play against a computer or other players. I also tried yahoo games, but I like chess.com better. So, I’m planning on practicing daily to get good at it, but all depends on my school schedule.

I’m also working hard on the Twitter thing. I’m new to it, and trying to make sense of it all. I try to keep it as updated as possible. That’s another challenge, but I’m getting better and better every day.

That’s all for now !

Mon 05/09/2011

Today was basically event less. I had to go and see my eye doctor for my annual check up. It went smoothly. Weird thing is that I'm always the only patient there. Every time I go there, it will be just me. That's interesting. I hope that I'm not his only patient ;)
Anyway, he said that I need glasses. So, I should be getting them some time this week. You know what? I like eye-glasses. They make me look smarter.
Summer School will start a week from today. I'm taking Org Chem I and an Engineering class (major is engineering). So, I'm excited about this, since I didn't attend school this spring. I kinda miss school ;)
I'm gonna enjoy my last week of vacation for sure.
That's all for now!


 

Hello World! No, really :)

Hello fellow humans interested in medical school. Thank you for stopping by.This is my med school journey blog.
Let me tell you about myself. I'm a 34 years old Non-Traditional student. Married with 2 kids, 4 and 2 years old. I'm a junior Majoring in Electrical Engineering. I live in NC. My dream is to make it to medical school. I started this process when I was 26, and I was thinking I was too old to pursue this at that time, so I went after it halfheartedly. It took me a few years to realize my mistake, but by then I was married with 2 kids and a full-time job. Now, I'm waking up again, realizing that I'm really getting older now, so it is now or never. I'm a junior, and will graduate in May 2013, and when I make to medical school, I'll matriculate at the age of 37, God willing.
I have 2 years to go before I start medical school. These 2 years will be half the fun part. As they say, getting there is half the fun. So, buckle up for the journey. I hope that you will enjoy it as I will. I used to follow many people through their blogs, and I'm here doin' this because of their encouragement.
That's all for now.