It’s been awhile since I’ve posted much of an update on what’s going on with me. Since currently things are going very well, I thought this would be a good time.

School continues to be fun. I think I’ve mentioned before that I haven’t been able to evaluate whether the career switch was definitely the right life choice yet, but it definitely appears to have been a good choice in the short term - on a day-to-day basis, I’m far happier than I was at my last job. This may be primarily due to the much smaller requirement for working with others, but I’ll take it for now.

I’m still not studying nearly as much as I thought I’d have to, nor even as much as I should (the latter being considerably less than the former), but I’m learning a lot, and classes are very interesting. Immunology is really neat, I always like physiology, and genetics is quite interesting. Microbiology, somehow not as much, but a lot of it is clearly useful.

Since coming to the conclusions that (1) I have more than sufficient free time and (2) I don’t have sufficient money, I started working again. I’m back teaching MCAT test prep, and tutoring physics as well. I work once or twice a week, which is great. Having a more structured schedule seems to help me stay on top of things, I like the variety, and I’m able to earn enough to significantly increase my spare cash.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever posted about my migraines - I’ve dealt with them since grade school and had gotten used to spending several evenings per month unable to do anything involving light, sound, smells, or being vertical. A few years ago I discovered that there are actually drugs that work, and that helped a lot - I still got the headaches, but I could almost always make them go away. Then last fall, the Student Health doctor told me that having 5-6 migraines per month was really too much, and I should consider a daily prophylactic. I decided it was worth a try, and it’s seriously amazing. I’ve started keeping a headache diary, mostly for the thrill of looking at a whole month and only seeing two headaches. In December I didn’t have any. And I haven’t had to miss any social events in months.

I take a yoga class once a week and try to work out a couple times as well; it feels good. The gym at school is very convenient; I can take advantage of it during unexpected free time between lectures, and I can keep my workout clothes in my study carrel.

School extra-curriculars have not been quite what I was hoping for; most of the groups seem to concentrate on bringing in lunchtime lecturers, which is great (though often they don’t convey as much information as I’d like) but I was hoping for a little more interaction with my classmates. Nevertheless, I’ve gotten involved in a couple of things: there’s a group that teaches science to middle- and high-schoolers; we’re starting a physics teaching team, and that’s fun. Several other groups do teaching as well (reproductive health, prenatal health, AIDS, etc) and I’ve participated in some of those. And there are a bunch of other things that come up sporadically. (Tonight I’m making truffles for tomorrow’s talent show.)

Currently I’m working on lining up a summer research position. I don’t have very much to say about that yet, except that I’m looking forward to it. (Except the part where I’ll have to sometimes go outside in the St. Louis summer humidity.)

Last weekend my mom came to visit and we had a good time, checking out several good restaurants, the Soulard farmer’s market, and the Missouri history museum. She also cleaned my apartment while I was at work (particularly amusing given my recent posting topics) and helped me rearrange and decorate my bedroom. It looks very nice, and now I only have one box left to unpack.

I like my apartment a lot (especially now that my noisy neighbor has left) and so I expect to stay here for at least another year; I’ll probably only move if I feel like I need to be closer to the hospital for third year. Putting down roots is really nice; I’ve started hanging things on the walls, and it’s amazing how much homier the place feels.

Posted by Amanda in My Life |