An Issue of Perspective

Quizzes make up 30% of the grade in my physics class. Until today I'd been nothing short of immaculate on them. In fact, I'd even gained the rarefied bonus points that were available.

But today revealed a chink in the armor of my physics knowledge: components of torque and angular momentum. I missed lunch to be sure my lab report made some coherent sense of the data collected from the day before, so my mindset was a bit distracted. Sitting down to the quiz I scribbled down vectors and typed away at my trusty TI 84, and I was unstoppable! ...for about three questions. Out of 11 questions, there were three that threw me for a loop (centripetal pun intended). This equated to upwards of 3 questions wrong! It was as though the world was screaming, "call the media, the juggernaut of NIU's summer physics is down..."


...let that soak in for a second.


Yep. That paragraph explains how I thought the world was coming to an end after a 72% on one quiz. A 72%. By all accounts and purposes, that is a passing grade. Not only that, but we get to drop one quiz score from the semester for our average...

As I look at it now, I don't think the score was really what frustrated me about the quiz. In fact, I went in knowing that this was probably the quiz that I'd drop for the semester. I think what really got to me was the fact that there was a concept that I let slip through my fingers. I dropped the ball (yes the rolling jokes continue) on angular momentum and torque.

So here's what I truly gather from what transpired earlier today:

Firstly, it is miserable that I would let a 72% on one quiz get me down. I don't think I've been this finicky about a grade since sophomore year of high school. There will be stumbling points along the way, that is what experimental science is all about! Trial and error. If something doesn't work the first time you dust it off and try it again. I will be sure to keep my grades in perspective from here on out.

Secondly, I like the fact that I can be harsh on myself about not knowing a concept. Looking ahead, I know that my success (or failure...) as a doctor will depend on my knowing and understanding of the concepts that are placed in front of me. Not having the determination to cope with and remedy my weaknesses could negatively impact someone's health in the future. That's why malpractice suits were invented. ;)


And on that note, it's time to keep on keeping on. Time to rework some torques and study the next chapter. <--- Yeah, that's a link with a clever way to tell you what the next chapter's on. I think I'll start including these more often. Easter Eggs yo, Easter Eggs.

Happy Birthday!

Today was my birthday, and one of the best ones in recent memory. Though it has included more than 7 hours worth of college physics, I have had a tremendous and blessed day.

I woke up. I spent some time reading my Bible, then I took a shower and spoiled myself with a hot breakfast. I decided to bring brownies for my lab classmates (a good decision by all means), but packaging them landed me in class 10 minutes late. Oops... On the commute to class I received a birthday phone call from my dad. A pleasant early morning surprise. "23 huh? Let's see, on my 23rd birthday I was chasing you around our apartment!" :)

In any case, it was a standard lecture. Three hours of momentum, impulse, and energy featuring my Lebanese professor blitzing through slides and occasionally cracking the terrible, yet seemingly obligatory, physics joke.

Post lecture I met up with a friend and a couple other folks for lunch before lab. A delightful combo of company and cucumber sauce. :)

My gyro was followed by more physics. Today's lab reminded me that physics is "PHun" as I found myself playing with a spring loaded catapult and surrounded by the euphoric brownie induced sugar rush of my classmates. We then took a quiz...

I aced that quiz. I mean, I really knocked it out of the park. Without a doubt in my mind, I walked out of the room knowing that I had answered every question right. That's a feeling that I haven't had in a LOOOOONNNNGGGG time. (I checked the grade online a few hours later just to be sure)

I made my half hour commute back from DeKalb singing at the top of my lungs in my car. Less than an hour later I picked up my dad from the Aurora Metra station and we met up my mom for dinner at "The Turf Room." Let me just say goat cheese cheesecake is a culinary wonder. My sugar deprived palate was very pleased, not to mention it was great to spend time with my parents.

My day wrapped up with some light physics homework, a conference call with a couple of my cousins, and a friend dropping by to simply say "happy birthday."

It's truly been a great day. And now I crash.

Plug and Chug

I love to hate this phrase. "Plug and Chug..." I hope whoever came up with this nonsense is rather pleased with himself. I write "himself" because every time I think of this phrase I imagine a very smug grin on the likeness of comedian Brian Regan, not to demean Brian, but rather because he easily personifies the mania of my mind.

In any case, I've been "plugging and chugging" away at equations for a little over a week now. In merely five days of class we've covered 5 weeks of material, and I'm loving it! Unfortunately my physics knowledge is flooding back to the forefront of my brain more quickly than I thought it would. I currently maintain a very high score in the class. Overconfidence has followed...

I don't want to proceed into the classroom feeling like a know-it-all, but it's happening... Sure it feels great to be the "smart kid" in class again amongst my summer school compatriots, but there was this thing called "humility" I caught somewhere between junior year of high school and the end of my Hope College career.

Humility is one of the greatest lessons Christ taught us. If my calling as a Christian is to truly live and love like Him, I must be able to rid any sign of self-centered and boastful natures. Knowing this humility reminds me that I am truly seeking who He is, and likewise that He is living in me.

So in short: Physics is going well, but I want some Humble Pie. Scratch that, I need some.

And he's off!!!

Day one of summer physics mania: check.

My professor is from Lebanon, the lab TA makes random references to Jurassic Park, and I'm pretty well the oldest in the class. AKA Physics 1 is going to be an excellent four weeks. 14 more class days. One chapter per day. I think "warp speed" is the technical term.

It's gorgeous outside, but alas it is time to hit the books. If you have any good music recommendations to improve physics understanding, please let me know.

General Health: Consensus is Good

As I sit and wait for my Physics book to arrive for a class that starts in two days (AIEEEE!), I find myself pondering my personal health journey and how that impacts the kind of doctor I will someday be.

I can honestly say that when it comes to health and fitness, I've always been a constructive yet hypocritical mess of factoids and avidity. It's clear that since high school I've slimmed down quite a bit and taken personal health into my own hands, but I've still witnessed the moments where I've thrown caution to the wind and readopted poor eating and exercising habits. So where has that left me?

Well... On a current scale of 1 to "in shape" I'd place myself at the intersection "Way To Go!" boulevard and "Getting There" Lane. The brief interpretation is though I have always remained active, anytime I've endorsed a new diet and fitness plan my diet is always the first point that is left by the wayside. Knowing that about myself, I decided that the only way to avoid cheating my diet (and moreover myself) was to go big or go home. Five weeks ago I opted to follow one of the simplest yet most challenging diets I'd ever taken on, and I only eliminated one element: processed sugar.

When you think about it, processed sugar is one of the hardest things to avoid in our current society. We put it in everything! It's easy enough to acknowledge its presence in ice cream, soda pop, and even breakfast cereal, but sugar's existence is less realized in everyday foods like ketchup and salad dressing, lunch meat, and even bread.

So my trips to the grocery store now involve more reading than some people do in a week. I peruse the aisles scanning each item for impish buzzwords like "high fructose corn syrup, fructose, sucrose, and the really big one SUGAR." More often than not, some form of sugar is listed as one of the first three ingredients. That said, shopping is no longer a mindless task, but rather an odyssey of mathematical and rhetorical prowess.

By no means have I gone Atkins and entirely eliminated carbs or sugar from my diet. That would really be foolish and quite frankly unhealthy (there's good reason Dr. Atkins died from his own diet). I merely select smarter carbohydrates and natural sugars. In fact most days I kick off my day with a big bowl of plain oatmeal laden with cinnamon, almonds and a fresh fruit of my choice. Not only is it filling, but I couldn't have asked for a better scent to flood my apartment on a daily basis! By making these healthier choices I hope to truly influence the physician I want to become.

I know that I would have a difficult time going to a dentist who had terrible teeth. The hypocrisy is too great. What is to define a doctor with poor health any differently? I want to be able to lead by example giving patients the same advice I myself would keep. Smart nutrition and an active lifestyle are just the start. In full honesty, it is the best kind of preventative medicine, something I'm very passionate about, but that is a topic for another post.

In short:
Disciplined healthy lifestyle = good. Hypocrisy = bad.

For those who are curious: when I started this fateful pilgrimage of nourishment I weighed 218 lbs. Yesterday I weighed in at 202.5. Not bad for only eliminating processed sugar and drinking more water.

Butterflies Are Illusive Creatures

This coming Monday I begin the first of my classes en route to medical school. Physics 1 & 2 at a blistering pace over two months should be a great barometer for whether or not I belong in med school.

It's been a full year since I've been inside of a classroom, moreover four years since being inside a science classroom, and six years since Mr. Norton's AP Physics class at Cary Grove Community High School. I'd be remissed if I claimed I wasn't a little bit nervous. To use an old adage, "I've got butterflies in my stomach."

They're not the bad sort of butterflies though. No, no. Rather, they're the phenomenal type that turn distress into eustress, and lemons into lemonade. The butterflies that surge to your insides when you ask a girl to the prom or better still when ascending to the apex of a roller coaster. Click, click, click, click, click... click... click... click... click... My ascent has been ongoing for several months, but it isn't until now, a week before my classes begin, that I've really been able to appreciate the joy of this anxiety. Click... click... click...

The apex is nearly here!!! Fully strapped in, I can feel the breeze on my cheeks and the sun beating down on me. The chubby kid in the car behind me is clinging to his mothers arm, but I'm trying keep my cool. Click... click... click... It won't be long until I can release the pure pent up volume from my lungs. Not long until I can liberate the brewing cavalcade of butterflies. Click... click......... click...........

The butterflies tell me I'm nearly prepared, and now that I'm thinking about it, a couple other things too. In fact, this old adage holds much more meaning than we give it credit. I mean seriously, can you imagine an evil or harmful butterfly? Whoever was behind deciding what creature would fester within our anxious bowels was a true genius. Though they make us uncomfortable, our lepidopteron disquietude prepares us for the true journey and encourages us to act swiftly and elegantly.

Alas, it is what I shall do. Answer the call, with my Texas Instruments Ti-84 plus silver edition in hand and a smile on my face. I'm ready. First plunge here I come.

You've gotta start somewhere

By no means is it an original idea to document the activities and thoughts of one's journey to the medical field, but I can honestly admit that I've stolen the inspiration for this blog from my good friend Justin Reith. His prolific words can be found in his blog here.

For my smattering of electronic words I'll be calling a "blog," the hope is to fully entertain and inform my audience of family, friends, and unbeknownst strangers in the goings on of my health related adventures. With some luck, these ramblings will bring a smidgen of joy to each reader's life. With even more luck, this blog will cure cancer, stop genocide, and win a Pulitzer, but I'd just as easily take two out of three. Ideally I'll keep the tone light hearted, but it's too soon to tell if the comedy can persist.

So here I am. A post bac, pre-med student ready for action. Blogging like others have blogged before, spending late nights studying kidneys, and hoping someone will find his reveries at best mildly amusing.

Thank Justin for his idea - check. Provide witty anecdote - check. Begin blog - check.

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