So, its 2 weeks into semester 2 and so far, things aren't too bad. I am taking the second part of all of the classes I had next semester and am also taking neuroscience. I have to say, I think neuroscience is my favorite class so far at least! It is a bit complicated but it is very interesting and the teachers we have for it are very good and seem to actually enjoy what they are doing which is helpful. We have a 4 day weekend this weekend which is nice as it is giving me time to catch up. I was sick last weekend so I pretty much stayed in bed from Friday afternoon until I went to class again on Monday so I could get better quickly so, needless to say, I did not get much studying accomplished. The good thing about this semester is that things seem to overlap much more so even though I hadn't studied much last weekend, I didn't feel very behind because a lot of the material had been repeated in different classes. I am hoping things continue this way and that I continue to feel fairly confident in knowing this material. We have our first exam in 2 weeks and I want to do really well on it. I hope to do really well on all of my Mini's this semester as our final exam, spread over three days, is pretty difficult. It is cumulative from both 1st and 2nd semester so that is a little stressful. I definitely don't want to go into the final having to do really well in a certain subject just to pass so hopefully the studying and the fact that this content seems to be more interesting will pay off in my exam scores!

On another note, I heard thunder today on the island! I was under the impression that they just didn't have thunderstorms here as I hadn't heard thunder once in my time here until today. I was walking back from getting lunch and heard it rumble a couple of times. Sadly, it didn't last long and didn't actually produce a thunderstorm which is sad as thunderstorms are one of my favorite things! Oh well, maybe there will be some later this summer!

Just thought I'd update you all!

Love and miss you all tons!!! 3 months until I am home again!! (And, about 330 days until I am back in the states for good!!)

Gearing up for semester 2!

First off, Happy Mother's Day mom, I love you!!

Well, I got back to the island on Friday after a WONDERFUL break home in the states! I got to see some friends, met some new ones, and then got to down to Florida for a few days with the family! It was great and I had a really great time; so glad I decided to go home for the break. I am now sitting around trying to get ready for the semester to begin. I have done some grocery shopping, downloaded notes for class, and started organizing my room a bit though I still have a giant pile of junk on my desk that i need to do something with at some point. Well it has just started raining here so I think that is a perfect time to lay in bed and watch a movie!

Tomorrow I start classes; hopefully this semester isn't too much harder than the first one!

Love you and miss you all!!

Passed!!!

It is official, I passed semester 1 and will be a second semester student when I return to Dominica in May!!!

Since I have been home, I have been to Decatur, Macon, and Athens to visit some awesome people and have enjoyed every minute of it! Tomorrow, I head down to Florida with my parents to see some relatives and to eat some good seafood!

Just thought I would give a quick update! Off to watch some TV and curl up with a blanket on the couch as it is COLD here; the Caribbean has thinned my blood, I can't handle these temperatures. Today it only got up to like 60 which is crazy and not normal for this time of year though I do like not having to sweat constantly! Hopefully it will be a little warmer in Florida so I can actually get a tan!

Love you all!!

HOME!!!

So, after a long 2 days of flying in which I have been from Dominica to Antigua to Tortola to Puerto Rico and finally to Atlanta, I have made it home and and so excited!!! Driving down Barrett Parkway with all the traffic lights was really weird and took me a bit to get used to again. Haha. I drive tomorrow for the first time in 4 months; should be fun!! Today I just sat around after eating Chick-fil-a and watched TV. Mom made steak for dinner which was WONDERFUL as I haven't had one in four months! I have a packed weekend seeing awesome people and I cannot wait! Decatur tomorrow, Macon Saturday and Sunday, and then Athens Monday! Lots of fun times with some amazing people. And then on Wednesday, my parents and I head down to the beach to see some family and eat some seafood. Amazingly enough, even though I live on an island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, seafood is difficult to come by so I have also been without that for four months so I am totally looking forward to that as well.

Just thought I'd give a quick update and sorry if I rambled a bit-blame it on the lack of sleep.

Love you all and I am so glad to be home!!!

I'M DONE...

With my first semester of med school!!! I can't believe it!! This semester has gone by sooo fast and while it has been hard, it is over with and, unless something went horribly wrong today, I passed and will be a second semester student when I get back here in 2.5 weeks! Now off to finish packing and then head out and celebrate with some friends tonight!! Tomorrow at this time I will be getting ready to land in Puerto Rico for my overnight and then home the next day!!

Love you all and see you soon!!!

Almost done!!!

So, it is Saturday already, not really sure how that happened! I have my final coming up on Tuesday and am not sure I am ready for it but after three more days of studying all day, I should (hopefully) be ready to tackle it, do decently well on it, and move on and become a second semester student when I get back! I am heading home soon and am so excited though I am trying not to think about it too much right now as it can become quite distracting when trying to study. I took some pictures the other day and would post them now but I left my camera at my apartment so perhaps I will try and post them tonight. Well, I just wanted to give a quick update but for now its back to the books! Can't wait to be home in a few days eating good food and getting to see everyone!!
Also, congratulations to Alayna Moore!!! Can't believe you are getting married today!! Good luck and know that even though I can't be there that I am thinking of you on this wonderful day!!! Hope it is everything you hoped for!!

Love you all and I will see you soon!!!

Studying...again

So classes ended this past Wednesday meaning I have all sorts of "free" time which I can use to study for my upcoming tests. I had one exam today, it was a histology practical. Trying to study for that was like pulling teeth, it is hard getting motivated to look at 1000 microscope slides and identify features on every single one and know what this cell secretes, where this one is, etc. Hopefully I studied well enough to get a decent grade...I felt mediocre after leaving the test so we will see what happens with that. This weekend will be spent studying for my third mini which is on Monday and then after that, I have one week to get ready for my final which is cumulative...not looking forward to that so much. All the upper semester students I have talked to have said that it is best to do really well on this last mini to solidify your grades so that when you are studying for the final, you don't have to stress out too much over it and can really spend time focusing on one class if your grade in that one is lower. So, hopefully I can do just that and do awesome on this mini and not stress too much for the final. As it stands now, I am doing pretty well overall so I am just spending lots of time studying to be sure to solidify the grades I have. We had our anatomy practical last week and that is one class I am struggling a bit in; I ended up getting an A on the practical which was awesome and brought my grade up a few points which was a huge relief!

Well, I should probably get back to studying...

Love you all and will be on a bus to the airport here getting ready to head to Puerto Rico in 11 days, 18 hours, 36 minutes, and 45 seconds...not that I am counting!

Miss you all!!