Block 6 Weeks 10-11: I Am Quite at My Leisure!

Today marks the end of week 11 of block 6. Technically there are two more weeks in this block, but they are the Christmas holidays. Then we have a week of block break. THREE WEEKS OFF! OH WOW! We only have two more blocks left in second year, and I can't believe it has gone by this quickly. The last two weeks weren't incredibly heavy, as we were taking final exams for a lot of our classes. We had several days that we didn't have lectures, so we were able to study more. And that's exactly what I did, yes sir, I studied. Nothing else at all.

We took our last exam yesterday morning, and by 4pm, all the grades were in and I was relieved to have passed everything with no remediation in my future. It gets kinda nail-bitey at the end sometimes, but this block has actually been pretty good. It's nice being in a good place at the end where you aren't worried about a particular test that could mess things up for you. I'm hoping to continue my streak for block 7. 

I haven't had this much time off since medical school started. I'm not exactly sure what to do with myself. So yesterday, my youngest daughter and I went out to eat together because it's the day between our birthdays. We hung out and went shopping and had a great time. When we got back home, I sat down and started to reach for my computer. But then I realized that I didn't have anything looming. It was so nice to just sit around and goof off with the kids without feeling guilty for not studying. I do have to keep up with my board studying over the break, but I decided to give myself through the weekend with nothing on my schedule so I could enjoy the holiday with my family.

One of the biggest things I look forward to is catching up on sleep during break. This morning, I woke up at 6:24am. I guess it's going to take a little time for my brain to relax and enjoy the break. It was so annoying to roll over and look at my clock, though. Really? 6:24? UGH! And by the time I can finally sleep in, it will be time to start getting up early for class again. Oh well...

So to those of you who are in the same boat -- fellow medical students -- I hope you have an awesome break filled with good times with family and lots of rest. I hope you are able to allow yourself to take some time away from thinking about class and clinicals and boards and everything so that you can be completely ready to take on block 7. To everyone that reads this, Merry Christmas to you and your family. Be safe and happy!

Block 6 Week 9: Looking forward to doing some Nothing.

TWO WEEKS TO BLOCK BREAK!!!

I was thinking about the blog, and life, and stuff, ya know? What really jumped in my head was how block break is coming, and what exactly makes medical students so look forward to that one week between blocks. And... it's Nothing. Like capital N. Nothing. See, I didn't really grasp the concept of Nothing until I started med school. Because doing Nothing just kinda happened whenever I wanted it to. Nothing is the thing that EVERYONE likes to do, but they don't really know it until they can't do Nothing any more. Do you know what Nothing is? Here, I'll 'splain. So Nothing is the concept where a person can just exist. If you want to sit in bed and watch Netflix all day, go for it. There's nothing on the schedule, nothing impending, just Nothing. Nothing doesn't really exist for the average medical student. Even if you don't have an exam tomorrow, there is one coming -- or some kind of assignment due -- all the time. Or boards. Don't get me started on boards.

So the biggest thing that a student like me gets to missing is the ability to turn the brain off for a period of time, and just do what you WANT instead of what's on the agenda. Just a week a few times a year where the only thing expected is Nothing. For me, what qualifies as Nothing might be different than others. Nothing can be catching up on laundry, rearranging my closet, going to my kids' basketball game, or actually sitting on my butt curled up in my awesome new heated blanket and knitting or playing some Candy Crush. The crazy schedule expected of students in medical school can really do damage to the morale, and one of the ways to combat it is Nothing.

It's really funny how people will ask me if I've seen some new TV show, or shopped at a new store, or eaten at a new restaurant. Usually the answer is um, no, I've been studying my head off and living in a tiny bubble that includes my house, my school, and church. I always say oh that sounds cool, I'll have to add it to my list of things to do on block break. Except. I don't WANT a list of things to do on block break because that sounds like something other than Nothing. So it usually ends up that I never watch the show, or do the other things because they are a lot like a list of things. And who wants a list of things when they want to do Nothing?

That's more like it. The word bored just isn't a thing any more, because with the load I'm pulling, bored is a luxury that I rarely am able to indulge in. So for those of you who have wondered why I live for block break, there it is. Nothing. The opportunity to put everything down that's heavy and just do some Nothing. And eat some pizza, perhaps.