Aliyo 1 : McDonalds 0

Source: http://www.empowernetwork.com/easyliving/files/2013/01/Believe-In-Yourself-2.jpg

Dear McDonalds,

Today I was working on an assignment, and it was taking much longer than it should've been. You know when you're in a time crunch and spending way too much time on something that doesn't deserve that proportion of your functionality? And you know that you should be speeding up the efficiency, but that actually just slows you down? Yeah, that happened to me today, and I was getting frustrated with myself and just wanted to enter your haven and get a McChicken with an Oreo McFlurry (with a side of those fries which will never rot and instead slow down the passage through my intestines).

But guess what - I won this time. Yeah honey, beat that, I controlled myself, ha!

Instead I...

• listened to some empowering songs such as my favourite song since my childhood - Des'ree: You Gotta Be, and my favourite song to jam to as I imagine how long my locs will be in 5 years - Willow Smith: Whip My Hair
• danced in front of my mirror like I was a musical sensation performing a sold out tour...it's Aliyo b***h
• taught a Zumba routine I used to teach as I visualized the memories of my participants who enjoyed themselves so much
• My body felt awesome as I moved to the music, and felt the rhythms and every beat of these amazing fusions of creativity. It felt so good to stop looking at that computer screen for awhile and get my molecules of living jiving!

And after all of that activity, I decided to whip up up a snack - cucumbers,  grape tomatoes, green peppers, and dip. It was so refreshing, not just because of the water, vitamins and minerals they supplied me with, but also because I know the roughage will regulate my bowel movements, rather than give me diarrhea or painful constipation!

As I ate my Christmas-coloured snack, I wondered why I even wanted to jump into your arms and shove you in my mouth. Turns out, you and I have a long history, so it's hard for me to resist you when you creep up on me.  In my childhood (back when your toys were actually good), "treat night" meant you, and I would get excited for your delicious treat 1-2x a week. Then, when I moved to the city where I lived for 13 years and grew up in, you always  had a location within walking distance. Your first one was literally across from my complex, but then got burned down. However, shortly after a  revamped one popped up in the exact same plaza.

And when I was working multiple jobs and cared more about saving my money than my health (lack of sleep included), you were faithfully nearby, sometimes in the building I worked in, so that I'd never have to worry about starving (well, at least psychologically, because you didn't provide me with nutrition, that's for sure..thanks for that by the way). And now, you're less than a 10 minute walk from where I'm studying to become a Naturopathic Doctor. And you have to be all up in my space, situating yourself right outside of my gym, tempting me as I walk to the subway, knowing that I'm not too excited to eat that homemade meal in my fridge that I've already eaten 3 days in a row.

But guess what: today, I chose myself, I chose to preserve my health. And I'm very well aware you beat me over a hundred times in the past (and may catch a few in the future), but all it takes is one day to begin a change. Get that ball rolling down the mountain. And believe me, once my ball gains momentum, you will miss receiving all of the hard-earned money you lured from me, and you will be devastated when I finally get rid of your toxicity laying deep in my fat deposits which refuse to leave (grrr). And worst of all, you'll be heart-broken from the mental hold you'll cease to have upon me.

Round 2 - What'd Ya Learn?

     It's been 3 weeks since I've completed my second set of midterms, and I think I've finally recovered (ie. caught up on sleep, come to term with my marks, and stopped being in denial that I have finals next month, along with 2 - or maybe 3 - more years of midterms)

     Yet again I'm going to be making adjustments to my study methods. I didn't review every lecture within 72 hours, nor did I utilize one day of each weekend to prep for the following week and review material that I missed the week before, and I found myself estimating course objectives instead of checking them off while studying. But it's okay, I definitely believe that (I'm telling myself that especially since I need some consoling from the whooping I experienced from anatomy, whoo!)

     I attended all of my lectures, I really tried to be present for the most part, I even had complete faith in the importance of  attending lectures and not skipping, and although I still believe that, I feel my habits outside of the classroom are why I only passed (without flying colours). Now I realize that attending lecture will ensure that you hear the material once, have an idea of what will be important and testable (unless the professor is misleading and creates discrepancies on the exam), and as long as the lecture material is understood superfically through a few review sessions, a passing mark is likely.

     However, I've also realized that just attending and superficially understanding lecture is NOT enough if I want to do well enough on midterms that I can relax a bit when studying for finals. As mentioned before, lecture provides the main ideas (which may take extra studying time to truly understand), a sense of the types of questions that will be asked on the exams along with how questions may be asked, and for me, peace of mind that I lose if I skip a class. I've also found attending class to be valuable in that listening to how professors get their ideas across provides insight about what they look for in assignments. Just like reading improves one's vocabulary overtime without them noticing, it makes sense that hearing well-spoken instructors articulate their thoughts through teaching will positively influence my explaining abilities in the future. For example, my professor for nutrition includes examples of studies during lecture which are especially important  for prescribing supplements and misunderstandings patients may come across in their own research, in terms of sneaky tricks supplement companies may use to make their products seem more supreme than they actually are. Also, anatomy is the heaviest course, but I could not imagine having any other professor for that particular course because it requires a great ability to explanation skills in order to facilitate understanding, transitional skills to keep lecture flowing, along with life experience to provide interesting real-life examples.


     Overall, I think that the study methods I used would have yielded way better results if I gave myself more TIME. That way, I wouldn't have mixed up concepts on the exams which relied upon one another, and I would've been able to easily differentiate between concepts which were very similar to each other instead of quadruple-guessing myself.

That being said, here's what I plan to do differently for the rest of the term:


Be in charge of my learning

• If lectures and/or practicals aren't helping me learn to the best of my ability, make it work. Anatomy is a great example for me because even though the cadaver lab is a cool place to be, it is a 170 minute commitment every week (40 minute commute to lab + 90 minutes in lab + 40 minute commute from lab). For the first few weeks of lab, I didn't find it very conducive to my learning because there's not enough guidance given the very uneven ratio of students vs. TA's, but since attendance is necessary, I'm trying to learn by studying from a textbook which has photos of the human body cadaver-style. That way, in lab I can confirm body parts of the textbook photos with the cadavers in front of me, and if the space becomes too busy, I can refer to the book instead of the cadaver. I also found it very helpful to study from my atlas (which has animated drawings of the human body) when learning lecture material, as there are so many body parts which are connected to one another, and it's easier to match the words with the pictures from the get-go.
• Previewing notes will help me have an idea of where the lecture is going, and put me in the state of mind for that course - especially when I've already had two lectures that day and need to think a different way. And although I am not a fan of reviewing within 72 hours of a lecture, I'll just need to take the pressure off of myself to learn everything during that review session. If anything, I'll remember the bigger picture, which will make it easier to fill in the tiny details when studying for the actual exam. I'd much rather do that than have to learn the bigger picture of each lecture, in addition to the tiny details of each lecture, and put it into the bigger picture of the entire course, while doing the same thing for other courses at the same time. High potential for brain mix-up. 

Do it my way

• Seeing as this is still first year, it's extremely helpful and consoling to seek the advice of upper years who have successfully endured this experience, along with checking in to see if other first years are feeling the same. Yet, I've become too comfortable with hearing my peers say that they're too tired after class to do any work, pulling all-nighters during exam week is completely fine, and if you study every night you are too studious and are not living life to the fullest. I agree to an extent about all of the above, but there comes a point where balance comes into question. For some, balance means sleeping in everyday, and not sleeping much during exams. For others, balance means working out during the beginning of the semester, but then stopping for the rest of the term, and then making a resolution at the beginning of the next term to not let that happen again. For me, I want balance to be studying a bit every evening (even if only 2 hours, including weekends), so that I can keep my sleep schedule, exercise schedule, eating schedule, and stress levels as steady as possible. I want to do well enough on my midterms so that I won't spend the rest of the term stressing about what if I don't do well on my finals. I may be called a keener in the process, but everyone has an opinion - the beauty of the world is that you are entitled to it. Others can judge, but I am in charged of myself, my decisions, and my goals.

Do it for me & my future patients

• Having a similar ring to my point above, except this time I want to be able to want to do well on my exams for myself and my future patients...not to impress my professors and gain their approval.  I'm sure all instructors have their thoughts about certain students based on who speaks up the most, who doesn't do so well on examinations, and who may make seemingly common-sense mistakes in practicals. I've let the pressure of trying to make myself not look bad get to me to the point that I'm scared to even try. I'm a student, I'm not perfect. Neither are my classmates, no matter how perfect and competent some of them seem. I must accept that when an instructor is given a set of students, they cannot help but make a few comparisons. I just can't let that pressure consume me or hold me back.

     In all, I'm happy to be here and have wanted to study this program since 2008. If I wasn't here, I'd be working idly, or wishing that I was here. And even though there are improvements that could be made to make this a better experience, this is where I need to be in order to gain the knowledge for who I'd like to become after I graduate. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I Want to Understand ME

So I just completed week 11 of my first semester of my first year of becoming a Naturopathic Doctor, and I'm in the midst of deciding whether or not I'd like to change the pace I'm going at.

I made it my aim to complete to program in 4 years because I'm so excited for all of the opportunities that will await me after I finish, and I just want to be there. However, a constant theme that keeps arising is that all of life is a journey, and to gain the most out of it, we need to treasure every moment, experience, and what they teach us.

I think another reason I've been pushing myself to complete this program in 4 years is because I finished university in 5 years instead of 4, and I would compare myself to others who finished in 4 years or even 3 and think that they were smarter and more competent because of that. Yet, I've also noticed that I forget to remind myself that I took 2 years to adjust to workload, environment, and expectations - being a first generation student. In addition, I was so used to working part-time in high school and used to saving money for my education that I worked throughout university as well - that time was taken away from studying. My work opportunities led me to leadership opportunities and vice versa - without all of those things happening within those 5 years, I think I'd be a very different person. So, those 5 years were incredibly valuable to me, and I wouldn't have wanted it to turn out any other way. 6 years would've definitely been pushing it, but 4 years would've been too short.

http://www.quotepictures.net/life-is-a-journey-not-so-much-to-a-destination-but-a-transformation/

Now back to my life now, and why I'm highly considering changing my pace to part-time (so, finish in 5 years instead of 4), rather than staying on the full-time track, and finishing in 4 years.

These 11 weeks of my life have flown by! The only constants I can remember are being in class most of the day, going to the gym on Tuesday nights for Step or Combat, and Pump on Wednesday nights. Every other evening is different whether it's what I'm working on or need to plan to work on. It's very go-go-go! I enjoy that pace because it feels like I'm working towards something, as opposed to the summer where work became quite consistent. However, I miss working, and I'm sad about the opportunities I have to miss out on because this is my first priority. Yet, those outside opportunities are what excited me about taking this path.

I was speaking with a third year student last week who I had met at a supplement dinner, and she was telling me why she doesn't regret going part-time: time to attend workshops, you actually enjoy class because you don't experience as much information overload along with more time to process everything, you have time to work/volunteer which keeps you motivated. She was speaking to me! Then, I compare what she said with what I'm hearing from other 3rd year students who mention that there are endless assignments, it's so stressful, you don't have time for anything else, and there's a sense of desperation to finally get out of the quicksand and begin 4th year. They'll all make it through, but I don't like the thought that they're disliking it more than enjoying it.

 

http://www.improve-the-self.com/self_understanding.html

Although my mind seems to have been made up, I'm going to complete this semester, and possibly my winter term on full-time track before I make my final decision. You see, once I choose to take the part-time path, the program is set up in such a way that I won't be able to go back to the full-time track - so I want to be sure.

The reasons I want to go part-time are because:

• I want to put more time towards this blog (it feels awesome to be writing again!)
• I want to get my vlog up-and-running and learn more about making videos (I know virtually NOTHING!)
• I miss sleeping, especially now that I'm working hard to have a regular routine
• I want to invest more than I'm currently able to in my closest relationships. Although my loved ones are understanding, I want to be present in their lives, and I need them too
• I want to start a club on campus (for now the topic is a secret *wink*)
• I miss working: not for the money as I understand that I will be in debt regardless, but it gives me motivation and a context for why I'm spending all of those hours in class
• but most of all....I want to understand myself

As in Naturopathic Medicine we search for the root cause of illness in order to facilitate the healing process of the patient (through the healing power of Nature - the Vis Medicatrix Naturae), I realize that I have my own emotional problems which are stagnating my ability to heal, and they manifest as migraines, insomnia, and social anxiety. One of my priorities is to work through my personal problems which will allow me to heal myself, and also be more understanding of, and able to connect with my patients. Thereby, it is more important to me to invest in both my personal and academic progress, rather than put all of my energy towards progressing academically and losing some of my inner peace.

My Vaginal Canal is What!?

I bet you're wondering!

Last week I had my second shift as a gynecological model, and as my reproductive organs were being used to bring anatomy to life, the supervisor had mentioned that I have a "long vaginal canal." The students on shift had been mentioning that they could only reach the tip of my cervix, and the prongs of the small speculum were experiencing the same defeat.

At first when I heard this, I thought - oh no, pregnancy and labour are going to be TOUGH when I plan to experience them! But really, what does having a long vaginal canal mean (other than that)? Does this phenomenon of my body confer any benefits?

Right now, I haven't done any research because I want to think about what the positive and negative consequences may be, before I consolidate with what medical knowledge is going to tell me. However, I found it to be very intriguing, and wanted to share!

Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour tonight so we can get that extra hour of sleep!