My Hardest Life Lessons Exposed

Friends!

I went into my social media group of friends (twitter) and I asked for an idea about a blog post topic. I was given the idea to write about 5 things that were standing in my way and how I overcame them.

So here we go...

1. People who didn't believe in me

• I've got a list - I'm not going to go through it because that would be a waste of my time. Before I was very concerned with what other people thought of me. I had to make a change (see struggle 3) and not worry myself with what people who don't even matter in my life think. 

This one people may think is odd but it's the truth

2. School

• It's tough - and while you're going through schooling it feels like it is never going to end. I found it's difficult to get through it until you've figured out how YOU study best and how YOU destress the best. It really took me until third year to figure that one out.

3. Personal demons

• I'm just going to come outright and say it - I dealt with a bout of depression in my first year of university. I won't get into the details in this post but during that time I learnt about how important a good support system is - especially when you're going through a tough time.

4. A boyfriend/girlfriend should never be your life

• I know it's easy (from past experience) to fully dive into a relationship. An important thing to remember is that you still need to be yourself - and take care of yourself. It's important to be invested in your relationship but not so much so that it takes away from your own life.

5.  It's okay to open up

• Although this one may be hard to understand I have always had issues with trusting people and opening up. I may be outgoing and I may love to talk (and never stop) but I've had to learn to let people in and confide in them when I'm going through a hard time (re: struggle 3).

There you have it - my toughest life lessons.

Hope you enjoyed this post.

- Jen

Catch Up

As everyone else is aware the semester is in full swing of things. I've been barely keeping my head above water as I try to study for midterms and work on assignments. You don't want to know how much caffeine I have consumed the past few weeks.

BUT I am not going to sit here and type a post about how stressed I am about school and applications because I'd basically be preaching to the choir and telling you all things I'm sure you are fully aware of.

Instead, I am going to talk about my volunteering at UW-Well Fit. I work with cancer patients and assist them while they work out, along with being there to talk about any of their concerns.

Recently I've been working with one special woman. She's mid 40's, had a double mastectomy and is currently receiving radiation. From her radiation she's been getting second degree burns down the side of her torso along with losing her hair from chemo. She's very self conscious about it, she's told me multiple times that when she was going through chemotherapy she would never look at herself in the mirror. Even now, when she comes to work out, she will never show up without her wig on. Even though it makes her very hot and is very itchy.

Despite that she is the kindest and funniest woman I have ever met. Throughout her workout she has me laughing and smiling for the full 60 minutes. She always has the biggest smile on her face and never lets radiation appointments bring down her mood.

Just felt like I had to write a little something about her because she is one amazing woman.

- Jen

Not Wanting to Study

MCAT Prep is coming to an end with my last day of classes tomorrow! I'm also finishing up with my major assignments for my online courses. It's kinda scary how quickly this summer has gone by. I feel like I've been studying the whole time!

Oh wait I have. I've got just over two weeks until the dreaded day of my MCAT and then a week later I have three online course exams... Call me crazy I know I am. So I'm not too sure how much I'll be posting in that time since my life will probably be even less exciting than it is now. So if I go AWOL you will know why.

I don't know about anywhere else in the world but it has been very rainy and cloudy at home which is not the best pick me up when you're trying to pump yourself up to study and not fall asleep on your books. So I'm working on being as positive as possible during this stressful time.

On a more exciting note, I got my courses all selected for the fall so I've already gone into prep mode for scheduling the semester in all three of my calendars (I know I'm a little OCD about this stuff). Figuring out voluneering, books, holidays... the whole nine yards. I like to start the semester running! Now that I've finished all those general science courses I needed for medical school I'm able to take Kinesiology courses that actually interest me. I'm taking anatomy of the central nervous system, injuries of work and sport, nutrition, biomechanical modeling of human movement and the psychology of sport. Sounds like it will be an interesting semester, hopefully not too heavy so I can spend some time on my medical school applications. If anyone wants to share what courses they're taking feel free to comment!

I've also been spending my time looking at different medical schools around the world and I wanted to see if anyone has any insight on places they're looking at, or study at because I am open to traveling before residency and settling down.

- Jen