It's the Little Things

So the past two weeks have been extraordinarily jam-packed and exciting. I could try to combine both weeks into one post, but you guys would probably hate me and stop reading the extremely long post. Therefore, I shall divide it into two. The week before last mainly consisted of studying for my last neuro exam. That last exam consisted of mostly psychological and pathological components. I enjoyed the neuro block, but at the same time I was extremely glad when neuro was over. The entire system gave me a newfound appreciation for neurology. It was extremely interesting to see how one small lesion could cause so many massive deficits. However, I will never say that I miss seeing slices of the brainstem and all of the brainstem nuclei. To whomever gets super excited about brainstem nuclei, more power to you and mad respect. A few hours after the exam, the school hosted the First Patient Memorial. This annual event allows the first-year students, like me, to show ou...

One of my best friends down here is from Iowa, and we love to talk about how our two states are similar and different. The other day she asked me if I had ever had puppy chow and was shocked when my friend and I both responded that we had not and didn't know what it was. So the other day, we decided to make it. Puppy chow is a quick and easy treat that is super tasty. I loved it so much that I'm planning on making some for my boyfriend this weekend. Ingredients: 8-9 cups of Rice Chex cereal (we made it using 9) 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup of peanut butter 1 stick of butter 1.5-2 cups of powdered sugar (also called confectioner's sugar if you didn't know that like me) Directions: Melt the stick of butter, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. While that is melting in the microwave, measure out your Chex cereal into a large bowl (with a lid preferably). When the butter and such is melted, mix it together really well and pour it over the chex cereal....

When I was a little kid, whenever it was time to spring forward or fall back, the time changes never really bothered me. My parents and other adults would complain about being "messed up" by the time change, but I never really understood that fact. This year that changed completely. Before the time change, I was getting up regularly at 6 am or a little before with no problem. I would be at school between 6:30 and 7 in the morning, ready to start the day. It was great. Then Sunday happened. So far this week, I will wake up when my alarm goes off at 6 and just start the entire cycle of snoozing my alarm. My body seems to know that it is still dark outside now and to not get up. It is almost like my body realizes that it is actually 5 AM. The moral of the story is that I have been getting up super late (for me, at least). It has thrown off my whole week. However, the fact that the sun is out later is quite nice. So, if any of you are struggling with the time ...

First, I would like to go ahead and apologize for any random rabbit trails that I might pursue throughout this post. My last neuro exam is tomorrow, and my brain is quite fried. The last nine weeks of this semester has been all about learning neuro - med school slang for anything related to the central nervous system. These past weeks have been dedicated to learning the neuroanatomy of the brain and spinal cord, the psychological aspects and disorders, and pathological diseases that affect the nervous system. I will be honest in that I have enjoyed this block a lot more than I thought I would. That being said, I could go my entire life without seeing another cross-section of the brainstem and be completely happy. For some reason those slices give me extreme anxiety. Speaking of anxiety, let me get straight to the point. Mental health matters a lot. Mental health awareness and education should be a mainstream topic. But sadly, many aspects of mental health are avoided, and those label...

So my very first tornado warning in Dothan occurred sometime after the hurricane last semester. It was in the middle of the night about 1:30 in the morning or something like that. I was sound asleep. I knew that it was supposed to storm that night, but I don't remember if the storms were supposed to be severe or not. Anyways, I was asleep, sleeping like the dead. All of a sudden, I heard this unearthly screeching. I sat up in bed, frantically trying to figure out what was going on. My phone was the thing making the noise, so I rubbed my eyes and tried to read what was on the screen. All I remember was that it said tornado warning. I jumped out of bed and grabbed Winry before running into the living room to turn on the TV. The poor lizard had been sleeping soundly when I snatched him up. And yes, I do know that you are probably supposed to take cover and not stand in the middle of a room full of windows. So I have the TV on and am watching the news, trying to fig...