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I’ve pushed up my MCAT testing date to August 5th so that I can take an “in-person” study course in Toronto, Canada. While up there I get to see my sister and brother-in-law which is going to be awesome. Even though I am a native New Yorker I’ve never really gone to upstate NY much - so it will be refreshing for me to go up there and see the area. Rochester area is supposed to be very pretty, and I don’t doubt it as upstate NY is gorgeous. It will be nice to get out of the summer heat Florida packs too. If I were rich I’d have a summer place somewhere milder than Florida - since I’m not my choice would be to stay here in Florida and enjoy the lack of snow, I’ve had enough snow to last me a lifetime - I seriously can live without ever seeing the white stuff again. I do however have fond memories as a child playing in it when it was over my head, I also recall having to shovel it too! One thing was certain my mom always had homemade hot chocolate waiting inside to warm us up, that and homemade vegetable beef soup too. 

I had a blast in St. Croix this trip. Met two new CRNA’s and had some beach fun with another I met over Christmas holiday. Saw many interesting surgeries and more dynamics of the O.R. and made it even that much more clear to me that it’s 100% what I want to do. I think that every pre-med student should take the time to shadow a physician, it certainly gives you a wealth of information on many aspects of becoming a physician, and readies you for the challenges and the lifestyle ahead. In short, I’m extremely glad I put in the over 100 hours that I did in the Operating Room and I’d highly recommend any pre-med student do the same. Being that I am in the medical field via veterinary medicine I had some inkling of what to expect with regard to the surgery and medicine itself - but seeing and being part of it on the human side was a joy as well as an eye opener in many aspects. One thing it’s good for is to see if you can tolerate the view of surgery, you would find out real fast if you were squeamish and if the field was right for you. I was speaking with a young student the other day and she was explaining how she had thought she’d be a pre-med student but the site of blood made her ill and she realized early on she’d better go into the administration side of it - so she was going into marketing and business end of it. It just proves that you must be certain that in all aspects you are ready for medicine and that it is a good fit for you, and probably the best way to do that is to actually be there observing. Shadowing in my opinion is an invaluable tool, and I can see why medical schools like to see it on your application.

So I am getting a slight respite from school here on St. Croix while we work at the vet clinics and then head to the beach for some sun and fun. I’ve gotten a burn which is a first for me in a while too. While I am here I am studying for the upcoming MCAT test as well as doing my online course, Understanding U.S. Healthcare Systems - which to be honest is a fascinating course and an eye opener to say the least. I had no idea there were so many government agencies and that medicare & medicaid were developed in 1965, I suppose I presumed they were always here helping people. By the figures I’ve read almost one in three people, probably about 30% of the U.S. population is helped by those two agencies combined. Ok off to bed… just felt like dropping by and posting.

Well not sure if I’m nuts or not (time will surely tell) but I’ve made my appointment for the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) for July 18th. Now I am working on learning physics, and brushing up on studying everything else I know. I’ve purchased Audio Osmosis and have been using it to learn physics - which they certainly help make the concepts easy enough to understand - the question is will I remember the plethora of details they are teaching me and the equations! Well while I was at it I’ve also purchased a bunch of practice MCAT’s and flash cards. I’ve decided to go easy during summer session and only take 3 upper level credits toward my B.S. degree - so on top of going to St. Croix, shadowing in the hospital Operating Room, completing an online course in the upper division university level, I have to teach myself physics and brush up on all the other stuff I already know (General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biology) Surely this is not a light task I am undertaking and I am of course praying for, and expecting an excellent outcome! Wish me luck! My goal is to get into medical school in the fall of 2009, which of course means I will be doubling up and taking a lot of tough courses together this next year to complete my degree too. I’m debating between a liberal arts type degree and a biology/biomedical sciences degree ~ I’m sure once I get into the university I’ll talk to advisors and figure it out, right now I have to worry about the MCAT, it’s my most immediate dragon to slay.

Well it’s official - I have completed my first 2 years of college and received my Associates in Arts (A.A.) degree! I graduated Summa Cum Laude too - go figure! Now I am awaiting the transcript shuffle so that I can gain entrance into university to get into summer courses - the race is on to see if it will happen prior to class start date - which happens to be Monday…

Well I got an “A” on my project for ASL, we had to sign a children’s story as if we were telling it to a five year old, it was a lot of fun, I did “Three Little Pigs”. Now all I have left in that class is a final Thursday night. I plan to study hard for it right after my Biology Lab exam, and right before the class so retention is higher, although if I was spot tested at the moment I’m sure I’d do well. I have learned the info already but after my lab exam I’ll want a refresher, I’ll need it! I’ve completed 2 more class tests this week in General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry, both with 100%’s - I really LOVE chemistry, and my professor is awesome, all of my professors are actually, I’m going to dearly miss them!! I hope to have such wonderful professors when I move on to university. I have so much more testing still left to do with my Organic Lab final today, we get to figure out how to find the structure of a compound based upon the IR and HNMR graphs, yummy. It’s actually easy and fun - it’s like finding the missing pieces in a puzzle. I love puzzles! Then afterwards we’re supposed to watch the professor blow glass, that was my idea as last semester end we did some and he proved to be a glass-blowing expert, I said - wow can we do more and he promised at the end of this semester we will and he’s definitely a man of his word! This should be fun. In Organic Chemistry lab we’ve made nylon, rayon, acrylic, styrene, stilbene, methyl orange dye, distilled ethanol and so many other chemical compounds and such - it’s been fun! One of the more fun things is when you put two liquid chemicals in and they react instantaneously and create a solid; such as happened with nylon.

Here we are at the culmination of the semester. It’s always intense at the very end when you are working diligently to maintain the A’s you’ve earn up till now. It’s so disheartening to think of working this hard for 15 weeks and then having all that hard work go to the wayside whilst a “B” slips into front-running position. I for one can’t allow that to happen, so it’s this point you have to (it seems) work doubly hard to keep the “A” you’ve earned in order to finish on top. So needless to say - I’m usually a tad intense these days and I think when this semester finishes I deserve a full body massage - yep that sounds like a plan. I feel like I’ll be on an obstacle course going from one test (and test subject) to another all the next two weeks, wait maybe because I will be. This is what happens when you double up and take 24 credits, thank goodness one class ended early (flex session course) so I’ve gotten that out of the way, so I truly only have 21 credits to be worrying about, gee I feel lucky now. I turned in my project for ASL and I have no idea my grade yet, but will surely find out soon, right now I am at the point of second-guessing my work there. I’ve checked over my tests for that class and other than one 96 grade the rest were all 100’s, but of course there’s the final. I’m in similar situations with the rest of the classes too, so I feel an enormous amount of pressure to perform and do well, I feel like the basketball player having to make the foul shot. Okay back to work now since I can’t click my heels and say “I wanna go home”

Well the Phi Theta Kappa induction ceremony took place tonight and my son Steven Camillieri and myself Robin Taylor-Corbridge were officially inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, The International Honor Society of Two Year Colleges, Yes!

Seems like this semester just started and we’re already gearing up for finals! It’s crazy how fast it moves along - before I know it I will be in medical school. Ah - but first I need to conquer my finals. I’m starting off this semester with one “A” already secured (boy that feels great) - now I am finishing off the last of my courses at their most challenging times as well. I’ve gotten very used to my professors here and have enjoyed being in their courses so much. I will miss each of them separately for many different reasons. Dr. Hamlet is “my daily fix” since I have him every day being that I am in 2 of his courses simultaneously. He’s about the smartest person I know when it comes to chemistry, in short this man knows his stuff and another thing he knows is how to keep it at a level where you not only grasp what he is teaching - you appreciate it and all of life for that matter, since it begins with chemistry. Dr. Broen is awesome and upbeat and we can learn a never-ending array of biology from that man, especially at a molecular level, but we are on Bio 2 right now and that means the bigger systems. I love my email exchanges with both Dr. Hamlet and Dr. Broen as whenever I have a questions (outside of the classroom usually) about aspects of life or find something interesting to pass along - I feel free to fire away my email and share. I hope to continue that level of friendship even after I’ve moved on to university. Ms. Weems, our ASL professor is just an outright awesome person and teacher, she does such a complete job of teaching all about Deaf Culture and not just the basic sign language of the American Deaf (ASL). She’s really opened up my eyes to what it’s like to be Deaf in our society and made me realize, it’s not a handicap, it’s just a difference and it definitely should never be considered a barrier. Professor Riddle has been awesome with calculus, she’s truly a blessing. Dr. Puzziferro was an awesome instructor for the American Federal Government course I took and certainly has opened my eyes to much about our national government I wasn’t aware of and she made our course fun and exciting, certainly having that course right now in the midst of some of the most controversial heated campaigning didn’t hurt none either, all-in-all - it was a fun course for me, and hey, I got 100%! Okay… back to studying… so much still left to do!

I got 100% in American Federal Government (POS2041) - I’ve gotten close to a grade like this in Philosophy last summer when I earned a 99.1% - but I have to admit this is my first 100%!! I’m elated!