the perils of

I had to put my blogging spree on hold because of today's Physiology exam. The exam covered the respiratory and renal systems. In short, I've spent the past three days holed up in my condo and the past three nights in Matteo Ricci trying to cram all the information I can into my decreasing supply of brain cells. I've been eating a lot of junk food too, which is what I tend to do when I study Physio, and I try to rationalize this by telling myself that I'll burn off all the calories anyway because of all the brainwork I'll be doing. But nope. Three days ago I went to Rustan's to buy myself some study food. After a long debate with myself about the best type of chocolate to purchase (nuts or no nuts? milk or dark?) In the end, the winner proved to be a bar of hazeulnut Lindt. It was pretty big (and, at P98, was kind of expensive) so I thought it would last me a week or two. Who the hell was I trying to kid? I finished it in a day. Mmmm. . . . Monday was m...

Three days ago, I took the train to UERM for my very first med school interview. I was not as nervous as I thought I'd be. My hands weren't shaking, my heart wasn't racing, and I wasn't sweating like a bag of ice cubes in the summer sun. Perhaps it was because I had spent a good amount of time that morning reading up on med school interview tips (link here ) and watching videos (click here ). I even dressed up in my best interpretation of a corporate outfit: a crisp polo , a black pencil skirt, and my old pair of flats. Other people didn't come in as formal-looking as I did. The girl who came before me in the interviews was wearing a blouse, khaki jeans, and closed shoes. I feel the need to point out these details because even though UERM didn't specify a dress code for the interviews, I feel like dressing up was a good idea. I learned from this YouTube video that interviewers actually like it when you look more formal. Also, I was dressed the same way as ...

I almost didn't graduate today. I woke up at 6:30 AM and hit the snooze button, only to remember when I woke up hours later the reason why I set my alarm so early in the first place: I hadn't studied for my Theo orals yet. That's okay, I thought. Even though I woke up much later than I should have, I still had four hours left to study. Four hours to internalize seven theses statements.  At 11:30, after having learned only two theses and doing a lot of non-studying, my phone beeped. It was a scheduled reminder that I had put in, reminding me about my orals at 12:00. My world stopped. 12? But my orals weren't until 1! I read and I re-read that damn reminder five times before it really sunk in. My orals weren't in two hours, they were in 20 minutes. And I wasn't ready. So I forsook a shower, yanked on the first things I saw in my closet, and made a mad dash to the Theo department. Waiting for my turn outside Ray's office, I was a nervous wreck. I tried...

I climbed Mt. Pico de Loro the other day, and it was my first time to climb a mountain of that magnitude. To put this into context, my previous experiences with mountains solely involved driving a car up there and then walking around. Oh don't worry, this isn't going to be one of those lame, self-gratifying "It was so difficult but in the end I made it" posts. This is going to be one of those "I just climbed a mountain and check out the pictures I took" posts. Hopefully. Backtracking a little: This climb is a series of many open climbs organized by the Loyola Mountaineers (LM for short). If organizations were people, this one would probably be Rap's other girlfriend. Or boyfriend, depending on whether it's a girl org or a boy org. Anyway, bottom line is that Rap super freaking loves mountains, and he loves this org. (You can check out his blog and see that most of what he posts is mountains and LM [which actually is not saying much, because he...

I came in late for the first of two quizzes in my Philosophy class today. I love the class (we talked about the possible reasons why evil exists in the world) but I hate that it's so damn early! Eh. Sir Tolentino makes it worthwhile, anyway. Then as soon as the bell rang, Rap, Bel, and I made a mad dash for his car. At 9:00 AM, the traffic going from Ateneo to ASMPH was not so bad, and the drive there took only about 20 minutes. Upon arriving at my top choice of med school, I expected some wave of emotion to wash over me as I eyed that iconic red brick facade. I don't know what I was waiting for, perhaps some sort of ache in the pit of my heart, an ache that symbolized not congenital heart disease but an intense longing to be accepted into this school of schools. There was nothing though. Rushing through the scorching hot parking lot and into the cool shade of the lobby, my heart was steady as a rock. The wait for my turn took about forty minutes. When finally my number ...

I have no picture to show for today so here is an old picture of a doodle of a bear. In a space suit. My new year's resolution is to write some more, even if it means senseless and boring stuff that nobody wants to read. Like this. The thing is that I want a future version of me to be able to read this post and remember how she was back when she was 20, standing on the brink of her college life and looking down into the vast unknown that is Everything that Comes After Graduation. I mean yes, I know that med school comes after graduation. But I also want to go on an exchange, maybe even put off med school for a year just to do so. Partially I want to work too. Return to Cagayan de Oro, immerse myself in a menial job like doing inventory for my uncle's hardware store, or taking orders for my lola's karinderia. I don't know. Well whatever it is, I'm certainly not going to decide tonight. It seems like the rest of my life right now hinges on the results of...