the perils of

             I haven't been in med school for a long time, but let me say something (possibly) premature and (probably) naive: I think I'm in the right place. Because I have learned so, so much in the past month or so, and I absolutely love the things that I'm learning.              Back in high school, I used to see med school as something I just had to endure before I became a doctor. Sort of like having to sit through the lame MCTRB infomercials before the actual movie, I used to think med school was five years I would simply have to sacrifice before I could get to the really really good parts of my life.             And maybe the more time I spend here, the more that feeling will resurface. But maybe, beneath all those feelings (which, like Fr. Dacanay says, are impermanent), I'll discover that I really am right where I'm supposed to be.           ...

Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. It's happening again. It's that confusing time of the semester when you're so extremely close to the end but not quite there yet, and you still have the energy to study some more but it's becoming increasingly more difficult to pack any more knowledge into your goddamn summer-soaked brain. What little room in there that you had reserved for thesis statements and formulas and stupid philosophical statements is now slowly filling up with thoughts of seawater, sand castles, and cities that start with the letter B (Batangas, Boracay... Seriously guys, there are other vacation spots out there !). Yes. It's that time of the year. My next (and last) exam is happening on Thursday, which means I have one and a half days to prepare for it.  So now I'm looking at my notes and trying to read them, and I'm telling myself, "It's just a review of what you already know!" But in my mind, no more gears are shifting. No more whee...

The last day of regular classes is tomorrow, which means that right now, every imaginable milk tea shop and coffee place in Katipunan is filled to the brim with caffeine/sugar-fueled Ateneans. I have two tests tomorrow, an orals for Philosophy and a long test for Physics, and I'm panicking so much about how I'm going to prepare for them both that here I am, not preparing for them at all. It's pretty ironic how I always get the urge to write the night before an important exam. Sometimes, I literally just sit in front of my laptop with nothing to do, and I find it hard to write a decent sentence. It's times like this, when my brain knows that it's in for a night of getting jammed in the butt (yeah, my mind has a butt), that I write. Now look at this picture of a drawing of Rap saying "baby monkey." This is really all he did yesterday, I don't know why. Okay, I better get to work now. Final stretch, guys! Sotto smells like eggs

[above photos] Chilling in the LS Bookstore with Jhalec, AC, Julian and Cheryl (who took that last one). It was a much-needed break from English class, in which I am not doing so well. It's a good thing I arrived early for class, because I had to go to this 24-hour Internet cafe' along Katipunan to have some readings printed. But even then, I forgot to pick up a copy of Clifford Geertz's Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight , and so spent English class copyless. Which was NOT good, because Sir Pulan asked me about the opening anecdote of the essay (which I had not read, of course) and Deo, God bless him, had to whisper to me a quick summary, which I then told to Mr. Pulan. Very high school, but what choice did I (and poor Deo) have, really. When I felt like I was in the clear, Mr. Pulan asked me to continue summarizing the anecdote, at which point I just kept my mouth shut and hung my head in shame. SHAME.  For Lit class, we had a test on the Elements of Fiction,...

          I was taken off the Internet some two weeks ago because of this long test in Chemistry that I'd been so dreading. Chemistry never was my best subject, and the memory of the last long test I had taken (Subject: Math. Grade: C.) was more than enough a reminder to stop procrastinating and start hitting the books.          The results of that test were released today, and I got an 87 out of 105, equivalent to 82.9%. *Sigh.* What a let down. I guess it's not a bad score (it's a B), but it's not a very good one, either. I want an A!!!          *sigh, again* I didn't find the test that difficult, actually. In fact, if I were sure that Ma'am Terrado would never find this page, I'd go so far as to even call it easy. But... 87 :'(          All the grades I've been getting so far point to one thing only: I. Am.  AVERAGE .          Average average...

(Thank you to the anonymous commenter who wondered what happened last Wednesday after classes got canceled! You are an inspiration.) Lots of my friends ask me what I do to while away the time when there's no class. Well, to answer that, here are a few pictures I took: . . . Okay, I hope that explains it. (Oh, the stuffed toys aren't really good for anything. I just like having them around.) . . . On weekends though, I usually go to the Rizal Library in the Ateneo campus to use the Internet or study. Both of those things I could do in my dorm, yes, but I think it pays to study in the library because seeing the people around you so immersed in their work just inspires you to get serious about yours.