Perspective

View from the UCSF library.

Orange-ya glad...

Of all the times to restart a blog, finals week amidst studying for National Boards Exam is probably the worst. Then gain, stress tends to boost my creativity. For those select few reading this, you will notice that the layout is a bit of an orange disaster. I owe this in part to my good friends at Cheth Studios. If any of you are on the lookout for something outrageous,these guys are it! To relieve you, I will say that I am still modifying things to make it less carroty. Is that a word? According to Microsoft, it is...
Well, might as well mention finals week as a D2. In comparison with the D1 year, this is, as they say, chill. Perhaps the school realizes that people have more important things to do than memorize 30 lectures on Evidence-based Dentistry, courtesy of certain DentSci instructors, or re-learn dental ergonomics (only to fail them during the remediation for crown-and-bridge test case). Then there are courses which are mathematically impossible to fail: cough-BMS-cough.

- Because I can.

It seems that the more free time I get, the least productive I get.

Just a quick post to signify my ability to still be breathing.

More on this post later.

End-o-the day

Arguably the best day of the week.
Reason 1: Oral pathology, albeit carrying the infamous brand of the BMS clan, is a surprisingly cool and, gasp, applicable, course! It could be the charm of Canadian and British accents, with which the material is transcribed into my memory, but even the diabolically annoying stream of interrupting questions from the IDP peanut gallery doesn't seem to spoil it. I do, however, have a slight fascination with the fact that we are REQUIRED to purchase the book for the class, which so happens to be the best resource for the subject and coincidentally written by the instructor.
The afternoon of endodontic adventures, was, well, stupefyingly boring. Sure, the right-after-lunch lecture wasn't that bad. In fact, most of that stuff was actually applicable...somewhere...in the future...Finally, nothing stimulated me more than yet another inventory check progressing at a glacial pace. Apparently, after 6 years of higher education, graduating Summa Cum Laude and being admitted to the Advancing Health Worldwide place, I still need to be walked through plugging in an electrical appliance step by step...tricky...
Anyway, now I'm on to packing for the Psi O Tahoe trip. Going to learn how to snowboard. And not die. Yep, good plan.

-Because I can.

Ready, Steady, Go

After a month long vacation, I am back in the usual grind. Ever more confusing, the schedule of UCSF Dental School presented itself with a maze of PCC rotations. Tuesdays will probably be the most difficult of days.
Take this one, for example: a total of 7 hours of denture work. I might not mind the fact that we get 1.5 hours of lectures over something that we will never need to consider until we see a patient (which, by the way, may be a YEAR from now). I might not mind that we get the most confusing directions, which are augmented by conflicting statements in the syllabus. What I do mind, is being number 1254. That dreaded number means I am either first or last to be given the attention of my row instructor (let that mustached person be left nameless). If I go first, I have nothing to show for my work, because I haven't done anything yet; ergo, I can't discuss any problems with the given task. If I am last, like today, I am not going to have my turn due to time constraints. Lovely number - 1254.
This may be day two of the winter quarter, but I feel like I've been procrastinating for 2 weeks. Things to do by tomorrow: Register for AADR, pay for Frat trip to Tahoe, figure out my winter PhD journal club series schedule, organize a newsletter meeting, and move my stuff in my research lab.

-Because I can.

P.S. Appologies for no cartoon today, not in the mood for "artistic" creativity.

23...

CLICK ON THE CARTOON TO SEE FULL

Too many finals. Too little time. Terrible time to have a birthday. I hope each and one of you find time for yourselves, no matter how busy you are. Just stop whatever you are doing, stretch, take a deep breath, and tell yourself that you've done this many times before. And just as all those times, you will be just fine.

On a personal note, thank you everyone that came out for my short birthday get together. Means the world to me. Ok! Enough slacking! Get back to work! You don't wanna fail, do you??!!!

-Because I can.

Fighting virtual windmills...

CLICK ON THE CARTOON TO SEE FULL

What makes you stay afloat and energized? What drives you to be who you are and to stay the course? Often we become so involved in simply staying afloat that we forget to see where the currents take us. One of the advantages and disadvantages of UCSF is its wide diversity within the student body. Albeit receiving a highly beneficial life experience, we, as a class, still stratify ourselves into "Clicks". Be it by background, location, ethnicity, or all of the above, we are drawn into groups of people we associate with and become friends within those groups. Such social inbreeding is far from unique and is inherent to life in general. Perhaps the point I am trying to make is a bit far fetched, but while I consider myself extremely lucky to be friends with the people that I am friends with, I wonder if I limit my understanding of people with other opinions and outlooks on the world. Something to think about.

Short post today, as the Finals season is upon us. As you noticed, the daily cartoon is above. This time an inside joke to the UCSF class of 2012.

-Because I can.