Andrea's Blog

I hope everyone had a great Easter, a festive Ostara, and a Blessed Passover. It was a low-key weekend at my house. We didn't even make Easter baskets. Peeps were procured and cupcakes were made, but that was about it. I spent the whole weekend working towards finals. 

Finals start next week. Let the panic commence! NO. No panic! We will not panic. There will be NO panicking. OK. Now that that's done. Given that this is the last week before finals, it's time to get all my ducks in a row - practicing, note writing, memorizing, preparing, and everything else! 

Sometimes the organization and preparation for finals is just as stressful as actually taking them. The last week before the tests begin is when all the notes must be finished and the hardcore studying takes place. For me, I learn more in the last week than I do in the 14 weeks before. I know that it's not supposed to work that way, but that's how I work. There's something about solidifying everything and repetition, repetition, repetition. I will, actually, be studying up until I walk in to take each test.  

I'm doing my best to not repeat the events of last tri's finals. I existed most of the last finals week on caffeine and very little sleep. I don't remember whether I was eating or eating anything remotely respectable, but I suspect I wasn't. So, that will not happen this time. Here are a few suggestions that I'm pulling together for this tri's finals for myself--and all of you. 

Andrea's suggestions for finals preparation: 

1. Make sure all equipment is in working order. Charge those batteries. There's nothing worse than having to show up for a practical and your equipment isn't working. It's happened to me before. Not good. Also, you want to make sure you can use your own stuff. It's also difficult to try to walk in with someone else's equipment and do a timed exam. So. Charge 'Em!
2. Make sure that you have printer ink and paper. Inevitably, there will be a study guide that's about 50 pages long (what class is this for, Tri 4 kids?) and I'll need to print it out and write all over it. The worst thing EVER, is to have it be the night before an exam or the afternoon before an exam and not be able to print my notes. This reminds me. I need to order ink. It's so much cheaper that way.
3. Go to the gym. Every day. It's really easy to convince myself that I don't have time. I know that once I get home, there's no way that I'm going out again - it's like working a miracle. I know that I feel so much better when I go. It clears my head and gets me focused.
4. NO CAFFEINE. NONE. I don't drink coffee. Coffee + Andrea = SCARY. I've given up on Coke (New Year's Resolution still holding strong) and I don't drink anything else with caffeine in it. I know that I can exist for weeks on caffeine and no sleep. NO GOOD. Not gonna do it. (Don't do it!)
5. Food. Light. It's easier to focus (for me) when I don't eat anything heavy. That means lean meat and fruit pretty much exclusively. This is, of course, Paleo friendly and super easy gluten-free.
6. Sleep. At least 6 hours a night. I've done some all-nighters. I did one last tri (well, less than 2 hours of sleep pretty much counts as an all-nighter), and even though it worked in my favor THAT time, it's not something that needs to happen on a regular or semi-regular basis. We also know that less than 6 hours a night promotes inflammation. Inflamed brains don't work. So, I'm shooting for 6 ­hours during the week and as much as I can get on the weekends.
7. A bit of downtime for whatever. DVR exists for this reason. Pinterest (if you're not already on it RUN AWAY), Daylight. Check it out. It's good for vitamin D, too. 

OK. Enough of that. So I wish you all a happy finals preparation and a happy spring and all of that other stuff. If you're getting antsy while you're studying, take a break. It really will make things go smoother. See you all on the flip-side. 

Andrea

What do you do when you haven't seen daylight for the last several days and have to take lovely pictures for the blog? You take them of your back "yard." If I look out my patio door, this is what I see. Of course, I never look out my patio door. I never even go out my patio door. But today, I did--so I could take some lovely pictures for all of you. 

It's time for midterms. It's REALLY time for midterms. Now is the time, not only for studying, but also for making sure we take care of ourselves. Different tris have different schedules. I know I've mentioned some of our heinous exam schedules before. This midterm schedule isn't too bad, but that doesn't mean it won't be difficult. 

For the last, I don't know how many days, I've been studying and working on E&M: Cervical notes. I'm already on my third pass of them, and I still don't feel like I know anything. This is how it goes when there's a HUGE amount of information on one exam. It's easy to get discouraged. It's easy to get overwhelmed when it comes to exam times. It's REALLY easy to neglect the Self and the Body. 

So, with that in mind, I offer this bit of advice for midterms (and finals).

• Rest.
  Only once has staying up all night worked to my benefit. I don't recommend it. At some point, the fatigue and brain fog overtakes anything that might have been learned. And while there's some debate as to whether the brain needs to sleep in order to process information, or whether the brain forgets things as we sleep - either way it doesn't work out. Don't do it.
• Be careful of what enters the body.
  Admittedly, I drank a TON of coke during finals last tri. By the last final, I don't think I could fill in the bubbles on the scantron I was so wired. Caffeine is a stimulant that does help with some mental clarity, but once a certain blood level is achieved, it doesn't work anymore. Plus, all that corn syrup, phosphoric acid, and caramel coloring is definitely not good for the body. Just say no.
• Keep your regular routines.
  For this first exam, I have eschewed the gym for studying. I wish I hadn't. Exercise improves brain function. It's proven. Besides feeling sluggish (or like a slug - not sure which one), I'm going to have to work THAT much harder to dig myself out of the hole I've dug over the last week. The 5 or so additional hours that I would've spent at the gym over the last week, would probably have helped me focus a whole lot better. Keep moving; it helps.
• The important thing to remember about exams is that they're temporary.
  They are hurdles that we all have to cross to get from point A to point B, and in the grand scheme of Everything, they don't mean a whole lot. We do what we have to do. If you haven't heard this analogy a million times already, let me remind everyone out there in blog-land. This is a marathon - not a sprint, kids. We're in this for the long haul. I have faith in all of you. 

Another week gone by, where does the time go?!?!? Monday starts Week 6. That's only 9 weeks left in the tri. This tri definitely is going faster than every other tri thus far. I'm not complaining! One of my illustrious classmates has a countdown to graduation going. If I asked her, she'd probably tell me it was something like 2 years, 2 months, 1 week, 5 days, 6 hours, 32 minutes, and 52 seconds--or something like that. I think we're all happy to learn, but will also be VERY glad when we're done. Last week we were all asked what our goal is. Instead of "bring about world peace" or "cure cancer," every single person said, "Finish the program!" That may be telling. 

The first exam of the tri is over. Everyone lived through it--no matter how many of us thought we might die. We have one week "off" and then 2 exams each week for the next 3 weeks. I MUCH prefer this to what I've had in most of my previous tris--8+ exams in one week, right on top of each other. I always felt like I was cramming non-stop because I couldn't do the studying justice.

Hats off to my classmates in Diet and Nutrition. Every single one of the presentations that I've heard, thus far, has been absolutely amazing. I can't wait to hear the remaining talks. There's been SO much information presented. I had the pleasure of giving my talk on Thursday. I never could get my slides down to 30. I think it was somewhere around 64. Oh well, I honestly could've taught a seminar or an entire tri's worth of classes on this one topic. There's still so much to learn. Special thanks to Dr. S for answering some of my own questions (and not grilling me too much--although I was ready).

In anticipation of the next three weeks, I took a little bit of time out to tackle other responsibilities, projects, and decompress this week (end). I can't (or won't) tell you where the pictures are from. If I did, I'd lose my favorite "hidden" spot. Truth be told, if you can see in the distance the Sunshine Skyway, you'll know it's somewhere within sight of there. I've gone to this spot many times to clear my head, watch the water and the rays swim below, or the herons catch fish on the shore. It's a quiet and magical place.

I also found the time to run by the Wagon Wheel Flea Market on Saturday (it's right down from school). They have a HUGE farmer's market presence, and their produce is ridiculously cheap. They also have infinite amounts of junk to look at - from knock-off Pokemon cards to plants and flowers. I'm sure I laughed more than a few times at some of the things I saw there this weekend. If ever you want to have high trans-fat, breaded and fried candy bars, and you're not near the fair (which just happens to be in town right now), do check out the flea market. Or check out the produce--you'll probably fare just a bit better there - your body will thank you. The thing that surprised me was how unique some of the produce was. They had these HUGE spiked fruits--I think they were Durians. I should've taken a picture of those! They were about the size of watermelons (and slightly scary!). 

Last, but definitely not least, Happy Valentine's Day!!!! Whether you support Hallmark, are on your own (by choice or not), or are happily involved, please share your Love with others this week. Happy Valentine's Day to my Beloved!!! Happy Valentine's Day to my boys, AND Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! Thank you for sharing your time, with me.