All study and no play make Andrea...a smart girl. There's only
one problem with that; it also makes Andrea a stressed-out girl.
This week I was reminded, once again, about the profound need to
manage stress while in school. It's so easy to get sucked into
studying and leave everything else behind, or worse, to get super
stressed out by everything that's going on at school and take it
out on everything and everyone else. As we're coming up on
midterms, I have to remind myself to take some time--for myself.
This week marks our first exam of the term. I know at least one of
the other tris has 3 exams this week. I hope all goes well for ALL
of us. (Good Luck everybody! If you need notes, you know who to
call.)
I admit that there were more than a few moments this last week
where I really needed to take a moment. Thankfully, I had some
really great friends and classmates who were very generous with
their pep talks. Special thanks to Julia and Jacqlyn. You guys are
awesome!
While my classmates were watching the Super Bowl, I was working
on my presentation for Diet and Nutrition. Have I mentioned how
much I love this class? My topic is Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids.
Yes I know it sounds incredibly boring at first glance, but I've
found information on everything from cell signaling to treatment
for schizophrenia. Right now I'm compiling insane amounts of
information. At current count, I have 81 slides. I think it's
supposed to be 30. Oops! It's all just so important. I'll figure it
out. There will be a supplemental packet given to my classmates of
diagrams and resources not included in my presentation. Hopefully
that will suffice. (And I promise, guys, I won't bore you with the
whole 81 slides!)
Even though I'm a chiropractic student, one of my passions for
the last few years has been botanicals. Prior to last tri, I'd
gotten into the habit of making a lot of my own medicine. It's a
really great skill to have--to be able to put together some type of
concoction targeted towards a specific cause. I was asked this
weekend, to come up with a formulary for treating UTI. I'm going to
be working on that a bit this week. I typically recommend cranberry
extract/juice (as pure as possible), but that doesn't always work
for everyone. I suspect that this formulary will have Oregon Grape
Root (natural antibiotic, for the berberine), and probably a few
other items. Of course there are other benefits to making my own
medicine; besides the whole self-reliance thing, it really caters
to my "mad scientist" side.
So, if you're studying this week, or getting ready to study...
If you're preparing for something big, or thinking about
preparing... If you're blowing things up in the kitchen, or just
thinking it's a REALLY good idea (to have the fire extinguisher
ready)... Here's a little inspiration:
Have an Awesome Week Everybody!!!!