Hey Cygnets,
Happy Easter Weekend to all and hope everyone who celebrates it
was able to spend time with family and friends. Week 14 is upon us
and the following 2 weeks are littered with anywhere from 7-11
finals depending on your trimester. If that doesn't boost
Starbucks' profits, recede your hairline, or wreck your circadian
rhythms than you're probably a mutant. Or you read this article.
Probably the first one. ;)
Me and the dog in an Easter food coma at my house. Ha
ha.
This article is about How to Survive Finals Week. I Googled that
phrase and literally got THE MOST BORING article after article of
"Sleep more...Double Check your Exam Times...Study Hard..." Ummm…
Tell me something I don't know! Here's the "5 classic tips" with my
own spin on them.
1. Do Better On Midterms: When 2+2=5 and How to Take
Advantage of it.
Ha ha. Duh, but hear me out! It has literally taken me 5
trimesters at NUHS to FULLY appreciate this tip. This tip works
disproportionately well at NUHS. Why? Because we don't give
'Pluses' or 'Minuses'. That means, according to this fine
institution, that a 100 = 90. An 89=80, 79=70, 69=60. In other
words, there is a TON of leeway for grades. I was planning this out
with my buddy Kendall: I have an 85 average in Pathology 2 through
two exams, which means I can basically get a 75(ish) on my final
and still get above the 80 threshold I need in that class to get a
B. Remember 80=89. For many classes, the difference in studying to
get 9 points higher on an exam is another 6-8 hours of time on the
grind (TOTG as my buddy in college would call it). Now, it may
sound like I'm cheating myself, but I am using that opportunity
cost of studying for more Pathology 2 to apply it to my Renal
Physiology final for which I do need a much better grade to get my
grade up to the NEXT level. So, it goes both ways. You just have to
plan it out and study accordingly. Don't hate the game; hate the
system.
2. Don't Worry About GPA, APPLY IT.
GPA is NOT that important anymore. 99% of you are in the last
school you'll ever apply to. I'm going to open my own practice when
I get out of here. I'm not giving myself a raise if I get a 3.5
instead of a 3.0. I'm not saying don't try hard! I'm saying KNOW
the information in respect to APPLYING it to your future patients
and the real world. If you get a 4.0 and you can't treat a patient
(which can happen), do you think your patient cares what GPA you
have when you're adjusting their occiput? Nope. There's so much
minutiae you will learn in plenty of your classes that you will
never use in the real world and if you get that question wrong, who
cares? Don't freak out. It saps the energy you need to study for
the next class. Stay even keel and keep the bigger picture in mind.
Like the British in WWII, keep calm and carry on.
3. Caffeine Physiology and the 'Off
Switch'.
Sometimes you get into a rut and the wall of information
overload sets in. Just give up. Ha ha, just kidding, here's a
chance to take a break and multiply the benefits of caffeine.
- Leave your notes on the desk
- Drink a cup of coffee.
- Lay down and close your eyes for 30 min. (It takes about 30 min
for caffeine to get into your blood stream and to your cells. By
then it will start working its magic...just in time for you to wake
up and be ready to blast through that previous information overload
barrier.)
Hint: Don't Overuse. Be Strategic.
4. Blood Sugar Drives Human Behavior.
Hydrate. Eat protein. Eat low glycemic foods. The experience of
most students during finals is Manic--sugary snack-filled highs
followed by hypoglycemic, insulin-driven lows. These lows are the
part we need to keep an eye on. The low sugar blues are often just
that, slightly depressing and one can easily feel overwhelmed by
the workload as your brain efficiency plummets, starved of glucose
availability, as your adrenals work hard to drive
gluconeogenesis.
Eat protein at each meal for optimal satiety between meals. Eat
every couple of hours for stable blood sugar. Optional: Talk to an
ND student and consider taking an adaptogenic herb for stress
management.
5. To Music or Not to Music.
When you walk into the library during finals week its almost a
cliche' how many people have headphones. Did Steve Jobs possibly
foresee taking over all the study rooms with his Apple gadgets? God
Bless America. Anyways, I have found that during cram time I cannot
study very effectively with music. Whether it's bobbing my head to
dub step, crying to the country song, or rapping with Snoop...it
takes me 2x longer to absorb information with music. Maybe Dr.
Darby could explain the left/right brain activity or maybe it's
just too much input into my nervous system, but I've tried to be
'cool' for 5 straight trimesters. This time I'm gonna be the weird
guy in the corner cubby without the trendy white headphones that
fall out of your ears on a run. ;)
On an NUHS note: This is the last blog of my basic science
track!!! Woo hoo!! See you all after break. My 24th bday is a
couple days into break and I'm sure the first blog of next
trimester will have some stories. :)
Take care over break.
Later Gator,
CC