A Black Female Medical Student

Archive for November 2008

So I’m hoooooome!

Its been nice… very relaxing. I’ve spent a lot of time loafing around and watching TV. I also bought a new sweater, some really nice socks, and cute pair of leg warmers. Yes, leg warmers….. I know, I know… its soooooooo ’80s, but I live in Chicago and have to deal with like…. 5 more months of winter. I wanted to shake things up a bit. Plus, I think they’re cute!

I’m disappointed with how unproductive I’ve been this entire weekend… no week, really. Tomorrow I will hop on my flight back to the Midwest and I will have no more knowledge of Biochemistry and Respiratory Physiology than when I left. Unfortunate.

In my defense however, I have been battling a severe cold for the last couple of days. I started coming down with it on Monday night and it was getting progressively worse all the way up to like, yesterday. I let myself get lots of rest because I didn’t want to stress myself out on my vacation, and also because I really don’t want to carry this cold back with me to Chicago. I want to get the illness over and done with…. I can’t stand lingering colds.

I also managed to start and finish The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, which was an interesting read.

It was very…. masculine. I heard his next book is also about modern day Afghanistan, only told in the perspective of two women. I may read too, just to see how it turns out…. he writes like such a dude.

There was a bit of good news during the week, though! I found out that I made the Executive Board for one of the student clinics! Awesome, I know! I’m actually quite excited about it…. I think I will have a lot of fun. I’m also running for the position of Admissions Chair in our SNMA chapter.

Its a position that I think is very important, but apparently nobody wants to do. Probably because of the amount of thankless work that it involved. I was going to go for VP, because I think I would make an EXCELLENT VP (and I really do, I’m not trying to float my boat), but…. everybody and they mama is going for it, and I don’t want to enter a catfight. Also, I don’t want the Admissions Chair position to go to someone who will just slack on it. It doesn’t seem like any of my other classmates are particularly enthused about it.

I also think that its a good position that will help me get my organization skills up to par, because they’re pretty abysmal right now. Anyways, I’m going to try and get some studying done…. in about an hour my family will be leaving to pay a visit to my Auntie.

Well…. until next time….. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Tomorrow I hop on the plane out of Chicago and back to the East Coast. I’m so excited to be switching time zones again. 🙂

I have nearly a week at home to be a full blown couch potato before I have to come back here and deal with finals. It could not be soon enough.

I think I’m coming down with something, though. I’ll probably stop by the drugstore before I cab it over to the airport. Planes always give me the sniffles and the fact that I’m already coming down with something will only make it worse. I refuse to get sick before my first real vacation of the school year!

So in other news…. I think I may be developing a crush on one of my classmates. A real one… not one of these fake ones that I make up just to distract myself from the utter monotony that is my life.

He’s very cute (at least to me)…. and very funny. He acts like he’s a tough guy, but deep down he’s just really nice. He’s smart, and honest, and I feel like I can be  myself around him. Whichever way it goes, we’re gonna be great friends when we get out of here, but I can feel myself gravitating towards the more than friendship category.

Its scary because I haven’t let myself like anyone since my last boyfriend, and I’m still not sure how I’m going to play this one out… but we’ll see.

Winter break is coming up and I will be away from all of this for like a month or so. If I still feel this way in the New Year we might have a problem on our hands.:-)

Anyways, I have to finish packing. LEt me not even lie… I have to START packing.

Good night all.

Yeah, I know… the blog has been a little bare lately, but its been a slow last couple of days. We’ve hit the end of the semester slump, and I have no more tests until finals in early December. Took my Biochem test this past Friday (I think I did pretty well, but you never know with that class), and I’ve pretty much been chillaxin ever since.

One of the SNMA chapters at another school in the city held a Wine & Cheese mixer this past Saturday and I went with a few of my classmates. It was pretty chill, and most people kinda stayed with their class as far as actual socializing was concerned, but I did unexpectedly run into another Hampton Alum while there, which is always nice. There was an afterparty aftwerwards, but the whole event was pretty pretentious. Everyone was trying to get their grown & sexy on so it wasn’t a really FUN kinda party. Some of my male classmates came back with a few interesting stories, but the night was pretty uneventful for me. I came home and went straight to sleep.

Our class has a higher black male/female ratio than most of the other medical school classes  in the city (50%), apparently, so some of my males classmates were in high demand (or so they said lol). It was weird seeing other girls eye them and in some cases, jump all over them. But it was cute seeing them in their mack mode. The whole vibe was just weird for me though. I feel like finding a mate was present on a lot of people’s minds… but I was just there because I had nothing else to do that night. I was also still err… recuperating from some of the previous night’s festivities so I wasn’t my normal, sociable self.

I was talking to one of my male classmates yesterday about the weird dynamic between the black females in out class. Our class is about 11% black (which isn’t saying much for a class of 101), 1/2 girls and 1/2 guys. The girls are pretty cliqueish and we generally don’t interact with each other outside of our clique, unfortunately. I’m a reformed tomboy and have always gravitated towards guys, so I tend to hang out with a lot of the guys in addition to the girls that I chill with. Anyways, unbeknownst to me, the other girls in the class are in some semi-fierce, passive-aggressive type competition for the attention of these guys. Either way, I’m no competition for these women as far as relationships are concerned. I’m more like a little sister than a potential girlfriend as far as the guys are concerned, but I don’t think the other girls in the class know that so I’ve been the recipient of some downright chily behavior in some cases.

Anyways, its all a postulation on my part, but its the best explanation I’ve got for some of the uhh… funny behavior I’ve experienced from some of the other females in our class. It’s all good. I do understand the desire to settle down, and I am also considerably younger than many of my classmates so its also understandable that the desire has not hit me yet.

I don’t know when I will actively embark on the journey to find a mate, but it won’t be anytime soon. I also hope that when I’m ready, I won’t have to wait very long and someone snatches me up fairly quickly. I don’t think I have the energy to catfight (passively or actively) for the attentions of a dude. I don’t even think I’m cut out for the catfight to be perfectly honest. I don’t know what the heck is going on half the time.

I know its been awhile since I’ve updated, but honestly, I’ve been very busy. My mother came into town this past weekend and she made me some awesome food. In the spirit of friendship and class camaraderie, I shared it with some of my classmates. Unfortunately, my mother had sprinkled some crayfish throughout the stew she made, and one of my classmates is allergic to shellfish (and pretty much everything else, apparently), so we ended up having to run him over to the emergency room in the middle of night.

What an end to the weekend, huh?

But I got a new winter coat this week (which is so cute, by the way), as well as a new dress, some flats, and a couple of turtlenecks. Oh and the cutest pair of boots ever!

I also got to see my baby sister and show her off to my classmates. She is unbelievably funny and smart, so she provided us with some much needed comic relief throughout the weekend. 🙂

All in all, it was a pretty nice weekend, apart from the near anaphylactic shock episode. Sike… it wasn’t that bad. I still felt pretty guilty about the whole thing, though. He had to get doped up with Benadryl and missed a day of studying, so I brought him some natural remedies for allergic reactions that I had looked up on the Internet. I don’t think he actually used any of them, but he seemed to appreciate the gesture.

Today wasn’t so great though. I had an argument with my roommate last night (over the silliest thing, really), and it was really cold and rainy. However, the rain did give me a chance to try out my new “weatherproof” boots and I must say they are phenomenal. Also, I have a test in Physiology tomorrow and it seems like its gonna be another one of those cram/say a prayer/hope for the best nights because I do not feel the least bit ready.

I’m also pretty hungry.

I’m really hungry actually.

Anyways, thats about it for now. Like I said, I have Physio tomorrow and Biochem on Friday so, I probably won’t be back for while.

Toodles.

I don’t know if you heard or not, but…..

BARACK OBAMA IS OUR NEW PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES

I had this on my shirt yesterday, only it was in red, black, green and yellow. My black friends thought I looked defiant, my white friends thought it was cute.

I had this on my shirt yesterday, only it was in red, black, green and yellow. My black friends thought I looked "defiant", my white friends thought it was "cute".

I was in Grant Park last night!

It was AWESOME! I was so happy to be there….  the crowds were massive and I had to get on one of my classmates shoulders in order to see anything, but it was still one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I’m happy because I can say:

I WAS THERE WHEN CHANGE HAPPENED!!!

And the weather has just been BEAUTIFUL in Chicago… I mean, just amazing. I wore a dress and flip flops today! Which is generally completely unheard of as far as Novembers in Chicago are concerned. I truly believe God is smiling down on us, and he is just as happy as we are about our new president.

Also, I PLAYED WHIRLYBALL TODAY.

If you have not experienced this… err… sport, you are completely missing out. Its pretty much just lacrosse on bumper cars, and just overall the most ridiculous (but fun) game I have ever played. Also, it was school sponsored event so I didn’t have to pay for anything, which is also great.

Anyways, I am just having an AWESOME week. I think I’m gong to look back on this week as one of the best in my entire life.

Its my first full week as a 21 yr old, so no doors are closed to me due to my age, Barack Obama has been elected president, so millions of doors that were formerly closed to me because of my race are now OPEN, add to that I just got back from Homecoming this weekend and completely ACED (I believe) my Biochem test on Monday,  plus the sun is shining, the weather is beautiful, and I ain’t got NO TESTS THIS WEEK, so life is goooooooooooood.

🙂

I’m back!

I went back for Homecoming and I had the most awesome time. I got back to my apartment at about 10:30 last night and I had to start studying immediately because I had a test at 11am today. I think I did well on it though. There was one question I was not too sure of, but I manage to fudge an answer lol.

It was so nice to see all my friends and teachers and find out everyone was doing with they’re lives. I’m so proud my friends, everyone is doing well for the most part.  Let me not even say that, people are doing it BIG.

A lot of people like to disparage HBCU education, but I’ve come to the conclusion that they don’t know what they’re talking about. I am so grateful for my experience and all the support I had from my teachers.

I was a bit a of a teacher’s pet, I guess.

But yeah, it was fun to be back in the midst all the craziness that was college. I mean, I didn’t realize how boring my life has been until I was back. SO…MUCH…CRAZY… RANDOM… STUFF…HAPPENED. I had a more eventful life in the span of one weekend than I’ve had for the past 2.5 months. Not that I’m unhappy though. I couldn’t deal with all that drama here. I would probably fail out.

Anyways, its back to the grind. I have a lot of work to catch up on.

Smooches.



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  • abeja: Just found this blog skimming seems interesting...
  • Tashawna: Hey, Im a freshman in college and have been skimming through a few of your blogs. I just wanted to ask you some questions on how you got into medschoo
  • blackgirlmd: No she wasn't scared. Like I said, I think she already knew. My hours are cool. I have about four 8-hr shifts every wk which is pretty chill. Wayyy be

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