Project Sunshine

There aren't too many volunteer opportunities on NYMC's campus. There's a student-run clinic, but AMP students (and first-year med students) aren't allowed to do anything but administrative tasks (i.e. copy wench). I joined Project Sunshine a few weeks ago because visiting hospitalized children sounded like a fun way to develop patient contact skills.

The NYMC Project Sunshine chapter has ~50 people in it so we get divided up into groups of 5 and one group visits the Blythedale Children's Hospital at a time. My group went last Friday and we had an awesome afternoon playing with some of the children in the physical therapy program. Some played Madden, some painted pumpkins, I chased a 3-year-old with a Spongebob Squarepants ball for an hour.

I kinda wish we knew more about the kids' needs before meeting them, but we caught on quick and everyone had a fantastic time. I can't wait to go back.

Roommates

I am totally submitting these to whatsthatbug.com

We have the technology

Yesterday I made friends with Excel. I somehow got through undergrad without ever taking a class that used it, so I was sweating like a hoss when I realized we needed it to do our biostat homework.
It was not the worst thing ever, especially since there are easy-to-find online tutorials for everything I needed to do. The only problem was that the Office I have on my macBook Pro is somehow deficient, so I had to stalk the wild public-access PC in the Basic Science Building. Half of their computers have floppy drives instead of USB. It's like a time capsule!

Slow week

We had Exam II on 9/30, and only one day of classes since then. Most of us AMP students have been using this time to catch up on med school apps, and almost half have left town to visit friends and family.

I've spent the last two Thursday's at a friend's apartment watching The Office. We even dressed up in character for the season premiere (that's Dwight and Phyllis on the couch playing Guitar Hero). A few of us also went bowling at the White Plains AMF on Friday ($20 for two games, ouch).

We only have 3+ weeks until Histology is over, we begin Physiology AND Biochem, and my carefree lifestyle comes to an end. I forsee fewer visits to NYC, more QT in the library, and less (more?) drinking amongst the AMPs.

San Antonio

I had my interviews at UTHSCSA today. It was very laid-back, and apparently designed to tone down the pre-med panic. Lots of nice new buildings and happy students.
I hate traveling alone. I constantly feel like I'm seconds away from being mugged, losing my luggage, or just forgetting how to read and getting on the wrong plane. But these rocking chairs in Charlotte's airports made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

I'll be missing all of tomorrow's classes while I travel. The weird part is I don't need to let anyone know. I don't need to ask permission or give an excuse to an instructor. Creeping adulthood isn't all bad.

And another AMP student was accepted to some med school! So that's 2 down, 18 to go. I wonder if she'll follow through with the program since she already has an acceptance, or if she'll bail and save herself a semester and $14,000.