Sometimes You Gotta Wonder...

Dental school tends to draw people who are very detail oriented and then makes obsessive compulsive freaks out of them. Hence, the general distress when we turn things in to be graded. They scare you and use words like "automatic failure" and take extremely unecessarily long sessions to grade things leaving you wtih knots in your stomach as you prepare yourself for the worst. So when things turn out ok, well, in this case MORE than ok, you're left to wonder. Did I just get lucky? Were they undeservingly merciful? Did I just get the easy grader and won't know that I really suck? OR am I really not as bad at this as I think I am because they've made me an insecure freak? For some reason, operative has done that to me. Dental anatomy, totally different. I had a great outlook - I would leave my practicals, go study/eat lunch, come back, check my grade, put it in the drawer, and move on to more important things. I did fine and never freaked out. Operative leaves me at least 2 times a semester spending an hour trying to accept the fact that I probably failed, reminding myself that I get a drop and it will be ok, and then it turns out fine. Just fine. They let you know if you need help and apparently I don't. So please explain to me why a student with a B average in operative can't get over practicals!?!? I think I need a nice hot bath tonight to get over this. I'll use my fun new bath stuff I'm getting at the Bath Junkie social tonight! : )

Next time I think about saying, "I feel like I got hit by a truck..."

I'll keep my mouth shut. Tonight Mom, Dad, Erik and I went to the Dairyette to get a delicious hamburger and then run across the street to the football field at Bishop Lynch to watch my cousin Sarah march in the Terrell High School band. After halftime, we ran back to the car to eat our food and in the midst of dinner, the carhop got hit by a pickup. A lady ran over her feet and pinned her between two cars. After a lot of excitement, it all turned out ok...she actually walked away when all was said and done. Thank God her mom was there who is a nurse, so she was in good hands until the ambulance came (by the way, my mom called 911 and was put on hold...yes, on hold! My dad had to run across to the football game and get a cop who radioed (?) in for an ambulance!). It all happened when someone was basically really rude and impatient and it turned into a life changing night for that lady driving who has to live with what happened for the rest of her life. Yuck. We are so busy and so self-centered a lot of the time (at least I know I'm guilty) and we make rash decisions and don't think. So slow down. Be nice to people. Take a look at the big picture and enjoy life.

Getting in the Groove

This week was decidedly better, and I give it all to God. I also lend a lot of the mental health improvement to the lovely weather (also from God) and some good time with my family (again, God). I decided to be practical about getting work done - to use my time wisely in class, take advantage of the help you get from professors while in class, and only work outside of class when absolutely necessary. And only when you really know what you're doing. I haven't freaked out about tests, but took them seriously. And it's also been a good soup week in the hospital cafeteria, which is always a bonus.

On a side note, I went to my 10 year high school reunion on Saturday with Ellen by my side. What a great friend...I miss her so much. I also had lunch with Courtney last week, so two long lost amazing friends in one week is pretty good. Grounding, refreshing, challenging, Godly gals the both of them. It was so fun to catch up and remember good times with them and everyone else I saw at the reunion...it's also fun to be making more of them right now, which is so much easier to do when there is time to breathe in dental school!

Gotta Catch My Breath

I'm going to have a really long week. I sit down every Sunday and plan out exactly what has to happen each day in order to make it (let me emphasize "make it" - not get ahead). I also start my perio rotations this week, so I'm losing some of that "off" time that is now lab time since some due dates are approaching and I need to step up the pace. So I plan on being in the lab as long as it takes tomorrow to totally catch up with operative and fixed. And then there's removable...guess I'll have to stay late Tuesday, too. Unfortunately, I also plan to work through lunches, and I'm so miserably behind in path after that absolutely miserably embarassing practical, that every free moment will be devoted to catch up. And I have 2 tests this week. I'm just grateful that God will give me the strength to do all this...even if it's really hard. Because He knows I don't have it in me.

Lessons Learned

It was a really long week last week as I kept losing things. My ID badge never showed up and the card machine was broken, so I went all week long without until finally on Friday, I happened upon a working machine and the clinic director ready to help. Yay. I apparently left my Mx typodont in my sim head on Thursday as I was rushed out of the lab for the 4th years to take over for a progress exam. The guy in my spot took it with him and I was upper arch-less for the entire week. I spent perfectly good study time (and chilling time) on eBay looking for cheap replacements, but in the end my friend Regan who graduated last May was gracious enough to give me hers, which I picked up on Friday afternoon. Needless to say, typodont-napper fessed up and is supposedly going to return it to me (although I will probably have to get it myself...). Next was my mixing bowl, but that was easy as Alex and just packed one of mine up with his. Not bad. Next problem was that I left my handpieces out just in time for the next progress exam, but they were in their rightful place when I returned. Yeesh! I have got to straighten my act up! And I actually need to start studying. Really. I'm kinda behind....in everything but fixed and radiology : ) Cuz we have pop quizzes in those classes : )