Mountain Jade

These are so beautiful.

NASA Badge // Anti Social Club

No Government // Letter Patched            

Denim Coat // Faux leather

Color Block // NASA Print Back

Rabbit Ears // Animal Printed

“How To Study.”

A tale told by a physics student. I am really bad at studying. Which explains my somewhat average grades. But i know how to study effectively and realistically have success with studying. Nobody ever teaches you HOW  to study, they just tell you to study. So here is how i do it (most of the time)

There are two ways of going at it.

Stress studying. (studying for exams just the day before and putting as much information in your head as possible just to forget everything right before the exam)

Actual studying. (taking the time you have and study at least 4 hours a day 3 work days a week, and actually get the success that you deserve)

Stress studying

It’s bad for you, your health, and a big cause of bee colony collapse disorder (Don’t ask why). Realistically you’re gonna pass your exams  1 out of 3 or 4 times, and it is just not worth it. It doesn’t just reflect on your grades but also on your work ethic. (which is real bad for your future)

Actual studying

What you need is:

Time.

Studying utensils (quality notebooks and good pens).

A clean and tidy Studying environment.

Discipline.

Time - It’s really simple, plan 4 hours a day of studying 3 work days a week. Don’t be like “But dude! When will i have time for my personal stuff?” seriously. A typical day has 24 hours, If you go to sleep at midnight and wake up at 7 or 8 (that’s 7-8 hours of sleep) you have 17-18 hours left to your day.

4 hours of that is just 23%, taking in account you’d do it at least 3 work days a week it would be just 7% (and a little more) of your precious workday time. So it’s worth it. Totally worth it. Don’t ruin your work ethic just because you want to spent 7% more time on tumblr.

Studying Utensils - I cannot stress enough how important good notebooks and good pens and stuff are. I suffered a lot from this, i wouldn’t take notes, and write down stuff because of how awful it looked on cheap paper with bic pens (no offense bic, your lighters are awesome tho).  

It’s not cheap tho, but at least buy good notebooks with that metal round thingy holding it (i.d.k the name of it in English). And go Black instead of Blue, Black pens all the way. Use sharpies instead of the usual stuff, or at least gel ink pens, the smoother it goes the better, and blue pens are an abomination, every knowledgeable person in the past ages has written in black. Oh, and fineliners.

A clean and tidy Studying environment - You have a desk? Yes? Good. Throw everything you have on it to the ground (except you laptop, you wouldn’t drop a baby, would you?). Get a desk lamp, no matter how bright your room is, you need a concentrated stream of light allowing the photons reflecting from the ink on your books to transfer the information successfully to your brain, and desk lamps boost concentration. Make that a working environment, only use that desk when you’re studying (no exceptions) and once you do that, every time you sit by your desk you will automatically start to work.

Discipline - You want to be full on motivated :D ??? Well f*** you cause that’s not happening >:D

Discipline is what you’re looking for. Full on military stuff, just like back in good old communism. Discipline guarantees you success, motivation leads to incoherent success which includes utterly common instances of failure.

I mean look at the definitions:

Mo·ti·va·tionˌ

mōdəˈvāSH(ə)n/ - noun

the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.

the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

Will you rely on luck and willingness or reason? No, luck and willingness pass, they are not consistent and for every reason there are at least 10 excuses. Don’t be a silly excuse for your failed academic success.

Dis·ci·pline

ˈdisəplən/ - noun

The practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience[1].

A branch of knowledge, typically one studied in higher education.

[1] - The only punishment you’ll receive is academic failure, and not reaching your true, deserving recognition for your true intelligence and social worth just because of laziness caused by day to day stress is punishment enough, i think.

Discipline yourself, push yourself. Don’t wait for something so relative, so passing as motivation. If you’re gonna do something, STAND THE f*** UP AND DO IT.

Just remember RWSR.

Read

Write

Study

Repeat

Cheers,

In less than two months I will graduate.  It is a surreal experience.  Just the other day I corrected a patient who referred to me as doctor, and it struck me that soon I won’t have to do that.  Somehow I made it.  And if I can, you can.

Medical school is a crucible; one I almost never made it to.  Eight years ago I was working a job I hated in order to fund my outrageous partying habit.  Through a series of life events I found myself facing a crossroad, asking “what am I was going to do that will make some difference in the world?”  It was then that I found medicine.  

No one thought I was serious when I said I would quit my job and go back to school.  I wasn’t even sure of my sincerity.  But I did it.  Soon the late nights at the bar were replaced by late nights in the library.  Alcohol was replaced with coffee and energy drinks.  I practically moved into a local coffee shop.   

During undergrad there were times I struggled.  One particular day, while stressed out and on the verge of giving up, an advisor told me I might want to reconsider med school if I could not handle the stress of undergrad.  A year later, I was criticized for accepting admission to my state school because I “wasn’t aiming high enough.”  And when I inquired about getting an MPH in medical school I was told by multiple sources that I would not be able to handle two degrees in 4 years (most programs require you take a year off, which I did not want to do).

This May, after 4 years of medical school, I will graduate with my MD and my MPH.  I have multiple journal publications.  I have held positions on national committees in organized medicine.  That’s not bad for a guy who “wasn’t aiming high enough.” 

I am not a role model for anyone nor am I here to speak of my successes; I am just a guy that survived the experience.  At every step of my journey there have been people who have tried to temper my goals with their doses of “reality.”  Each time, those predictions have proven to be false.  I want to share with you, the med students and pre-med students who read my blog, that you are the master of your future.  I am proof that you can make it when everyone around you suggests you can’t.

Your life is just that, your life.  You cannot let anyone or anything else dictate where it is headed.  Maybe you had a rough past.  Maybe your parents say you can’t make it.  Maybe your scores don’t seem high enough.  But what ever you want to do, you can do it.  The world abounds with stories of individuals overcoming odds.