Two things that have improved my academic life greatly (and that I really appreciate today):
1) Pandora radio. I've been using it for more than a year now. It cures musical boredom, and is great for studying (except for the occasional song that provides something confusing or interesting and thus sends me into curious google mode).
2) Facebook removal therapy. I gave my roommate my facebook password, and had her change it. She is not allowed to give me the new password until AFTER our two exams on Monday. This has increased productivity to at least 200%.
How sad is it that I had to go to such drastic measures in order to not waste endless hours playing Scrabulous and Attack and reconnecting with old friends and looking at people's profiles for no good reason?
Blogging used to be one of the distraction-devices I used when I was stressed out, but I really lost all inspiration when someone accused me of talking about medical school too much.
I don't want medical school to define me, but since it takes up about 95% of my time while awake (and is the subject of 40-60% of my dreams, depending on how stressed I am that week), I really have nothing else to talk about most of the time. Also, no time to talk about it, even if I did have something to talk about.
But here I am, talking (writing, whatever).
Whenever I hang out with non-med school friends (ie when I go back home), I find myself to be possibly the most boring person ever.
Hopefully, I can do something amazing this summer and have something to talk about for a while. Hey everyone, listen to me, I'm interesting again! Woo-hoo!
What exacerbates the whole situation is the fact that I live in Gainesville. Although I am starting to grow fond of this little city, it really doesn't provide much excitement.
Allow me to elaborate...
(((Before I do, I must point out that I completely recognize that using blogging as an excuse not to study now that Facebook's gone. It's like, blogging is Nicorette and Facebook was the pack of cigarettes. Or something like that. Hey at least writing is cathartic. Facebook is just an abysmal waste of time.)))
Anyway... as I was saying, Gainseville is not so hot.
The city demographics:Almost 100,000 undergraduates, all drunk and living the American college experience.
A couple thousand Grad students, all drunk and suffering the American Grad school experience
Old people
That's it. Really.
The night life:Oh, what's that? An entire 1.5 mile stretch on an avenue, littered with bars, clubs, and tiny restaurants to eat at when you're drunk at 2 am? WOW! Yes, the bars in Gainesville can be fun occasionally, but they're all in the same place. Yeah, that 1.5 mile stretch on an avenue. Namely, University Avenue. The part of it that's North of campus is called "midtown" and then east of that it's called "downtown" and that's pretty much all there is to it. The clubs play bad music and the ones that are semi-decent try to make you wait outside as though it were South Beach and Paris Hilton was stripping inside. Drinks are cheap, though.
Let me interject my overwhelming whining and negativity with an important note: I have had a LOT of fun going out in Gainesville. But that's just because I know how to have fun, and I know fun people. And alcohol helps.
Back to the negativity: Everything closes at 2 am. This is stupid, because it only means people will be more drunk when they drive home. Furthermore, taxis are a JOKE, and so is public transportation. Basically, driving on a Friday or Saturday night is a death wish, because there are stupid drunk kids driving around because the damn clubs closed at 2 and no one even thinks taxis exist in this city.
Ok, that's it for night life.
Other:
The restaurants here SUCK. I'm spoiled; DC had so many great places to eat, with so many cultural options... Ethiopian, Thai, Middle Eastern, Turkish, Indian, Latin, etc etc etc... Gainesville is littered with chain restaurant after chain restaurant. Chili's, Fridays, Applebees... I guess this has been good for my health , my cooking skills, and my wallet, but I sure do miss the delight of eating strange food.
Anything at a Salon is 4x more expensive and 10x lower quality than Miami. Yes, I know, I shouldn't keep comparing Gainesville to Miami and DC. But I will. I would sooner have my 3 year old cousin cut my hair than risk getting it done at a Salon here. Ok, I'm exaggerating. But that's what stressed out women do. We exaggerate.
Oh, wait, the one *great* thing to eat here is some good ol' BBQ. There are BBQ pits everywhere, and they're all cost effective, tummy gratifying, and artery clogging, as they should be.
On that positive note, let me mention what's great about Gainesville...
The University of Florida:It's GREAT to be a Florida Gator. Period. The campus is gorgeous, and it's just an amazing school overall. And hopefully, I'll match in whatever residency I want, wherever I want, like they all promised. Maybe not if I keep slacking off instead of studying.
The scenery:
I don't function particularly well in the great outdoors, nor do I have much experience in being one with nature, but I can appreciate beautiful nature when I see it. Gainesville is puuuurty. There are nice trees and stuff. Exploring the surrounding areas on a nice sunny afternoon has proven to be wonderful and has helped me appreciate the great Florida Outdoors.
CHEAP RENT:
I can't wait to move into a brand-new luxury condo in August with my current roommate and a new one, paying less than half of what I paid for a one bedroom apartment in DC.
OK, I've wasted a sufficient amount of time to feel motivated to hit the books again.
