During my re-entry into the blog world, I realize I wrote a LOT about med school during the first year, and never wrote one thing second year. That's *good* because it sucked.

So here's second year in a nutshell:

You're in class from 8-5 pm on many days.
You are supposed to study every single day (which, of course, I didn't do)
Your extra-curricular activities begin to feel like chores instead of fun stuff.
You being to rot from the inside and out.
You begin to question your decision about med school more frequently and with more "umph"
You tell first year med students that they shouldn't complain, because second year is 4 billion times worse.... (then you go back and read your old blog entries from first year and realize that you complained like crazy).

All joking aside, the second year was pretty awful. I have never seen so many people become depressed, struggle with anxiety and sleep, etc. I mean, we're not at WAR here, we're supposed to be learning. Why should it be torture?

And the crazy thing is, I was one of the people who was able to maintain *some* balance. I didn't care about grades enough to study all the time. I worked out regularly, cooked regularly, spent quality time with those I care about, and traveled (California, scattered locations throughout Florida, Morocco, Dominican Republic). And despite all that wonderfulness in my life, I was still absolutely miserable at times.

Seeing the toll that med school took on my classmates and myself makes me wonder what they're doing wrong. I am not just a negative bitch. There is something inherently wrong with this system.