Final Post of Spring 2019 Semester

     Hey everyone! I just wanted to stop in and let everyone know what was going on for the end of the semester. As of last week, all of my recommenders had submitted their letters of recommendation for my MPA evaluation, I finished my application section, and the application as a whole was submitted!! Now we wait. I will be scheduled for an interview time in the next couple of weeks to be evaluated and hopefully receive a good enough score that it will help with my up and coming medical school applications. I will be taking my MCAT in May and applying in June whenever I get my scores back. My plan is to have my application completed save my MCAT scores, and as soon as I get those back, send the applications to the far corners of the continental US. I have continued to study for my MCAT (not nearly as much as I would have liked because of keeping up with the end of semester duties of other classes) but I have still been trying to make time for it. I have even postponed my summer job until after the test is over too, so hopefully that will give me some more time. I have been working hard for the last 3 years and it is relieving to see it start to pay off now. I am so excited for everything to come.
     Well, thank you for reading and I will be sure to hop back on here again next semester to make you all aware of my Fall 2019 Collo Project. Until then...

Collo Update on Hours

Hey everyone! I just wanted to give an update for my Collo project this semester. So as a reminder, my project was to work on preparing for medical school. I was working on studying for the MCAT, filling out the application for the MPA Committee Evaluation, writing my personal statement, and gathering recommendation letters.

As of last week, I have completed my MPA evaluation, except for my recommendation letters. I have found all of my recommenders, but only one has submitted their letter for evaluation. I have also completed both my resume and my personal statement. Writing my personal statement was far more difficult than I thought it would be. Everyone always talks about their one defining moment where they knew they wanted to be a physician. That did not necessarily happen for me. My journey to medicine was a collection of experiences that continually ingrained in me the reasons I wanted to be a physician. Putting those out on paper is a lot harder than having your own understanding of their occurrence. Even so, I think I am finally happy with the end product. I have had several friends, family, and mentors read over it and give me their critiques. It is still up for alterations if need be, but overall I feel it is a good representation of me! Depending on the number application o have, my interviews will be somewhere between May 10-14. 

I have also been studying diligently for the MCAT! I try to fit in studying whenever I can. The plan right now is the take the MCAT the last week in May so that I will have my scores back by the end of June. I will then submit my application through AMCAS as soon as my scores come back. My plan is to study for the entirety of May after my semester ends. My goal is to achieve over a 500. I will also be taking a summer class after the MCAT ends and I will be working as a PCT at my local hospital. This should be an eventful summer.

Overall, I have far exceeded my allotted Collo hours this semester by working on this endeavor. But it will all be so worth it when I start receiving those acceptances.

Spring 2019 Update

     Hello everyone! I just wanted to drop in and give a quick update as to how my Collo project for

this semester is going. As stated earlier in the blog, this semester, I chose to spend my Collo hours

preparing for the MCAT, MPA Evaluations, and Applying for Medical School. Therefore, I will just

 give a quick run through of how things are going.

     To begin, I have been studying as much as I can for the MCAT. It can be difficult while also

juggling other classes (especially O Chem and Virology); however, I have tried to devote at least 5

hours per week towards material review and test-taking strategies. This can vary week to week with

some having more and some having less, but I have tried to stay rather consistent. Also, the second

round of MPA evaluations opened this week and I have been gathering everything that I need for that.

 I am trying to get all of my recommendations together and am talking with several professors right

now to get that all taken care of. Also, I completed my resume and the second draft of my Personal

Statement. I have several people who are looking over those for me right now to critique my work

and help me to make sure it is perfect before it is submitted. Having these meticulously checked over

by several pairs of eyes will help tremendously, not just with my committee evaluations, but also for

when I am ready to submit them to medical schools for review.

     Overall, the semester has not been terrible and classes are going well. The last couple of weeks

have been quite stressful due to all of these things coming due at one time, but other than that, I feel

as though I have gotten a lot accomplished this semester. And though I feel that I have far surpassed

my Collo hours for the semester, I will be giving another update very soon. I am stressed but

extremely excited to begin watching everything I have worked for over the last 3 years, come to

fruition. I will keep you all updated!!

Spring 2019 Proposal

     My collo proposal for this semester is going to be a little different than my last few. This is my primary semester to study for MCAT and begin my Medical School application process. Therefore, this is what I have decided to spend my collo time on. I am going to spend my time studying for the MCAT, taking the MCAT (later in the semester), writing my personal statement, gathering recommendation letters from my professors and physicians that I have shadowed in my local area, and compiling my information for the MPA evaluations at ETSU. This will take up more than the 20 hours required for this course, but I assure you it will be well spent. I will work on keeping my blog updated as I progress through these next few months.

Learning Piano (12 Hours)

     Since my last blog post about learning to play the piano, I have been trying to set aside even more time for myself to practice and learn. It has become some-what of a stress relief for me to work on advancing my skills. I usually try to spend at least a couple of hours per week rehearsing. I have tried to maintain this pattern throughout the semester. While continuing my rehearsal of the songs I listed on my last blog post, one of the songs I have had a lot of fun learning is “Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat. It is not super complicated (unless you are not good and are still learning such as me) but it still took me quite a bit of time to learn. I enjoy playing it because it is one that is easy to sing along to. Of course, the singing only happens when I am absolutely alone in my room and no other living being can hear me 😊.

     Also, I have been practicing playing my absolute favorite song, “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers. Again, it is not super hard once you get the hang of it, and it is super fun for me to be able to play and sing along to something that I have listened to and loved for so many years. The third song I have been practicing is “Let it Be” by the Beetles. This is another song that I have grown up listening to, and it makes me very happy that I can finally play it.

     In addition to these songs, I have also continued my practice of the other ones. There have also been songs that I have practiced and played that have not been included in either of these blog posts. I have several friends and cousins who have played the piano for several years and who have taught me little “doodles” throughout the course of this semester. Overall, I feel that I have advanced my abilities quite a bit this semester, and plan to continue my practice in the future (especially over Christmas Break).

Honors Social

     Our annual ETSU Honors Social was held on November 6, 2018 from 6-10pm. This year, I was able to see the social in a slightly different light. That is because, as a member of the Honors Student Council, I was able to act as part of the planning committee who put the event together. We worked for several weeks in advance; talking to caterers, reserving/setting up the space, etc. I had not had a role in planning an event such as this since being on the prom planning committee in high school; therefore, I was very excited to take on this role yet again for something I truly enjoy taking part in.

     This year, we decided that instead of our usual semi-formal social, we wanted to create a laid-back atmosphere for our peers to interact and hang out with good food, live music, and fun! The event was held downtown at the Pavilion (outside) and the weather was perfectly cooperative. We had Barberitos and Mimi’s Icecream cater for the event. Everyone loved the food and liked that they could prepare their meal be what they enjoyed most. Mimi’s offered several delicious options, and all of the attendees were more than pleased with the variety! We also had live music, “Loose Leaves”. They were a hit! Everyone talked about how great they were; from their covers to their originals. Everyone loved having live music instead of our usual pop tunes. We also had corn hole, an opportunity to sign pumpkins depending on your class, and photo ops. It was also a terrific opportunity to meet up with friends and catch up. Where we have all begun progressing into our majors, we rarely see each other via school related events anymore; therefore, getting to be in one another's company always makes for an enjoyable time!

     Overall, it seemed that the night was a tremendous success and I was so glad that I got to be part of the group that brought it to life. I am so excited to see what plans we come up with for next year’s social, as well as our charity ball in the Spring.

Learning Piano (8 Hours)

            For part of my Collo project this semester, I had decided to take on the task of learning to play the piano. I have never played a musical instrument before except for my feet (I was a tap dancer for 16 years) and I knew it would be a large undertaking. My cousin took piano lessons when we were younger and I was always fascinated with how quickly her fingers moved over the keys and the beautiful music that she created. Though I do not have access to a grand piano, I do have a keyboard with a setting of “Piano” that matches the sounds and the keys available on a regular piano. Over the last few weeks, I have been practicing several chords and easy songs over and over and over again until I can get my fingers used to making the motions. The 2 chords I have been practicing are G chord and C chord. Those have not been too terribly difficult because they are played by pressing three keys down simultaneously that are one key apart. G chord is played by G + B + D and C chord is C + E + G.

            I also learned how to play the following songs: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, “You are my Sunshine”, and “In the Jungle”. The keys for each are listed below. Overall, learning how to play has been very fun and challenging at the same time. I love doing things that make me think and pull me out of my comfort zone. I cannot wait to see how much I learn by the end of this semester.

“Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”

CC GG AA G

FF EE DD C

GG FF EE D

GG FF EE D

CC GG AA G

FF EE DD C

“You are my Sunshine”

GCDEE   EEbECC

CDEFA   AGFE

CDEFA   AGFEC

CDEFDDEC

“In the Jungle”

CDEDEFEDC

DEDCED