Jordan, ‘10

There’s a force that’s pushing all of us forward.  This must be true since every other student who approaches me says, “Ugh, I didn’t want to get out of bed today.”  I always resist the urge to say, “So who made you?”  Somehow I feel that would set the wrong tone for the conversation.  Sort of a defensive mood-swinger.  It’s not that I wouldn’t ask it with honest, innocent curiosity–it’s just that they might start to regret getting up once they realized that they didn’t really have to. 

The force is something close to stress but doesn’t quite qualify.  It’s why I lose hair during midterm season (no it’s not gross, it’s a stress thing and I’ve never gone totally bald–though I’ve thought about shaving it all off on several occasions).  It’s why some kids hyperventilate, or become party-hardy once the weekend comes.  Stress (or something like it) can be exhausting and I’m not going to lie–the courses here are tough even if you’re prepared for them.  But that’s part of the whole college “experience” right?  You have to have the anxiety to make the concert/movie/clam bake you attend over the weekend all the sweeter.  Right?

At the moment, I’m experiencing the stress that comes with preparing for the MCAT.  Every Monday night I attend (I say attend like it’s optional) a two-and-a-half hour MCAT prep course.  UR students are lucky in that the course is included in the Pre-Med concentration.  In other places, this course would cost you well over a grand.  Also, it is a year-long course usually taken the same school year as the exam itself (I’m planning to take mine in April-May).  We go over the major sections covered in the MCAT thoroughly and we’re in a setting that allows us to connect with other students who are under the same pressure. 

Tonight happens to be especially tense because I have a calculus test on Wednesday that won’t take itself (if only). 

 I’ll leave you with that–my workload buckling over your head like the walls and ceiling of a poorly maintained mineshaft.  Quick!  Get out while you can! 

Just kidding, it’s all in good fun, (sort of),

Jordan

 

(Oldies but goodies)

Quotes of the week:

“Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath.  Stress is an ignorant state.  It believes everything is an emergency.  Nothing is that important.  Just lie down.”

- Natalie Goldberg

“Try to relax and enjoy the crisis.”

-Ashleigh Brilliant

“Humor is a whisper from the soul, imploring mind and body to relax, let go and be at peace again.”

-???