Erh?

Weekends aside, I don't really remember what I've done the past few weeks. I know I've studied at times. I've even learned some more physical exam skills. Yay! Luckily, Turkey Day's less than a week away to break that cycle. And today, through some slick moves on my part I was able to switch out of a required workshop that basically means I could bounce outta town now. I'm definitely looking forward to vegging out for a few days and stuffing my face with food.

After T-break, there's about a week of class and then bam! Seven finals in as many days. That'll suck, but the stress-free semester's been way worth it. Unfortunately, winter break only goes for 2.5 weeks. At least we come back to 2 weeks of hospital stuff and not straight to books.

On the note of studying, we had a required session today previewing the USMLE Step I exam next spring. Read: boards, part I. Alternatively, it's like the cumulative final for the first two years of med school. The session was useless, but it got me to really thinking. That's gonna blow. Hard. I'm envisioning MCAT except exponentially worse. I can somewhat come to terms (?) with the uber sucky exam. Not so cool is getting a maximum of two weeks between second and third year - we schedule our own exam dates. Last year the average was about 10 days off. Some ambitious (aka: crazy) people only gave themselves a weekend off between second and third year. I'll be shooting for two weeks off.

Either way, no form of exam is my immediate future. Yay! And I've grown to like that. Now to decide whether or not to wear a coat out. I've grown accustomed to it being in the 50s in my apartment. Still, the 20° blows that acclimation away.

Obama!

I usually don't comment much about politics, but I feel this is a worthy exception. This is the first election that I've legitimately been excited about. Granted last election I had pretty strong interests in the outcome, but moreso for fear of the incumbent winning. This year was more about actually getting behind a man and sincerely hoping that he would win. Actually believing in him and his message.

Being in Chicago, I got the chance to head down to Obama's victory rally in Grant Park. This was one of the more amazing experiences I've ever had. Being around hundreds of thousands of like-minded people, witnessing history in the making. The excitement, energy, and anticipation of the night was in every sense of the word, awesome. These words don't really do justice to the atmosphere of Grant Park last night. Either way, I'm still on a bit of a high from last night and excited for what's to come!