Semester 3 (of 12) – oh the joy (Yuan)

While most UoM students are enjoying the last few days of their holidays and the nervous first-years are happily wandering around the campus for O-week, I am already in my second week of semester 3. Medicine likes to cram as much as they could but alas, there is too much to cram so they add another two weeks in front. But then again, the practice of cramming also applies to exams, which means we’ll probably finish by the second week of exam block and get a head-start on holidays so all is fair. So I really am not complaining, just merely stating a fact of life. 😀

To be honest, I am actually kind of glad to be back. While the holidays were nice, towards the end, I was questioning whether my sanity managed to survive weeks of boredom and lack of intellectual stimulation. So I was kind of looking forwards to the new semester and what it’ll bring. Reunions with friends was great and the first lecture, ah… well, it cements the fact that I’m in for a long 14 weeks ride. For those who did the maths in their heads, yes, my course is 6 years long but it isn’t all that bad really. Actual university courses end the middle of next year (2.5yrs), then I have 1 year of research before finishing my degrees in hospital placements (another 2.5yrs). This semester, it’s all about the respiratory, cardiovascular and locomotor systems which should be exciting. One of the great things I love about studying medicine is that it applies to us individuals. As much as all of us like to be healthy forever, the sad reality is that at some stages of our lives, we are going to get sick. Helping patients and being better prepared myself are things that are always sort of in my mind. Besides, the intellectual stimulation is challenging, fun and exciting. So it is definitely a good course to consider for those undergraduates who may, in 3yrs time, apply for graduate medicine.

This year, it’s obvious that we’ve stepped up a notch. Not only do we have the normal lectures, tutorials and learning to do, we also have to consider what area of research, where we want to do it and how we want to go about it next year. Then there’s always the clinical placements to consider as they are only a couple of years away. I always feel like, now that I’m out of high school, I’ve just hopped on a runaway train that just keeps hurtling ahead and not stopping. It doesn’t feel all that long ago when I was in O-week as a first-year, nervous and not knowing anyone because I’m an interstate student. Has it really been a year already?

No more 8am lectures, which is a big big BIG bonus that I absolutely adore. But after a few days, I’ve realized the new improved 9am starts is even worse because now I have to squeeze into the trains with all the city business people as well as all the local high school kids. Just picture in your head one of those cartoons where the carriage is so squished the cartoon characters have their faces plastered against the windows. Yeah, that’s how I feel every day. But the extra hour of sleep I get in the mornings is good. And the Melbourne transport system, while heavily criticized these past few weeks, is a definite improvement other transport systems I’ve experienced. And some days, like today, my first and only class starts at 2.15pm, so yes, the time table changes are well-received.

Living with my parents again will definitely help my studies this year. I always feel like I’ve had the whole uni journey backwards. Most students will spend the first year in college or back at home and then by the second year, spread their wings and find their own nest. Whereas, last year, I kind of jumped headfirst into the deep end, living in a shared house that’s 30minutes away by public transport with my parents on the other side of the world in another hemisphere (aka Glasgow). Now that they’ve moved here and am staying with me, it definitely takes a lot of burdens off my shoulders (cooking, cleaning, laundry – all that domestic stuff). As much as I enjoy that, now that all our furnitures are here as well, it also makes moving houses a big hassle. I haven’t had a stable home for quite awhile now. Even in Brisbane, I’ve moved 3 times during my final years in high school. There was 1 year where I lived in 3 different houses. Then, just as I graduated, we moved all the way to Scotland and now all the way back. All in all, I think I’ve lived in 10 different houses (that I know of) in my entire life, which translates to a move every 21 months or so. To consider the possibility of another move in the middle of this year is positively terrifying. But yes, my parents are thinking about it. Not sure how that’s going to help my studies. But ah well, it’s life. ^_^

O week has been interesting. For some reason, I feel like this year, it’s a more toned down version than last year’s. Or maybe it’s because today is so dark, cold and gloomy that the O week atmosphere just evaporated. Or maybe it’s because I don’t have that first-year bubbliness inside me. Having said that, it’s good to see uni is about to gear up to welcome back all the students next week. The chalks are on the floor, posters are all put up and yes, it definitely feels like the campus is about to wake up.

Meanwhile, I’ve got a tutorial to prepare for so I better get back to it.