Andaz, Cream Puffs, and Sherlock

Hi, everyone!

My gums are a bit sore because I got a cleaning at the dentist. It's one of those things that are necessary but are unpleasant at the same time. haha. But I take care of my teeth knowing how many people spend their lives unknowingly ruining their teeth because they were never taught the importance of dental care and/or don't have access to it.

Let's backtrack to last weekend. I spent a good part of the weekend studying for the cancer bio test that I had on Monday. My test was at night so I studied with a group on Monday to make sure that I had the info down. I was always one of those people who never believed in study groups, but I am a big supporter of them now. They're super effective if you study on your own first and then teach the material to each other for a couple of hours. It's helpful to have a white board/chalkboard for study group sessions that involve science/math in particular. All of the pathways/equations can be drawn, and the confusion just dies away. Hunter has some in the library, and my friends and I like to grab one and get to work.

Photo courtesy of my awesome study buddy!

A lot of the time, I just have a quick lunch while sitting on one of Hunter's bridges and enjoying the view of Lexington Avenue. But Monday was great because I had lunch with someone at a Indian restaurant called Andaz right by Hunter where we just sat down for 40 minutes and really spent time enjoying our food. The food was so yummy and the music was pretty and the lighting was soft. There is a buffet, and you can basically get unlimited food for one set (low) price. It was just the two of us there at first, and we were just getting a bit of everything. So good. And their naan is great. Warm with some oil drizzled on it. Ahhh.

The exam went well too so Monday ended up being a great day.

On Tuesday, I was hunting for internship/job opportunities for next year. I'm hoping to stumble on something amazing soon. But as someone told me, the search is half the fun.

Then, on Wednesday, I got cream puffs from Beard Papa's with someone. So good. It was his first time there, and now he's a big fan.

On Thursday, I got my first endocrinology exam score back, and I did great! Now to keep it up...haha

Everyone has been telling me for months to watch Sherlock, and I just haven't got around to it yet. But the first season is available for free right now on the PBS website so I thought I would check it out. I've seen one episode, and I really enjoyed it so I'm officially a Sherlock fan now. Hopefully, I can get to episode 2 tomorrow...

S.

For this last semester, I've decided that I'll share one cool/interesting/thought-provoking thing that I happen to run across during the week:

Small ways to lift your mood.

Florence Study Abroad Part IV: Weekend Trips; Bologna, Venice, Pisa

I swear this semester is going to be the death of me. Just finished three papers and now my professors have given me about 3 more and two books to read. OK. I've also come to the conclusion that these Italy posts are going to take me basically this entire semester to get up since there's so much information and so many pictures involved in them. I'll try to intersperse them with regular posts, but again my semester has been insane and I'm just now realizing I haven't made a post in a month....

So here's a post about my second weekend in Italy, when I went to a number of cities. On Friday after class, we took the high speed train to Bologna. It only took 35 minutes! We looked at the university, which is the oldest modern university in the Western hemisphere (1088). We walked around and saw the ruins of the old city of Bologna inside the library and the Due Tori (a pair of towers that are both leaning in opposite directions). Apparently, during this time period, towers were signs of power and wealth in Bologna and the city is famous for its competing towers. We ended the night with some famous Bologna fare: tortellini, bread, and great wine!

The city is very medieval looking, but there were tons of motorcycles and Vespas, just like everywhere else in Italy!

Bologna at night was breathtakingly beautiful.

On Saturday we woke up very early to go to Venice for the day. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as great as it was for our Rome trip, but it held out and didn't rain. We spent some time walking through the city and got some lunch at a sandwich shop. Then we took the much talked about gondola tour. This was ridiculously expensive, but totally worth it. For four people for 45 minutes, it was 120 euro (30 euro each). If that sounds like a lot, you'd be surprised that it goes up exponentially at night and during the summer! 

The city itself was beautiful and romantic, the type of place with lots of cute bridges and narrow streets.

From our gondola ride!

After our gondola ride, we decided to go to Murano Island. Getting everywhere in Venice takes a lot of time because it's basically a water city. Venice is a lagoon and is serviced by what I would call a water subway system, which makes stops throughout the city and the "outer boroughs" of the two islands. Murano Island is famous for its glass blowing. On a day like ours during the winter, the island closed at 4 PM, so we got into the last free glassblowing demonstration at 3 PM.

This glass blown horse was made on the spot, right in front of us. I got some glass blown cat pieces.

The sunset from Murano Island.

On Sunday, we took a local train (not high speed) to Pisa. These trains are basically the equivalent of Metro North or the LIRR. It took about an hour to get to Pisa on the local train, since we made a lot of stops. The town of Pisa is actually quite large, and very quiet and residential (although most of everything was closed since it was Sunday). A lot of people told us that you just got off the train and then the tower was "right there". This was not exactly true. After 20 minutes of walking across town, and some time getting lost, we finally found the tower.

Like most towns in Italy, there was a river running through the center, and a big bridge.

Had to get my Pisa pic.

That was my second weekend in Italy! I'll post another blog soon about the class trips we went on and maybe another about the other day trips and activities we did in and around Florence. I'm just realizing how much stuff I did in just a month in Italy!

Erica

I Am Wild With A Capital W

I shouldn't be writing this because it's 11:24 pm and I SHOULD BE SLEEPING since I'm a mature adult now who has a sleep schedule and everything! (11-7)

February was awesome! I was a second-semester senior! I socialized like crazy! I went to Brooklyn College, saw a comedy show at NYU, saw Fifty Shades of Grey with my friends as a joke that ended up with us being slightly impressed with how they made it more of an empowering movie than we thought (I did NOT READ THE BOOK! Why does everyone think that?!), attended senior night that ended memorably with stuff collapsing on my head, and went to da club! I also attended 2 author events in the city with my favorite YA authors and got pictures with them and their signatures AND, AND, Sarah Rees Brennan replied to and favorited my tweets.
With all of this combined, I am basically very Wild (with a capital W, that's right).

When did I decide going out was more fun than staying in and reading books, you ask? When I realized I only have a few more months of living so carefree in the city with my best friends. This time will never return and I'm sad, but determined to appreciate it!
Now..it's March 22nd...which is weird, I think....Spring Break is soon.....I'm going to Phoenix for it! Because Nursing Conferences are awesome. And the opp fund has a category for academic conferences! We're presenting a resolution on bullying in nursing (cough, my idea, nbd).

Currently, I'm trying to get through the semester and get higher than 83s on my nursing exams. Stay tuned for more details as I discover if this is possible or not! I'm also enjoying my multicultural lit class because it's so racially charged (*shiver with joy*). Otherwise, I have been napping around, reading excellent Rainbow Rowell books (Attachments: an internet security officer falls in love with a newspaper writer after reading (monitoring, it's his job, ok?!) her emails back and forth with a friend. Emails! Falling for another person's thoughts and their soul! It's the ultimate romance.) and watching Bollywood youtube videos (nothing has changed).

Also, I ran 16/28 days in February and 17/22 days so far in March! Be proud of me, internet readers! I may have eaten 2 chocolate bars today, but it is Sunday and weekends are my weakness!
Also trying to get the nursing yearbook done in record time of one month. Feel free to stay tuned for that as well, as I play with the fate of senior year for many!

Amirah
PS. Movie recommendation: Queen : Bollywood movie that won best actress/film/director! It's great. The plot: A young woman goes on her honeymoon alone after her fiance cancels their wedding.

Fifth Avenue and Match Day

Hi, everyone!!

It's snowing! And it's the first day of spring. haha. I can't complain much though because the view outside my window is spectacular. Snow covered benches and trees.

Today is Match Day, which is the day that most 4th year medical students find out where they will do their residencies. It's one of the most exciting days of a future physician's life because they have now almost completed med school and are finding out where they'll be spending the next few years of their lives and possibly their entire lives. I can't help but imagine myself on that day. What will I be like? What specialty will I choose, and where will I end up? Many exciting things ahead.

Columbia Match Day 2015

Speaking of Columbia, somebody I know got into Teachers College! How awesome is that??

On Monday, I treated myself and took a long walk downtown. As I walked down Fifth Avenue, I couldn't help remembering being there freshman year and thinking about the changes that I see in myself since then. The maturity and the perspective that has been building since then. Being in the last couple of months of college, I can't help but continuously reflect on all that's happened. What I did right, what I did wrong, the happy moments with friends, and the anxious moments before an exam. My first walks down Madison Avenue, the long train rides to school, and going to museums.

But I should save the reflections for my last (!) post on the blog. haha. Oh gosh.

Speaking of reflections, I sat on the steps in front of Lincoln Center yesterday and was reminded of the first time that I was there. It was August 2011, just weeks before I started college. Some of my high school friends and I had gotten together for one of our last days together before we all went off in separate directions. At that point, I was just learning about the subway system. I had seen very little of Manhattan and had spent little time away from my parents. Sitting on the steps yesterday was like a full circle moment. Now taking the subway feels like the most natural thing. I've been to parts of the city that I only knew by name when I was 18. I've spent countless hours on my own and with friends crafting my sense of independence.

So much for an end to the reflections...:p

I also took my first exam of the semester yesterday, on endocrinology. It wasn't too hard, thankfully. A couple of questions that I'm unsure of but otherwise, I think that it went well.

I have a test on cancer bio on Monday so I've been prepping for that too. Wish me luck!

S.

For this last semester, I've decided that I'll share one cool/interesting/thought-provoking thing that I happen to run across during the week:

The Backlash Against Mindfulness 

Macaulay Love

Hi, everyone!

What a gorgeous week, right? OMG. I can finally feel spring in the air.

It's March and winter is officially ending and I'm graduating in just over 2 months. I'm trying to soak in every minute of my time at Hunter. Sitting in class, getting lunch, and hanging out on the bridges. In just a few months, I'll be an alumni. No longer quite belonging in the student body. Just outside of it. It makes me sad because it feels like it all happened so quickly. But at the same time, I know that I'm ready to go. :) I've done a lot in four years, and I know that there is more waiting for me just outside those doors.

Last Sunday, we had the second Macaulay Scholars Council meeting of the semester. I love going to these meetings and participating in the process of making Macaulay an increasingly fun and warm place for students. If you end up coming here, definitely try to attend these meetings by becoming a rep for your class and/or a club leader. You get to pitch ideas, and have a chance to organize student events. Drew Adair runs the meetings, and he is absolutely fabulous. He listens to what we say and encourages us to take initiative.

Speaking of Macaulay, the acceptances are supposed to come out soon, right? Ahh. It's almost exactly 4 years (March 15, 2011) since I got my acceptance. Insanity. I was so so happy when I found out. I had worked so hard, and it was the most wonderful feeling.

I've just completed my committee letter application, which is one of the most important steps of the med school application process. There are many more to come, and I am so excited to do it all. :)

My mom's birthday is on Sunday and I got her a bracelet (Shh..), which is something that I've been doing since my freshman year. Here it is:

By the way, if anyone is looking for some yummy chicken and broccoli, check out this place. They make the best that I've had.

S.

For this last semester, I've decided that I'll share one cool/interesting/thought-provoking thing that I happen to run across during the week:

Blue Bloods, Mad Men, and French food

Hi, everyone!

I spent part of tonight watching Blue Bloods with my mom because I feel like I need to spend more time with her. I'm always busy with something, and she's always saying, "You sit in your room too much, and I'm stuck here in the living room." haha. A lot of times, I'm working on something or just want to be alone, but I know that there also times when I can head over there and hang out with her. That time with family is so important, and you definitely have to fit it in into your busy schedule. As they say, the work will always be there.

We've published our first edition of the semester of The Macaulay Messenger! I'm cherishing these last couple of months of running it because I know I'm going to miss coming up with article ideas and editing pieces. It's been such a significant part of my college experience, and I hope to continue writing articles post-graduation in some other capacity. And to continue blogging as well! I have to figure out whether I want to have a personal blog or wait till I go to med school to join another school blog. Whichever it ends up being, I want to continue reflecting on my life and sharing it with other people. It's been such a joy.

I'm finishing up with the first part of season 7 of Mad Men, and it's great as usual. An eternally fantastic show that I will miss.

I'm in the process of working on med school application stuff, and it's all so exciting. Ahh. It's the culmination of years and years of hard work. Med school always seemed so far away and now, it's just around the corner. It's pretty amazing. I'll keep you all updated as things progress over the semester.

There's a misconception that med school applicants have to be these perfect people with a million things on their resume. Not the case. Med school admissions officials always say that they're interested in hearing our individual stories and what led us to our decision to be doctors. They want honesty and passion and realness above all in addition to the "regular stuff" (good grades, a good MCAT, and our experiences).

How about that snow storm that we got hit with yesterday? OMG. It made things difficult with travel, but it was so pretty at the same time. Especially the trees in Brooklyn.

S.

For this last semester, I've decided that I'll share one cool/interesting/thought-provoking thing that I happen to run across during the week:

I have to get myself to France once of these days....