End of Finals (published late)

Hey Hunter students,

Haven't written on this for a while because the completion of my junior year was more intensive than I'd anticipated. However, this post finds me happily typing away in an apple store (well- make that sort of annoyedly typing away, because my computer's been working inconsistently ever since a particular pickle juice incident, and I've been in a bunch of times, and could the superficially friendly employees just take the computer in for tests already?!). I finished my Nursing 2 final (surprisingly enough, Psych is my worst area) and my english paper for Decoding Pop Culture. This was such a great class that I will not demean it by only devoting a long parenthetical to it - I loved it. Pop culture is my thing (and arguably, everyone else's, as that is what makes it pop culture) and I loved from the first day that he suggested having Netflix for the class! Watching clips from obscure movies is my dream, and fielding references is also one (sob that I didn't get any Sunset Boulevard ones because I haven't seen it). My professor was nice enough to let me write two Bollywood papers (on DDLJ and SRK, it was so great) and finally I wrote one on the changing image of the nerd. Which may not have been my best work because I think the topic deserves 20 pages rather than 8. Senior thesis, yo (just kidding Nursing you don't write one, you just take honors classes).

Anyway, the end of the year was pretty bittersweet. I didn't realize I had to say bye to my cult of nursing friends until we were all hanging out and my goodbye didn't roughly translate to "ugh see you at 9 am lecture or at the hospital for clinical" but instead to "have a nice summer? I will miss going through rough experiences with you?" I'm glad to be out of Brookdale though, sometimes that place begins to feel like the prison it used to be...

My friend circle has noticeably shifted this year. Can I not retain friends? Do I just change them every so often? Do too many of them study abroad at once? But perhaps it's a good thing, I'm taking either 17 or 20 credits next semester and should begin to hole up.

Finally, I am trying to do all in my power to not take a summer class...but I may end up taking an online one. You can't escape it all.

Happy Summer!

*this was written in May, but not published til now (August)...but there aren't too many summer posts so hopefully it won't be too much of an outlier.

Summer Updates

It's been half a year since I last posted (it sounds way more dramatic to say that than "..since February") and I hope I can just sneak back on here, mad casual. After all, prospective MHC students have been lacking without my opinions and inputs for the past 6 months! This can't go on.

Well anyway, what I have been doing for the past summer (to everyone's avid interest, I am sure) is externing/working at a hospital as a clinical assistant. It was a great 8 week experience, and I really was so lucky to have spent my summer there. I was on a Med/Surg unit, which I chose because I figured it would give me the broadest experience. I could go into the gory details of wound care and catheters or c.dif, but I'll just say that overall it was SO educational and enriching!! I must confess: I am pretty wary of working. Theoretically, it is surely nice and makes the world go round blah blah. But the lesser responsibilities (I mean - you're not responsible for other people and insurance and being on time and payroll and clocking in and scary things like that) of school have kept me happy for so long! However, I have to suck it up and grow up because this is my senior year and ideally, after next year, I'll be working. And then...that trend will continue forever, this working thing, until I'm one of those bespectacled people that say simply, "I've been here for 32 years," all casual LIKE THAT'S NOT SEVERAL LIFETIMES!!!! (It's not. I will be 32 in 12 years. But it sounds terrifying.) Fortunately, I love my work environment! The entire staff worked so jointly and everyone knew each other so well and were overall pretty friendly. I loved work dynamics, basically.
Also, the 12 hour nurse's shift 3x a week was exhausting, but grew on me. No one ever complained about 4 days off!
The rest of my summer has been taken up with Ramadan and borrowing books from the library. Or going to the gym. Very exciting indeed. The best part of driving around is dictating the music soundtrack.
Other than that, I am prepping for the GREs by finally going to google what GRE stands for. I ordered a book and will open it some day...hopefully August will not fly by so that senior year doesn't start soon...ahh!
Hope everyone's summer is well,

Amirah
PS. Outlander the new TV show was really good!

Good Friends and Good Music

Hi, everyone.

I'm going to set off to see some fireworks with my dad again tonight. Hopefully, it won't be too humid and rainy. Seeing those lights in the sky always reminds me of how beautiful summer can be.

Last Friday, I finally got around to getting my hair trimmed. I've been going to the same lady for 5 years so she doesn't even bother to ask what I need anymore. I always get the same trim and blowout. haha.

I'm always in awe of her abilities. I know some people out there may not think that being a hairstylist or a barber is a big deal, but every time that I'm there I'm reminded of how much skill and patience these people have. Their eyes are always focused on the task at hand even as they're exchanging stories and jokes with their clients. Every movement of their hands has a purpose. They're not just haphazardly hacking away at the hair. Also, most of these people are just fun to talk to. They've heard dozens of stories from their clients over the years and can give a great perspective on something that's been on your mind. They may not be doctors or lawyers or firemen, but they're still making people's lives better. These are the people who can help us reveal and accept our own beauty and who can also help us reinvent ourselves when we want them to. So here's to all of the great hair professionals out there! haha.

The next day, I got to hang out with my middle school friends again. We hung out at Starbucks for awhile just chatting and catching up on each other's lives since the last time we saw each other during spring break. We made a stop at Otafuku, which is a cute little place in the East Village that sells Japanese street food. We grabbed some red bean medetai, which was adorable and sweet. It's a fish-shaped pastry filled with red bean paste. My friend says they have great things for lunch as well, but since we had a dinner reservation for later that night, we held back on ordering anything else. We walked around the neighborhood for awhile and sat in Stuyvesant Square just enjoying the birds and flowers. We then headed to Ducks Eatery for some Cajun inspired food. I had some amazing chicken wings (probably the best that I've ever had) and tried some of my friend's goat neck, which was surprisingly super tender and just melted in my mouth.

This past Wednesday, I hung out with another friend from middle school after a year of not seeing each other. We sat and chatted in Grand Army Plaza and took a stroll through Prospect Park. It was a beautiful day, and it was great to catch up on each other's lives. He's also pre-med so we got to discuss all of our worries about the next couple of years as we apply to and enter med school. We ended the day with some pizza at The Sicilian.

I've also continued shadowing during the last couple of weeks, and it's been going great. I'm so happy to be there just absorbing everything that I can.

I don't know how many people out there have heard of Sam Smith, but if not, go on YouTube and check him out. He's become well-known over the last few months, and he released an amazing album called In the Lonely Hour back in May. There's not a single song that I've heard of his that I don't love. He's one of the rare artists out there that sounds great on the album and even better live. He's just awesome. And he's only 22.

Take a listen.

S.

Quote of the Week

“Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” 

~ Franz Kafka