Gonnabeadoctor

Day 44

gonnabeadoctor — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:11:05 +0000

A week from two hours ago, I will be done with Summer Organic Chemistry. Intense.

A year ago today I was in Prague, getting ready to go to Paris, then Amsterdam, then Barcelona. Right now, I’m living vicariously through those memories, just as I had expected. I planned that trip well.

Holy shit do I have a lot of work this weekend.

Day Whatever

gonnabeadoctor — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:51:18 +0000

I think I’m going to have to keep doing multi-step synthesis problems for a few days after the final exam, just to wean myself off Orgo. Seriously. This crazy shit has become part of my perpetual thought process. I’ve spent more time looking at these functional groups than I have any human being since I started this course. Am I gonna feel withdrawal when it all ends? Not in a creepy “Tom Hanks in Cast Away when he lost his ball/friend” way, but in a “I was doing these things nonstop for seven weeks, and then I stopped” way? You can become dependent on anything. You can become dependent on the act of throwing a baseball at the wall before you go to bed at night. Weird shit. You can grow to need it. It happens.

I’ve been in this building for 14 and a half hours. I’m going home.

Day 28

gonnabeadoctor — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 13:15:15 +0000

Months of Organic Chemistry exist between my previous post and now. My study strategies have evolved at least three times since I began this course, just to adapt to the changing landscape. It’s been a ridiculous ride, but so far, I’m doing pretty well. I’d say I’m in the running for an A-minus. Not bad, considering the circumstances of the class. But I’m gunning for that A. I’m gonna throw everything I have into getting that A. Because if I get it, shit… I’m gonna laugh for days. And I’ll finally have earned that bottle of wine (Meerlust) and that cigar.

Day 9

gonnabeadoctor — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 02:27:34 +0000

So yesterday I found out that I nailed the first exam (YEEUH!) and for the past 36 hours I’ve been struggling to not get comfortable. I have to do exactly what I did last week, 6 more times. I can’t get cocky. I can’t forget what lead me to do well the first week. I have to keep the momentum up and the effort at eleven.

Day 7

gonnabeadoctor — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 01:32:10 +0000

These days I’m listening to music on Pandora. Right now it’s my Massive Attack station, because I wanted to listen to trip-hop without starting off with a Portishead song.

So Week 1 is closing pretty well. The material is not hard (at least, not yet) and I have a pretty good method for success: never fall behind. Ever. Not even once. Or you’ll die.

Granted, I’ve spent the entire weekend studying for tomorrow’s exam, when I could have been devoting some of that time to working on Lab #2, but I’m still perfecting my game.

Lab is awesome, by the way. A ridiculous mess of chemicals and glassware, and cussing at your lab partner. It’s a good time.

Alright. Gonna pack it in. After going over my mechanism sheet, my mechanism flash-cards, and writing out some “tips” from the last practice exam I took. The machine keeps running.

Day 2

gonnabeadoctor — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:07:40 +0000

Woke up at 6:00am morning feeling really sluggish. There was no way I could’ve had a productive workout at the gym. So today’s schedule included lecture, discussion, Purple Book problems, reading for Lab #1, and starting the pre-lab. I worked pretty hard, but I can already see where I can tighten a few screws and become more efficient. Wrapped up around 9:45pm.

One of the pre-lab questions for Lab #1 involved the drug THC. I’m not kidding.

I’m sitting here drinking more Triple Bock. Probably 75ml this time. I tried listening to more Ulrich Schnauss and Trafik but the rest of their tracks on Pandora just suck. Today lacked the same OOMF that yesterday had. Now the bland reality is setting in that the next seven weeks will be 95% work. It’s alright really. I just worry that my friendships and mental health might suffer.

Day 1

gonnabeadoctor — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:32:28 +0000

In the bag. Nailed it. It’s a LOT OF WORK, but it’s doable. I just can’t get comfortable. I have to keep getting better.

Drinking about 50ml of Sam Adams Triple Bock while listening to tracks by Ulrich Schnauss and Trafik. A small pat on the back to end a very long day.

Day 0

gonnabeadoctor — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:37:28 +0000

So tomorrow I begin summer Organic Chemistry. I’ve had a nice five weeks off. I’ve relaxed and I’ve partied. And tomorrow, I get back to work.

My mom flew up north last week and we had a great visit. We were in New York for a few days and then she was here in Cambridge. Speaking of Cambridge, it’s hot as hell right now. Not the best weather for getting to bed early on a Sunday night, but I gotta do it anyway. I’ll probably net 7 hours of sleep before I wake up, make a light breakfast, go to the gym, do my thing, and then start class. Not bad.

Day -6

gonnabeadoctor — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:51:41 +0000

Read: “Day Negative 6.” Sunday will be Day 0, and Monday will be Day 1.

I still have one week (and one more trip!) before Organic Chemistry starts. I leave for New York tomorrow morning. I’m meeting up with my Mom. It should be a great time.

This past weekend was Cape Cod Weekend. Specifically, Chatham Weekend. It was an absolute blast. I was worried I wasn’t going to have a good time because I got a cold the day before, but I roughed through it and was feeling healthy by Saturday afternoon. We had left Friday morning. Jon drove me and Greg in his car, and Luisa drove Jenna and Suzanna in hers. We got to the house, unpacked, and then went to buy some groceries, booze, and miscellay. Throughout the weekend we barbecued, drank, danced, and watched the World Cup. Outside the house, we visited several of Chatham’s restaurants and bars, becoming acquainted with the town, with the daily life of the locals, and with some of the locals themselves. We even hit the beach, for like, 45 minutes on Saturday (it wasn’t the sunniest of weekends). On Sunday we escaped to Provincetown for a midday stroll. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. I found myself enjoying Cape Cod to a degree that I hadn’t expected, and the company of my friends to a level that I hadn’t before.

Today is my last “me day” on vacation. Mom goes home on Monday, which is when Organic Chemistry starts. So I’m just gonna enjoy the solitude and make some preparations. It’s amazing how naturally my subconscious kicks into “almost back in school mode.” I’m starting to go to bed early, eat better food, and do all that productive stuff that I do in the height of a semester. Summer Orgo is going to be hard, but I KNOW I can do it. I’m going to try to write every day, just to keep my mind right. I’m also going to try to plan little vacations for myself. Like, going to the movies, or volunteering with my MGH Volunteering (AKA Chatham) Crew.

Less than two weeks

gonnabeadoctor — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:50:37 +0000

So I start Organic Chemistry in 12 days. I’ve been doing less preliminary studying in the past week or so. I went to Brooklyn over the weekend, which was awesome. Visited Christian and Marta, drank beer, ate food, chilled on their roof deck, and did little else. It was truly relaxing. By the end of the weekend, my neck and shoulder pain were almost 100% gone. My mind felt relaxed, too. Nothing makes you forget about bond-line drawings quicker than semi-inebriated afternoons with good friends.

This weekend is Cape Cod, then I meet my mom in Manhattan. I’m going to have collected a cool series of mini-vacations by the time Organic Chemistry starts. My mind is being massaged, which is good, but I also need to prime it. In the week before class, I’m going to re-read what I’ve highlighted in my books, make some flash cards, and do some practice problems. That way I can hit the ground running.

In entertainment news, I’ve been dodging any and all advertising for the movie Inception. It’s like the Holy Grail of my summer, and I don’t want to ruin it for myself.