Speculative Speculum

Instead of formulating a plan of self betterment that I will be unable to uphold for an entire year, I have decided to make a shorter New Year’s resolution lasting a little over a week. This plan comes out of necessity since winter classes resume on the 10th of January and consists of spending the next week diligently reviewing the basic principles of general chemistry I. Sounds like a blast, huh?

It’s been 10 years since I have taken general chemistry, so I’m starting to become a little anxious about being thrown back into the game with teenagers who just had chemistry a month ago. I either way underestimate what I remember, or I know more than what I think.

I will be using TPR’s MCAT General Chemistry Review book in addition to the chemistry videos provided by the Khan Academy for any further assistance.

January 1: molecular formulas, formula and molecular weight, mole, empirical formulas, percentage composition by mass, chemical equations and stoichiometic coefficents

January 2: stoichiometric relationships in balanced reactions, limiting reagents, oxidation states

January 3: isotopes, ions, electron quantum numbers, electron configurations, atomic structure, nuclear structure

January 4: groups of the periodic table, periodic trends, bonding, VSEPR theory, types of solids, intermolecular forces

January 5: physical changes, heats of phase changes, calorimetry, phase transition diagram

January 6: gases and kinetic-molecular theory, ideal gas law, dalton’s law of partial pressures, graham’s law of effusion, approaching ideal-gas behavior

January 7-9: review notes and first 15 chapters from old general chemistry textbook

What are your New Year resolutions for 2011?
Have a safe and happy New Year’s!

We survived Christmas week and my sister’s wedding shower. She is getting married tomorrow, and my parents flew out today for her wedding. I can’t wait to see pictures! The next time that I see her hopefully she will be knocked up. I want nieces and nephews!

The kids had a wonderful Christmas, and I got the day off of work so the weekend went by unusually fast. We had Christmas at my house and then went to the in-laws during the evening. It was hard to go to work the next day, however the ER was rather calm. It is really good to have my husband home. He has been helping a lot with the children, and it has been a much needed break for me! Yay for good husbands!

It looks like D3 is cutting another tooth. She’s already wearing 12-month clothing, and she looked like a sausage when I tried to put her into her Christmas outfit. D2 is sick with a cold and is really embracing ride-on toys. D1 has discovered the finer art of legos and can’t wait until the other two take naps so that he can build robots, castles, and space ships.

On the MCAT front, I have read the biology review section of the SDN Pearls book and am almost done with Kaplan’s biology review book. I am about a third of the way through the biology EK 1001 review book now. I get 1-2 questions wrong per passage, but I’m still reviewing basic anatomy and physiology from 10 years ago. Nova Physics just arrived today so I need to get more enthusiastic about the physical science section and do some more problems.

Before having children, I was a lot better at volunteering for activities that involved helping others. However, since having three little ones, it is much harder to invest time and resources outside of the home without placing a strain on family life. Volunteering now must happen while the children are with me or asleep which places limitations on what I can participate in.

Tutoring has been one activity that has allowed me to assist others while raising young children. While completing my BSN, I helped the other students with statistics and editing their papers. People usually had no trouble with coming to my house in exchange for assistance. Usually they were very eager to learn, however occasionly I felt like they just wanted me to write their paper for them.

This last fall semester was similar to others in that there were students who asked me to help them learn the material better since I seemed to understand what was going on in class. One girl in my physic’s class was very inspiring since in the last two years she had divorced her husband, passed the GED, and aspired to be a physical therapist. She was taking quite a full load (general chemistry, general physics, precalculus, and political science) while working and raising her children. Her math skills were good, and she made great improvements. She had to drop physics after her father passed and was unable to make up a test. This was a good tutoring experience even though she had to leave due to family matters. I know that she will do well and make a wonder physical therapist eventually.

The other tutoring experiences did not go as well. One particular student would claim that she was sick the day of the test so that she would have more time to study after we had spent the entire previous night reviewing for the test. The same student wanted me to do all of her algebra homework that was due the next day that spanned work that was supposed to completed over the entire semester. I haven’t had to face other students who displayed academic dishonesty in a while. In the same vein, it was frustrating to study with biology students who appeared to know the material and then barely pass the exam. For the next semester, I will need to make sure that they can process higher order questions.

This is an actual postcard from the Victorian Era. It’s comical in that the woman is using the umbrella as a tool to keep the stork away thus ensuring that she remains childless. I had never really thought of using an umbrella as a birth control method, but it might just work. I love the symmetry of the artwork, and I especially enjoy the ferocious face of the woman!

The grades are in, and I am very happy. It’s so good to see two “A’s” for fall semester. What a great start to my premed adventure! I made amazing strides and started with 22 credit hours in history, midwifery, and premed courses (general biology and physics). Although I am no longer going to midwifery school due to differences in educational philosophies, I still feel like I accomplished great things. I also consider myself fortunate to have even taken biology and physics after registering at the last minute, being on the waitlist, and missing the first week of classes. Everything seems to be falling into place a little bit.

I have intermittently been doing some biology review and have noticed some changes in how I view things that I see in the emergency room. It is great to see some book work pay off in the clinical arena.

I’ve been doing some research for my world history class. So far my rough thesis is: southern antebellum ideology regarding African American slaves influenced the practices of James Marion Sims that led to the innovation and advancement of surgical tools and methods in the new field of gynecology. Fortunately, there is a plethora on information about Marion Sims. It’s going to be difficult, however, to remain objective in my research since his practices were very controversial.

Before winter semester starts up, I will need to review general chemistry. It’s been a whopping 10 years since I’ve taken chem I. This is the class that I’m most nervous about.

I took my biology lab practical on Monday, and I think that I did fine. Doing some biology content review really helped me when I took the exam. I could see people struggle with some parts, but the questions were easier for me because they were so similar to high yield MCAT questions. Studying for the verbal section is going a little better, and I’m scoring a 9 on the practice tests. With one more point, I’ll be a happy camper!

Yesterday D2 turned two, and we had a quiet birthday. We also had a case management meeting and Christmas potluck. Everyone brought some very delicious food. I brought D3 to the party, and everyone loved her. She was quite loved and enjoyed eating marshmallows which is funny because my boys hate marshmallows.

Christmas is near, and fall semester classes are almost over. Today, I missed my last day of physics since the weather was bad. It took me over an hour to get home from work last night because the roads were icy. I’ll have to wait until Friday to find out my grade, and unfortunately I will not be able to find out how I did on the lab practical and final exam. Tonight, I have a biology lab practical that I still need to study for another hour or so for to cement concepts a little better and gain confidence. For my world history course, I am writing about how southern traditions influenced modern obstetrics. This should be a fairly interesting 20-page paper, at least for me!

Last week, the kids helped me decorate our tree and my parent’s tree. My middle child has been licking the glittery bulbs, and the tree had to be stripped of ornaments on the bottom half. My oldest is doing better with potty training, and my youngest is really starting to babble more.