Looking into the life of a third year medical student!
Author: medstudentplanner
Hello! My name is Halen and I'm a rising second year medical student who loves planning, Harry Potter, coffee, reading, and traveling. I decided to start this blog as way to share more about my life and medical school that can't fit into an Instagram caption.
I’m here to share with you everything I know about the new Passion Planner Ambassador Program. Applications for the program opened in July, then the 500 Ambassadors were selected this week and I am so happy to share that I will be one of the new Ambassadors! Since this is a new program and the program only started this week, my information right now is limited, but I will share more as the year goes on! So, let’s get going with what I know about the program so far 🙂
What is a Passion Planner Ambassador?
This is what the Passion Planner website says: “Ambassadors are passionate individuals who go above and beyond to cultivate communities through Passion Planner, embody the values of our mission and vision, and share their love for our brand all while earning awesome rewards and having access to exclusive Ambassador perks.”
Additionally, each Ambassador gets a personalized code to share that will get you 10% off your Passion Planner order! The Ambassadors receive a small commission every time the code is used with a purchase (at no additional charge to you!), and also helps us be able to test new Passion Planner products for you. Every sale we are able to make earns us points within the Ambassador program and we are able to use those points to be able to test new Passion Planner products for you!
You can use my personalized Ambassador code HALEN10 for 10% off your Passion Planner order! 🙂
How often do new Ambassadors get selected?
Passion Planner will open applications once a year and accepted applicants will serve for that full year. Current and new Ambassadors will have the opportunity to reapply the following year.
What are the requirements to become a Passion Planner Ambassador?
Here is what the Passion Planner website said:
Must love Passion Planner!
Must be at least 16 years old
Must be willing to commit to at least 6 activities a year
Must have a public social media account
What benefits does the program come with?
Here is what we were told while applying for a position:
Part of a tight-knit #PashFam community
Connect with likeminded #PashFam
Create friendships that will last a lifetime
30% VIP Ambassador discount
30% VIP Friends and Family discount
Earn 10% commission on sales
Participate in exclusive contests + giveaways
Test new products before they’re released to the public
Experience to add to your resume
Grow your social media following
Optional #PashFam Meetups across the country
Added to the @passionplanner ‘close friends’ list for exclusive Ambassador story content
I have admired the Passion Planner company and planner for years, but only recently bought my own personal Passion Planner and I am so happy that I did! I purchased the small academic year planner and it has been the best companion for my transition into the hospital as a third year medical student. What drew me in was how functional and neutral the planner is. I’ve always been someone who believes the more color, the better, but I have recently realized I actually like my planner to be neutral and then if I want more color and decorations, I can add as I wish! This was such a shocking realization for me! Follow me on Instagram at @medstudentplanner to see updates in my planner and my journey in my new Passion Planner.
If you haven’t heard of Passion Planner before or you’re wanting to see if this planner would work for you before buying, Passion Planner offers FREE downloads for you to test out their planner! Click here to see what free downloads they offer.
Well, this is all I know about the program so far! Let me know if you have any questions and I will try my best to answer them. Additionally, I will keep you updated as the year goes on and I learn more about the program. I am so excited for this program and the opportunity to be apart of it!
Don’t forget you can use HALEN10 for 10% off your order! 🙂
Black Friday shopping can get overwhelming very fast. I always like to make a list beforehand so I know what I want and where I can get it from. The easiest list for me is with planning accessories, so I’ll start there.
Erin Condren started their Black Friday sale early, so I already can tell you everything I picked up! EC is offering 30% off for Black Friday, which is the biggest sale of the year! You can even stack the 15% off 4 ore more accessories discount, as well as any other coupons you have saved up.
The first item that went into my cart was the new planner tote bag. I decided to get the black canvas bag with two straps: the black and ivory and the kaleidoscope.
The next two items I picked up were the colorful and neutral kaleidoscope ballpoint pens. I kept talking myself out of buying these pens because they regularly sell for $18.50 a piece, but during this sale I was able to get them for $8 each!
The last new item for myself was the new monthly sticker book. I always love using the monthly sticker books to add in some extras to my monthly overview page in my Erin Condren. I also picked up last year’s edition of the monthly sticker book because it was one of my favorites and I decided I wanted an extra in case they took it down from the website.
I love using the custom photo sheet of stickers in my planners, so I picked up two sheets of these with some of my favorite pictures from this year!
One thing I didn’t get, but wish I would have is the sherpa throw. I got one a while ago and just love it! They are on sale for a great price during this sale, so it would be the best time to pick one up!
Well, that is everything I picked up from Erin Condren this year during the Black Friday sale! After the 30% off sale, with 15% off 4 accessories, a 20% off coupon I had, and a gift certificate – I got everything for $30! Not a bad way to start off my Black Friday Shopping.
First time shopping with Erin Condren? You can use my referral link to get $10 off your first order! Click here to go to the Erin Condren home page.
A look at everything I picked up from Erin Condren.
I have been a customer of this shop for quite some time and use stickers from her shop every single day in my planner! She is still uploading new releases to the website, but I already have many items in my cart ready to go for when the sale begins. Nightingale Paper Co will be offering 40% off during Black Friday, which is her biggest sale of the year! If you’re familiar with the shop, this is the perfect time to stock up on new and old Winstons.
Here is my current NPC shopping list:
Week of the year 1-53 planner stickers
Wacky Holidays (Jan-March)
Carbs Winston
Coffee Cup Winston
Christmas Winston
Crying Winston
Emotion Winston 2.0
Heart Eyes Winston
Laundry Winston
Michael’s Winston
Podcast Winston
Spaghetti Winston
Trash and Recycling Winston
Unplug Winston
White Flag Winston
Winter Winston
Winston Christmas Cards
Click here for a 15% off referral to Nightingale Paper Co! ___________________________________________________________
I don’t have pictures of these items yet since she doesn’t officially post the items until the sale, but I have a list of what I’m getting! The entire site will be 15% off then you can get up to 30% off depending on how much you spend.
White + Icy blue prismatic foil bow set
Silver foil + blue bow set
5 mm deep blue/blue bliss/silver foil + blue horizontal bow trio
Black + rainbow foil bow set
White + rainbow foil bow set
Rainbow foil + white bow set
5 mm rainbow bow trio
Click here for $5 off your order! ___________________________________________________________
I have also been a customer of Cricket Paper Co for quite some time and highly recommend their stickers! I haven’t completely nailed down what I’m buying during the BF sale, but I know for sure that I’ll be buying a new sticker album from them. Currently, I think I’m going to get the large “More Stickers” sticker album with classic Rae Dunn-like font! Cricket Paper Co is offering 30% off during Black Friday with the code ‘Thankful‘. They also have all of their foiled sheets marked down to $1! ___________________________________________________________
Next up: Belk.
This will be one that I actually go into the store for! I have been wanting duck boots for years and I’m finally going to get some. Normally, they are $130, but Belk has marked them down to $80 for Black Friday! They have other brands marked down for more, so I may compare them and see which kind I like best. For now, this is the pair I think I’m going to get:
Next up: Kendra Scott.
Kendra Scott has already started their sale and they are offering 25% off everything! The only thing that is really on my shopping list is this Rayne Silver Necklace. I have this in white and it’s one of my favorite necklaces!
I’m not actually sure if this is going on sale for Black Friday, but a Patagonia Cotton Quilt Snap-T Pullover has been on my wish list for years! If it does go on sale, I think I’m going to treat myself to it this year.
This list was pretty random, but is everything I’m getting or hope to get this year! I hope you enjoyed it and that this inspired your Black Friday shopping list! I’d love to hear what you’re getting or hope to get. This is my favorite time of year and it’s when my family gets in the Christmas spirit, so I love it even more!
Disclaimer: there are links within my post that are affiliate links. These cost you nothing, but if you use them, I may earn a small commission. I really appreciate you for using my affiliate links. I only use affiliate links for products that I actually use and recommend!
I thought I had my 2020 planners figured out until Erin Condren released their first ever Daily LifePlanner for the new binder system! I played around with daily planning with the daily petite planners this year, but I believe the Daily LifePlanner binder is going to offer me so much more for 2020. I will still be using my Vertical LifePlanner, but the daily binder is going to be where I map out every day to hold myself accountable with my time and to ensure I’m making the most of everyday. I decided to go with the colorful kaleidoscope binder because this design is just stunning and is one of my favorites that Erin Condren has ever come out with! Also, I already have a lot of the colorful kaleidoscope accessories, so now my color-loving heart can coordinate all of it together. Below is a picture of the colorful kaleidoscope planny pack over the binder – it’s a perfect fit and combo!
The binder dimensions: 8.57″ x 10″ x 1.75″
Before I show you the inside, here is everything you receive by purchasing the Daily LifePlanner Binder. The binder cannot hold the entire year’s worth of daily pages, so the EC team divided the pages into quarterly packages. I have decided to only have one quarter in at a time and I’m thinking about also adding in the monthly pages for the rest of the year. Since this is considered a LifePlanner, you get the usual “extras” with it such as the perpetual calendar, gift labels, compliment cards, and two 20% off discount cards. It also came with the hexagon box label, but no storage box comes with the binder.
The inside pages are the same size as the coiled LifePlanner pages and the same 80# Mohawk paper.
And finally, here is the beautiful layout! The “main” section of the daily binder is having an hourly column from 6 AM to 9 PM with a couple of extra lines below 9 PM that are blank. I think these would be great to add in extra times, or to put your lunch and dinner plans in! The other column is divided into 2 parts: one to-do section with 10 lines and a blank section for whatever you want. In the bottom right corner is the monthly overview.
The right-hand side is the exact same set up, but there is no monthly overview on this page.
Then you have the weekend where Saturday and Sunday are on the same page. For this page, each day has 12 lines under the to-do section and then a general combined blank area. Personally, I think I am going to write in hours and keep using this as a hourly system instead of using it as a to-do list.
Just like the Coiled LifePlanner you get lined notes pages at the end of each month, but with the Daily LifePlanner you get 2 lined pages instead of only 1 in the Coiled LifePlanner.
The Daily LifePlanner also has the same new dashboard pages that was added to the Coiled LifePlanner before you get to the monthly view. BUT, the Daily LifePlanner has a laminated monthly tab that flips you right to the monthly view instead of this dashboard page! I know many people were missing that in the Coiled LifePlanner, so this was a great change by the EC Team.
In my Coiled LifePlanner I have been using the birthday and monthly goals section for birthdays and monthly goals. I decided to use the lined section for what sticker kits I would be using each week. Then I made the dotted section into a section for me to keep up with my weekly goals.
Finally, the Daily LifePlanner comes with the two-sided folder in the back with 4 sticker sheets (not shown). This is all the same as the Coiled LifePlanner! I have decided to keep the stickers out of the binder and with the ones that came with my Coiled LifePlanner. That is what is so cool about the binder – you can take out, add in, or change any of it up for what works best for you!!
In summary, here is everything that you get with the Daily LifePlanner Binder:
• 12 Month Calendar (Jan-Dec 2020) • Tabbed Monthly Spreads • Monthly Planning Spreads • Hourly Daily Spreads • Lined And Blank Notes Pages Throughout Planner • 4 Sticker Sheets • 1 Keep It Together Folder
I am SO excited to add this planner to my 2020 system and can’t wait to show y’all how I use it together with my Vertical LifePlanner!
Interested in getting the binder for yourself or know someone that could use it? Right now, EC Insiders have early access to the Black Friday 30% off sale! Not an EC Insider? No worries, the sale will be the same for you on Black Friday! This is the biggest sale of the year for Erin Condren.
Disclaimer: there are links within my post that are affiliate links. These cost you nothing, but if you use them, I may earn a small commission. I really appreciate you for using my affiliate links. I only use affiliate links for products that I actually use and recommend!
I’ve watched many, many YouTube videos where people talk about what they have been loving each month and I always wanted to participate in this and share what I have been loving, but I honestly don’t have time for a YouTube channel in my life right now. Then I started thinking, why not just share on a blog post? So, here are some of the things I’ve been loving lately!
SketchyMedical (aka “sketchy”)
Sketchy is something I have heard every medical student talk about. It is one of the essential studying tools for STEP 1, which is usually taken at the end of your second year of medical school. I’m currently a second year medical student, so I started using Sketchy at the beginning of the year and LOVE IT. Sketchy has 3 courses for STEP 1: Micro, Pharmacology, and Pathology. At my school, we started our second year with Micro, so I have only completed the Micro section of Sketchy, but I started working on the Pharm and Path courses during our Blood/Lymph block in September. I’m not sure if I would have made it out of micro without Sketchy! It’s very hard to explain without showing one of their videos, but they come up with the coolest ways to remember important, high-yield STEP 1 material, while also making it pretty fun! It was incredible to see what all I could retain just from watching these videos and I can’t wait to see how the other sections help me in my courses and for STEP 1. Below is an example of the Hep B virus video, which was one of my favorites because I love tie-dye.
2. Zebra Pen Sarasa Clip Retractable Gel Ink Pens, Fine Point 0.5 mm
To go along with my Sketchy learning, I decided to get the Sketchy workbooks for Micro and Pharm. I knew I was going to need some new pens for this adventure since there are so many videos to go through! I tried the 0.34 mm version of these pens last year and really loved the color variety they offered. I decided to get the 0.5 mm option for my Sketchy workbooks because that’s my preferred pen thickness and y’all… these pens are everything. There are so many colors, they write beautifully, and they were the perfect companion for my Sketchy workbooks! I ended up doing a repeated rainbow pattern in my workbook so I could get the most use out of these! Click here to check them out for yourself!
3. Sticker Albums
I FINALLY decided to get albums to hold my stickers and I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without them. I’ve been planning with stickers for several years now and have stored my stickers in various ways throughout the years, but these sticker albums are my new favs. Currently, I have two albums! One is from Cricket Paper Co and the other is from Pink Popsicle Studio. Unfortunately, the album I got from Cricket Paper Co was a special release, so it is no longer available, but she still has a lot of other great options available! Click here to check out what she currently has available. My album from Pink Popsicle Studio is still available and my favorite part about this shop’s albums is that they let you customize the album with your name, a quote, or whatever else you want on it! Here is the link to the album I have from them. Now that I know I love this set up, I’ll be going back and buying more of these!
My sticker album from Cricket Paper Co! I’m using this one to store my weekly sticker kits.
My album from Pink Popsicle Studio! I’m using this one for my regular sticker sheets!
4. My Latest Coffee Bar Set Up!
I really couldn’t survive without coffee, so this coffee bar means a lot to me. I’ve had this set up since I moved into my new place over a year ago, but I recently added the mug tree and it made the entire set up come together. Another new addition to my set up was this Rae Dunn mug from there Halloween release! I’ve been wanting one of these mugs for a while, so I thought this mug would be perfect to have out during spooky season! The mug tree was an Amazon purchase and was only $10, so I knew I had to have it. Click here for the link to my mug tree. The Rae Dunn mug was a Marshall’s purchase, so if you’re interested in that, I would check out your local Marshall’s or Home Goods! If you have any questions about the rest of the set up, just let me know! I’ve slowly collected everything since I moved into my new place, so I won’t bore you with the details if you aren’t interested.
Ah.. coffee heaven.
5. Community Coffee
I have been a Folgers coffee drinker for a very, very long time. I always loved the idea of bulk buying the Folgers K-cups, but my local Sam’s Club never offered them. This year I went rogue and left behind my beloved Folgers to try Community Coffee. I figured there was no way I could like anything other than Folgers for my daily coffee, but boy was I wrong! I think I may like Community Coffee MORE… what have I been doing the last decade?? Well, fortunately for me, my local Sam’s Club sells Community Coffee K-cups, so I have happily jumped ship and welcomed Community Coffee with open arms. Currently, I’m drinking the Breakfast Blend and here’s the link to the Sam’s Club option pictured below. Bulk buying coffee has been a dream come true.
6. Clear Glasses
After wearing contacts for over a decade, I had to go back to wearing glasses 24/7 last December and I’ve been trying out new glasses to see what worked best for me. I never saw myself being able to pull off clear glasses, but when EyeBuyDirect had a buy one, get one 50% off sale, I thought I’d try a pair out and see what I thought. Well, obviously I loved them if they’re a monthly favorite, but they are now the only glasses I wear on a day to day basis! I also added on the blue-light filter lens and I’ve been SO impressed with how it has helped my headaches. I used to get headaches allll the time and now I can’t even tell you when the last time I had a headache…. that is HUGE for me! As a medical student, I’m constantly staring at a computer screen while at class, studying, etc. so these lenses have been a life changing. If you’re interested in trying out some new glasses, I have a $10 off link to EyeBuyDirect! Click here for it. You get $10 off and I get $10 off if you use the link, so it’s a win win! If that doesn’t work, I also have a code you can use at check out 🙂 Use IFZM2KVS41 for $10 off your order!
Enjoying the sun, some coffee, and my new favorite Erin Condren pattern after an exam!
These are the glasses I picked up from EyeBuyDirect! I chose the medium size because I love large lenses.
Well, I believe that wraps up my September favorites! I’m now looking forward to seeing what I start loving (or re-loving) in October to share with y’all! I hope you have a great day! 🙂
One fun title I have earned in my family is being the family’s travel agent. Five years ago I completely planned my family’s trip to New York, which was a trip to celebrate me graduating high school. I had so much fun organizing and planning our schedule and while my family loved the trip, I think they really loved having someone else plan it all, so that is when I became the family’s travel agent. Going to Atlantis has been on my grandma’s wish list for a long, long, long time and this year we finally got to make that wish come true for her!
The first task I do when planning a trip is to research everything there is about the place we are going to. This ended up being difficult for Atlantis, so I decided to make a blog post about our trip and what I planned to maybe help someone else planning/wanting to go to Atlantis.
After comparing prices on many different sites, I decided to book our flight and hotel through Expedia. We ended up saving a lot of money by booking through Expedia, which allowed us to put that saved money into our excursions. We decided to stay at the Royal Towers on the resort property. The one bit of information I was able to get from my research was that the Royal Towers are the place to stay for your first visit to Atlantis. I wanted my grandparents to experience the Atlantis they had seen on TV for so many years, so the Royal Towers were an easy pick for us. The other options were The Cove, The Reef, The Coral, The Beach, and Harborside Resort. From what I could tell, The Cove and The Reef are most expensive options, but have some perks such as having their own private beach and pools. The Royal and The Coral are connected to each other and offer a lot of the same things, but The Royal is in the center of the resort and is the building you think about when you imagine Atlantis.
Here is a view of The Royal Towers from The Royal Baths.
After more price comparisons, I decided to book our excursions before we arrived to Atlantis. I planned for us to have one excursion a day and then I planned the rest of the trip around the excursions. Our first excursion was Playtime with Sea Lions and the entire family LOVED this experience! I was the only one who had interacted and swam with sea lions before, so it was fun to watch them all do it for the first time. The experience started by getting wet suits and then going on a “behind the scenes” tour of Dolphin Cay (this is where the dolphin and sea lion adventures are at). On the tour we got to see where they prepare the fish for the animals every day and where they do laundry (sounds weird, but a lot of laundry is done to allow for clean wetsuits everyday, so it was cool to see). Then we got to this back area where the sea lions are and our group was split into two to make each group have about 8 people in it. Each group got their own trainer and sea lion. We started by getting to know the sea lion by giving her belly and back rubs. We all stood in a line and she would swim back and forth for us to give her rubs. After we all got to know each other, the sea lion did a few tricks for us and then we started the “photo op.” The trainer had our sea lion come in between our group for a picture and I got to sneak in a few more rubs for being a good little sea lion!
Then we did some group family pictures with her and we all got to individually give her a treat!
After all the pictures were finished, we were given snorkel gear and we were allowed to start actually swimming with the sea lions.
Yep, that’s me, sneaking in more back rubs!
Overall, I thought the sea lion experience was a lot of fun, but it is one that you have to make the most of. There were a few small children in our group that were scared of the sea lion and couldn’t swim with them after the pictures. My family was able to really get the most out of the experience, but I can understand that it is not for everyone.
For the rest of the day we decided to relax at the Atlantis Beach. It was really crowded in the afternoon, so if you’re trying to get a spot on the front row, you’ll have to get there in the morning or wait for someone else to move.
We eventually got tired of the crowd at the beach and decided to switch to the Paradise Lagoon Beach where we had the entire area to ourselves. Here’s a view of the Paradise Lagoon with the beautiful Royal Towers in the background.
Our second day started with our second excursion: Swim in Wonder. This was an interactive swim with dolphins! We split up in groups again and had three different stations to go to. We were given wetsuits and snorkel gear for this excursion and afterwards we got to keep the snorkel gear. The station we started at was getting to rub and love on a dolphin and then we got to be pushed by the dolphin’s nose on a kick board to the edge of the water. At the end of pushing us, the dolphin popped up out of the water for a picture!
Our second station was getting to hold on to the dolphin as she pulled us in. This was my favorite part of the experience because it was the closest we got to be with the dolphin!
Our third and final station was taking group pictures with the dolphin and then getting to swim and interact with her. At the end of the swim the dolphins all did some awesome tricks for us that were amazing to watch! The dolphins were my favorite excursion and I wish we could have had more time with them.
After the excursion, we went back to the Atlantis Beach to relax more. This day we discovered the famous Bahamas coconut drinks, which were so good! If you’re in Atlantis and looking for a coconut drink, make sure you find the guys that are doing 3 refills because that was the best deal we found in Atlantis.
Side note: the water in the Bahamas is the bluest and prettiest water I have ever seen!!! Definitely a selling point.
We decided to try out our new snorkel gear while at the beach, but there really was not much to see except pretty water and sand. However, it was still fun to do!
Having a Go Pro made this trip so much fun because we could capture cool moments like this one!
After we got tired of the beach, we went to try out the Rapids River, which is pretty much a fancy lazy river with rapids randomly throughout it. The only downside about this ride to me is that you have to get off at the end and walk over to the starting point to do it again.
For the third day, our excursion was the Twilight Snorkel in the Ruins, so we had until 7:45 PM to do whatever we wanted. We started the day with exploring the Atlantis water park, Aquaventure. We went down the famous Leap of Faith slide that goes through a tank of sharks, then we went back to the Rapids River after finding out it connects to more slides in the Power Tower.
Here is a view of the shark tank that the Leap of Faith goes through!!Here is a view of the Leap of Faith slide!
The PowerTower has a total of four slides, two of which are connected to the Rapids River. The ones connected to the Rapids had some time in darkness, but they were both a lot of fun. Any of the slides can be accessed by the normal PowerTower entrance, but I really enjoyed the ones you could get to by the Rapids since you could sit in line instead of stand.
The Twilight Snorkel in the Ruins is unlike anything I have ever done before and will probably be something I never get to experience again. I think it’s a must when in Atlantis! We were given life jackets and snorkel gear, then we were given an orientation about how to swim in the water. We were going to be swimming among hundreds of different kinds of fish, sting rays, a HUGE manta ray, and sharks, so there was a certain way they wanted us to swim while snorkeling. We had to keep our legs together and at the top of the water and we could only swim with our arms. They did not want us making big splashes or upsetting the fish. Since they let you bring a GoPro and other waterproof items with you on the swim, I made do with swimming with one arm so I could capture our entire snorkel on video. This excursion was my entire family’s favorite and is something we would probably all recommend to anyone going to Atlantis.
Here is my attempt at getting a selfie with one of the sharks 🙂Here is the beautiful manta ray, Coco! 🙂
We wanted to wait and get dinner after the excursion and once the excursion ended after 9 PM we were sooo hungry. We decided to get pizza from the Marina Pizzeria and once we got to the Marina we were so upset we had not spent more time here before now! I would recommend checking out and seeing the Marina early during your trip because it is such a cool area with shopping and restaurants.
Our final full day in Atlantis included our last excursion, which was the Stingray Experience. Honestly, this was my family’s least favorite excursion, but it was still an interesting, once in a lifetime experience (once in a lifetime because we’ll probably never hang out with stingrays again hahaha). This excursion started with an orientation to the stingrays and how to move around them. I ended up calling the movement the stingray shuffle and made up a little song about it while in the water to help calm myself 🙂 We were given a life jacket, a glove, and a bucket of shrimp and were allowed to feed the stingrays at the beginning of the experience. To me, the problem about this excursion was that there were just too many stingrays to initially enjoy the experience. There were over 150 cow-nose stingrays that we were told “did not understand personal space.” This meant all 150 stingrays were all over us from the moment we got into the water. While I did get used to them being everywhere, I was still nervous about moving and causing one of them to sting me.
Here we are right before getting in the water with a view of some of the stingrays.
After we finished feeding them, we were given snorkel gear and allowed to swim around! This was much, much, much better for me because it gave me some room from the string rays and allowed me to enjoy the experience more.
After we finished with the stingrays, we went to do the other PowerTower slides and then we went back to the Atlantis Beach. We spent the night shopping and eating at the Marina, which was one of our favorite non-water spots!
A view of the Marina.
Eating wise, our favorite restaurant was The Point at Harborside. We went during sunset and had the most beautiful view. The only restaurant we went to actually in Nassau was Twin Brothers and it was fun to go to a place where the locals do. For lunch we ate at random quick bites throughout Atlantis.
Shopping wise, we went to Downtown Nassau one morning and got to shop there for a bit and see the straw market. None of us ended up buying anything here, but it was interesting to see and experience! Most of our purchases came from Atlantis gift shops. We also got a few bracelets and things from the local vendors at the Atlantis Beach.
Well, that is pretty much our trip to Atlantis! We really had the time of our lives and loved every minute. If you have any questions at all, I will do my best to answer them!!
If your medical school is like mine, not a lot of information is given about what is needed for classes. Luckily, for me, the bookstore manager was really helpful after having many incoming first years come in over the years. The first item I purchased was a stethoscope. I actually got this as a surprise Christmas present, so technically I did not purchase it myself and that also meant I did not get to pick it out. My grandparents got me a simple one on Amazon, the Littmann Class III Monitoring Stethoscope. Honestly, nothing fancy and expensive is needed for medical school, so I would recommend a cheap option (unless your school suggests otherwise). Click here for the link to the one I have! The next items I purchased were scrubs and gloves for anatomy lab. My medical school starts anatomy lab almost immediately after classes start, so I got my scrubs several months in advance to make sure the bookstore did not run out of my size. I purchased my scrubs through our bookstore because a specific color was required and I decided while the bookstore scrubs may be a little more expensive, it would be more convenient and I would match my classmates. Side note: I would highly recommend trying on the scrubs before going home with them because scrub sizing is unlike any other clothing. I decided to get three pairs of scrubs to help with washing them throughout the week. I would definitely consider getting multiple pairs because there are going to be weeks where doing laundry is the last thing you want to do, but you do not want to go around smelling like anatomy lab, so it will end up being nice to have extra pairs. Gloves are not provided for anatomy lab at my school, so I went ahead and got a huge box of them since we were going to be in the lab all year. A few of my classmates decided to get their own scalpel and scalpel blades, but these were both provided by the anatomy lab staff at, so I chose to just use what was provided. If you do need to purchase a scalpel and blades, the bookstore should sell them and you can also find them on Amazon. There were a few other items recommended by the bookstore manager that I got before classes began, but they ended up not being needed until later in the semester or until the Spring semester. These items included an adult blood pressure cuff, a tuning fork, a reflex hammer, a Snellen vision chart, a pen light, and a few other random items. These items were for our standardized patient exams where we practice physical exams. If your school does not have standardized patients or if they provide this equipment, then you can pass on buying any of those items! In my previous post about studying (click here to check it out), you probably noticed I mainly use a laptop for school work. My school includes a new laptop with our tuition, so they handled picking us out one. My school chose a MacBook Air and I love it! I used to have a MacBook Pro in college, but the Air is so so so light, which makes carrying it around everywhere much easier than the Pro. I’d look into seeing if your school distributes laptops before purchasing a new one because they usually include programs you need for classes already on the laptop. These are all of the main items I purchased before classes started! Depending on if you are needing new pens, backpack, lunchbox, etc. you may have more items on your list, but I already had most of the basic school supplies leftover from college. I should point out that very medical school is different, so I would check with upperclassmen or staff members before purchasing anything.
I grew up as one of those people who always knew they wanted to become a doctor. If you would have asked me in high school what I was going to study in college, I would have said pre-med. I’m not sure if this is true for every university, but the universities I was looking at attending didn’t have a “pre-med” major, which I didn’t know until I actually started applying for schools. My college offered a pre-med track, but you majored in what you wanted (usually biology or biochemistry for my school). I chose Biology and then discovered I loved Neuroscience, so I decided to get a double major in both. I was told early on if I wanted to go to medical school, I would have to maintain a high GPA, get involved around campus, and start working on my volunteer hours. I went to a very small college (there was about 500 students total), so one-on-one meetings with professors and my pre-med advisor were frequent from the beginning of my time in college. Another benefit of going to a small college is that it allowed me to form very close relationships with my classmates and professors. This later allowed me to receive recommendation letters from professors who actually knew me and could write more than “Halen was a good student.”
One year for Christmas I asked for my own “doctor coat” and doctor equipment so I could start practicing on my family.
My first two years of college were focused on the advice I was given early on: maintain a high GPA, get involved on campus, and start working on volunteer hours. The two big organizations I chose to get involved in on campus were Student Government Association and the Summer Orientation program for incoming first years. I loved both of these organizations and got really involved with them, which later allowed me to gain leadership roles that helped shape me into the person I am today. Later I got involved in a few more organizations such as Alpha Epsilon Delta (a pre-health honor society) and Maroon Jackets (a honor society for seniors). I do not think it’s necessary to get involved with every organization your campus has to offer as a way to impress medical schools, but I do think it’s important to try to really involve yourself in at least a couple organizations to show medical schools you were more than just a member of those organizations. I was told by my advisors that the medical school admissions would rather see you in a leadership role for an organization than just a member of 50 organizations. I did a lot of random volunteering throughout college, but I’ve seen many of my peers find one volunteer organization they are very passionate about and stick to getting all of their hours from that organization.
I saw getting into medical school like a big puzzle I was having to put together. I was given some puzzle pieces that were easy to figure out where they go, such as maintaining a high GPA and forming close relationships with my professors. Imagine these pieces as the corner pieces of the puzzle. Other pieces I had to do some thinking and planning on, such as joining organizations and figuring out which major(s) would be best for me. I also needed to ensure the major I picked would provide me with the best background to prepare me for the MCAT and medical school. Then during my third year of college, I had to figure out what to do with this super important piece of the puzzle… the MCAT. All pieces of a puzzle are important because the puzzle would not be complete without them all, but you would not be able to move forward and finish the puzzle without the MCAT piece. If you aren’t familiar with the MCAT (aka the Medical College Admissions Test), it is a standardized exam for prospective medical students that is required by all U.S. medical schools. The MCAT is roughly 8 hours long with four sections: Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems; Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills; Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems; and Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior. I took the MCAT at the end of my junior year, but my first MCAT score was not what I was looking for. I decided to take an online Summer Princeton Review class to help guide my studying. This class was unlike anything I had done before and really made me work for my second MCAT score. I was very satisfied with my second score, so I was happy to add that piece to my puzzle and move on to the next big step: actually applying for medical school.
Here’s a glance into my class schedule for the Princeton Review class.
I knew what medical school I wanted to go to, so I took a chance and did the early decision application. Doing early decision meant I could only apply to one school, but it allowed me to show that school they were my top choice. After submitting my application, which took foreverrrr (definitely start the application as soon as it opens), all that was left to do was wait to see if I was going to get an interview. I obsessively checked my email after the application deadline, anxiously waiting to see if I was going to get an interview. Once I got the invitation for an interview and secured my interview date, there were two pieces of the puzzle left: rock this interview and get an acceptance letter into medical school.
Another benefit of going to a small college was getting the opportunity to have one-on-one meetings with my pre-med advisor in preparation for my interview. We would go over practice questions, my strengths and weaknesses as an applicant, and do practice interviews. This helped boost my confidence and allowed me to figure out my interviewing weaknesses. Outside of these practice interviews, I would answer standard medical school interview questions. I did this to give myself an idea of what the interview was going to be like so I didn’t panic in the actual interviews. There is no way to know all of the questions they’re going to ask you, but having an idea of how I wanted to answer standard questions really helped calm me down during my interview day.
Then the big interview day finally came.
We started the day with an ice breaker, went over the outline of the day, and then pretty much went straight into business. I had three interviews that day: two interviews were with random faculty members of the medical school and my third interview was with the Dean of Admissions. Many of the interview questions I practiced with were asked, but they still threw in a few new ones that kept me on my toes. After the interviews, I went home and took a long nap, which is one of my favorite ways to de-stress. No one really knows when acceptance letters are going to be sent out, so after this second to last piece of my puzzle was added, there was nothing left to do but wait.
The mail at my school could be a bit slow compared to the mail at my grandparents’ house, so I gave the medical school their address. My grandparents called me one Saturday morning and said they had something on Amazon they wanted me to order that they were about to send a picture of. This was something they ask me to do pretty often, so nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I was studying for an upcoming Biochemistry exam when I received a picture from them, but instead of an Amazon order, they sent me my acceptance letter!! I honestly cannot put into words what was going through my mind, but I immediately called them and asked if they were serious. Many years of hard work had gone into this moment and I didn’t believe it was actually happening. This is a day I hope to remember vividly for a very long time because I never want to forget the initial thrill and excitement I experienced.
My puzzle was finally complete and I was beyond happy to have finished putting together all of the pieces. I should point out that not everyone has the same journey getting into medical school. Many of my classmates have taken time off, obtained other degrees, etc., but regardless of how we got here, we are all here now going through the same experience together. There is no perfect order, no set organizations to join, no right number of volunteer hours, etc., so do not worry if your journey is different from mine or your peers. This is just my journey and my opinions that I wanted to share with you 🙂
One of the first pieces of advice I received when starting medical school was to ditch my studying habits from college because usually how you studied in college would not work for the amount of material in medical school. This caused me so much stress on top of all of the normal stress that comes with starting medical school. I had my studying system locked down perfectly in college, how was I going to find anything else that worked for me?? I asked many, many upperclassman how they studied and tried to do everything they did, but at the end of the day, everyone learns in a different way and I had to figure out on my own what worked best for me.
So, how did I study in college?
Before class I would print handouts of the slides (my school offered free printing for students, so I was spoiled with printing privileges). I loved the 3 slides per page option because it came with lines next to the slides for me to make notes during class. However, I also loved the 4 slides per page option because it allowed me to print less pages and it still worked for note-taking because I write pretty small. I’ve shown examples of both below in case you have no idea what I’m talking about.
During class I would take notes on these handouts, which was my favorite part about class because note-taking allowed me to pull out all my colorful pens that I loved dearly. Sometimes I would use the colors to draw attention to important details, other times I would just have fun with the pens!
During my first couple of years of college, I waited until closer to an exam to start making notecards to study with, but I eventually learned that it helped to do them on an almost daily basis so I wasn’t spending all of my time right before an exam making notecards when I should have been studying them. I wish I had a picture of an exam’s worth of notecards, or some estimate of how many notecards I went through in college, but it’ll be more fun to let your imagination run on how many notecards I went through in my four years of college…
I usually did not start reviewing and learning the notecards until closer to an exam, but I would normally go through the notecards many times before an exam to make sure I knew every card forwards and backwards. Then after an exam, if the class did not have a cumulative final, I would throw those notecards away and start a new pile for the next exam.
An additional fun fact about my notecard system is that I stored all my notecards in little notecard storage boxes from Walmart and had a box for each course I was taking. This allowed me to organize my notecards and to easily carry the notecards needed for an upcoming exam around with me to study.
So, what changed for medical school?
After the first week of classes, I did what I was told and ditched everything about my system from college. I wanted to take notes during class like I did in college, but I quickly realized that was not going to work since I no longer had free printing available. I switched to taking notes in the notes section of the provided PowerPoints on my laptop. I type faster than I write, so this change ended up working in my favor for how fast some professors go through material. This is how I continued to take notes during class throughout the entire first year of medical school and is most likely how I will take notes during my remaining years. For the rest of my studying, that was something that continued to evolve and change throughout my entire first year.
I tried everything from just reading over the PowerPoints and my notes to making hand written summary sheets of each lecture. For a little bit, the summary sheets seemed to be working for me. I would make the summary sheets everyday after class, which I considered to be my “first studying pass” of the material. Then I would review and learn each summary sheet leading up to an exam. Here’s some examples of a couple of my summary sheets to give you an idea of what I’m talking about.
Initially, I loved making these summary sheets because it allowed me to bring out my fun, colored pens and highlighters again. I made these summary sheets for the second half of material for our first exam and all of the material for our second exam, which I ended up not doing my best on. I realized I was getting caught up in making these summary sheets and not actually studying the material. For our third exam, I switched to using documents from our note-taking service. Basically, we have a note-taking service that pays people to convert our PowerPoints into a Word document. Originally, I was printing these documents off and then adding my personal notes to them (yes, another studying method allowing me to use my colorful pens!). I didn’t keep this method for long due to the many, many pages of notes I was having to print, so the picture below is one of the only examples I have for this method.
As you can see from the picture above, I was playing around with the idea about switching to taking notes on an iPad. I borrowed my boyfriend’s iPad for a few days to see if this studying method would work for me and after some practicing with the Apple Pencil, I discovered I loved taking notes on the iPad! It was the perfect mix of getting to use fun colors while saving money on ink and paper. I continued using the note-taking service documents and transferred them into the Notability app to add my personal notes to. Everyday after class I would transfer my notes to these documents. Transferring my notes was considered my “first studying pass” of the material and then I would continue to review and learn these documents leading up to an exam. Below is an example of one of my notes pages on the iPad.
I used this method for the rest of my first semester and for the first two blocks of my second semester. During the last block, which was Med Neuro, I decided to change my studying method again. This final studying method I tried was typing summary sheets of each lecture. Everyday after class (and sometimes during class if the professor was slower) I would make summaries of the lectures we had that day. I kept all of my summaries together on one document and found reading over this document many times before an exam was enough to allow me to learn the material. Below is an example of one page from my last Neuro exam.
While my studying system changed a LOT from college and is still continuing to evolve and adapt, I’m very happy with the exam results from the last two methods. I never found the perfect study method and I’m okay with that. I learned to be okay with changing my habits based on the system we’re learning and how much time outside the classroom I actually have to study. The hand written summary sheets definitely were the most time consuming, but I’ve seen this system work for many of my peers. The iPad notes were my favorite and is probably a system I will go back to for certain systems we cover in second year, but I learned in Med Neuro that it doesn’t work for every system. The typed summaries were the best use of my time and it was nice having all of my final notes in one document, but I found myself not enjoying the studying the same way I did with the iPad. Medical school involves so so so much studying, so I believe it is important to find a method that not only works for you and gives you results you’re looking for, but is also a method that you enjoy.
I hope this was helpful and gave you some study ideas! It may take some time, but you’ll eventually find the studying method for you. I know I was initially stressed about changing my habits, but learn from past me and embrace the changes to find what works for you!
Halen Plans 