Nearing the end!

YUM!  It’s nearing exam season again and I have precooked so many meals to fill my freezer with.  Why?  Because there is literally no time to cook during exams.  I have lectures here at CCNM until the Friday before our exams start on Monday. 

 

“Oh but your last week is a review week!  Don’t fret!”

 

False. So so so so false!  We have lectures right up until that Friday.  It’s insanity.  But I’m doing it J

 

I’m currently trying to find a summer job and have had next to no luck finding one which is leading me to believe that I’m meant to slow down and take a break…unfortunately, money is required to live…So I’ll have to figure this out at some point but I’ll take the message and heed SOME sort of a break until I find a job.

 

Today I was doing some acupuncture on a fellow classmate and my professor really pushed me to trust my instincts.  Is that not what practicing medicine is?  Yes…you learn the ins and outs from a textbook and cadavers and you practice in clinic…but really – sometimes you have to just trust that you’re able to do this.  It’s so important to have confidence in medicine and today I went into class and said to myself: “You can do this, you’ve got this” and I ROCKED my acupuncture points!  I was needling points along the fingers, in between metacarpal bones (wrist bones), and up the arm!  WOWsers!  I didn’t hit a bone or a nerve and my patient felt the therapeutic benefits to my work. 

 

Doing all this makes me realize that it’s worth it.  The stress, the sleepless nights, the tears, the hard work, the exhaustion…in the end it’s going to be worth it.

 

Find your niche…do what you love…And when you do things – do them with passion.  You may feel uncomfortable putting yourself out there but the best fruit is at the end of the branch.  Reach for the life you want, you may stumble and you may fall but when it works, my gosh when it works, you’ll see why you pushed through.

 

So here’s to pushing through!

 

Cheers,

 

Jessi 

I know it’s been a long time!

Yes, the last post was after my first week…and now i’m almost done first year…Time has flown by.  Here’s a post to get you updated on the stress of it all

So here I am, just a first year at med school and I am actually starting to feel alive!  The upper years warned us about taking care of ourselves through this program so we don’t look “faded” and “weathered” by the time we make it to our internship.  Well, listen up if you’ve ever felt immense stress in your life!  This is my tale, and I highly suggest you seek health advice from a medical professional (ahem – naturopathic doctors are incredible).  Last semester this was my supplement regime:  probiotics and vitamin D.  Yep.  Just two.  What happened during exams?  I cried…I cried…I laughed hysterically…and then I cried some more.  Just the sheer sound of my mom’s voice would make me burst into tears.  I was on an emotionally rollercoaster and I could hardly focus enough to study.  We wrote 10 exams in our final exam period…no no…you read the correctly!  Ten freaking exams! 

 

I swear to you, I was crying daily, I was frazzled, and I thought this might be too much for me.  For ME!!!  I am such a fighter in life, I’ve never imagined telling myself that an educational program would be too much for me. 

 

What in the world was going on?!?!

 

I got through finals, I got straight As (except for one course) and I decided I needed to take care of my body.  Believe me, when you are as burnt out and stressed as I was it doesn’t get better when the stress of exams ends.  Finals affected my body and my spirit for the next month…and I took it into my own hands to do something for myself.  I started taking a wonderful B-complex vitamin that helped support my mood disruptions, ginkgo biloba to support my cognitive function, and of course my typical probiotics, vit. D, and vit. C. 

 

Hollllyyyyyyy molllllyyyyyy.  I feel like I can conquer the world.  I recently went through midterms, 96 hours of the week, and I wrote 6 exams…that’s about 20 hours of exam writing in a 96 hour span…insanity?  Welcome to naturopathic medical school.  But guess what?  I wasn’t burnt out…I wasn’t crying every day…I didn’t feel like I couldn’t’ handle it.  I conquered midterm week and I came out victorious! 

 

For stress, insomnia, fatigue, mood disruptions, etc.  I love my B-complex.  There are other products out there like adaptogens that I will be looking into as I’ve seen them work wonders on other students.  Adaptogens help you get through stressful times, but you can take them even if you’re not stressed as a preventative measure.  Some adaptogens are even nootropic (helping with memory and cognitive functioning) so YES!  If you’re having trouble with stress and memory, take a look at ashwaganda, roseroot, or brahmi.  Great herbs but please do speak to a doctor to make sure there are no contraindications that would indicate you should not take them!

 

Do I love being able to handle this stressful program?  Yes.

Will I keep on pushing forward?  Now that I actually can! Yes!

Do I want YOU to fight for what you want and feel great while you do it?  Of course!

 

I hope this opened your eyes to realize that you don’t have to feel broken and depressed when stressful times come upon you.  You can support your body and actually thrive in these situations.

 

Thanks so much for reading my little tale on exams and stress – may you take something from this that serves you in the future.

First week of med school…

Well, I survived “week one” lol.  I laugh because, well…it wasn’t truly the first week.  We spent Tuesday being introduced and welcomed to the school, warm and inviting, everyone was so incredible – I love CCNM.  I don’t say that lightly!  We had three intro classes on Tuesday as well – the professors here are remarkable.  I found myself captivated with every word they said (could this REALLY be a lecture?!?).  On Wednesday we did have a full day of classes but again, it was mostly introducing us to the course and letting us know what to expect from the year.  The coolest part of the first week?….

UNITY SUMMIT

Unity summit was beyond amazing.  There are no words that could properly describe how it made me feel.  The doctors that spoke to us while we were there made me feel re-energized, re-inspired, reminded me to think about why I am here, and they shared so many personal stories that I couldn’t help but be moved by their words.  It truly felt like we became a family…with games and challenges that we had to work through together, beautiful serene views, the water and nature…it was the PERFECT setting for us to really let loose and be ourselves (and we really did, especially during the impromptu dance party!!).  We were all sore and exhausted by the end of it but it was great.  At the end of Friday the skies opened up and rained on us and it felt like it was a cleansing rain – one that freed us of any preconceived notions we may have had, any negativity that may have been in our minds, and had us all start with a clean slate.  We have started our journey together and we will all help each other along the way.  We are a family, and this program will get hard, but after unity summit I really, truly feel like we will all get through this.

I want to write some more but I really should go read for TCM (traditional Chinese medicine).

I’ll see if I can write through the week – if not a weekend update should be pretty regular now that I am in a routine  Tomorrow it’s class from 930-7pm! with a couple little breaks in between. WOOO!!!

I want to leave you all with a quote that is very fitting to this last week: “I am because we are”.  If you’re curious to the meaning give it a quick google – I’ll elaborate a little bit later

Quote of the Month

“Only passions, Great passions can elevate the soul to great things” Denis Diderot

More on my hair!

Here’s some more photos of my hair…that I’m TOTALLY in love with!!!!!!

Geeeez enough pictures? I know I know but I’m completely head over heels in love with my hair all over again. It’s sooo soft. So healthy and so FULL!!

I guess while I’m at it I’ll let you know I made some lip balm today. I put a pinch too much beeswax so tomorrow I’ll add a bit of coconut oil to soften it. Yum. Recipe to follow!!

goodnight moon..