Time Crunch

Busy Busy Busy the past few weeks...

So I was in the grad lounge the other day and this girl in my program, who is very nice, made a very not so nice comment. There were a bunch of us talking about our stress level as this is midterms and we are all a little loopy. I had made the comment that I felt stressed about getting a paper turned in while studying for a HUGE neuroanatomy exam this week. She responded along the lines of "remind me why you have something to be stressed about (since you don't have any clients)?"...

Needless to say I had to fight the urge to drop kick her booty to the other side of the Boston Common. Yes, there are people with clients this semester. Yes, they have a lot of planning to do and they have 5 hours a week in the clinic. BUT she neglected to count the fact that I work 20-25 hours a week (she doesn't) and I also have to complete 25 observation hours in the clinic (she doesn't) and I am taking a 5th class to fill an additional ASHA requirement (she didn't sign up yet).

In my state of "five-year-old tantrum", I decided to do some calculations of how I spend my time these days.

Here is my laundry list of obligations over the past two weeks:

-Four Emerson classes (3 hours of class time plus roughly 3 hours outside of class per week)

-UWRF class online (3-6 hours per week... if I actually tried harder)

-Extra Neuroanatomy study time (3 hours per week)

-Thesis work (2-4 hours per week)

-Clinic time (4-6 hours per week)

-Health Communication class I am sitting in on for my thesis (4 hours per week)

-Riding the T to and from downtown (45 minutes each way-around 8 hours a week)

-Work (20-25 hours per week)

-Walking to work (half hour each way- around 5 hours each week)

Throw in sleep time, eating, showering, biological functions and any random task along the way.... I did the math and I would end up with about 3 hours a day that isn't scheduled for something. Oh how I wish those 3 hours would come all in one block and not in random 5 minute snippets throughout the day.

I feel better now, I have good reason to be stressed during midterms.

Hmmmmm....

A few random thoughts and wonderings since living in Boston...

1) I haven't driven a car in months... I wonder if I forgot how... I wasn't that good at it to begin with.

2) If you are at a four way intersection and all signs say walk, it really is okay to walk diagonally through the intersection, right?

3) It is a good thing that Boston PD doesn't give out jaywalking tickets because I could probably pay for another year of college with the amount they could be charging me.

4) I can't ride the T facing the wrong direction- it makes my head hurt.

5) Express trains are a blessing and a curse. They are a blessing when you are on your way to school and don't want to stop every other block. They are a curse when you are on your way to work and you get there 20 minutes early.

6) Forget the pastry selection at Mike's Pastry... the half chocolate dipped sugar cookies are WAY better.

7) Tremont (the street where I attend class- in the same building and the same classroom all week long) is a wind tunnel. It doesn't matter how little wind there is everywhere else downtown, it is like a huge fan is situated at the top of the street.

8) Despite my beautiful dreams of leaving the building to go sit in the common between classes, I only have a 15 minute break and I spend it studying my buns off for my weekly neuro quizzes.

9) While I enjoy children and really want to make a difference in the public school system, I want to focus my private practice work on adult conversation groups.

10) I am soooooooooooooooooo glad I did not go to Boston University. SHEESH those kids are nutty.

11) The best present ever: space heater.

12) The reason it is the best present ever: "heat included" leaves out the fact that it isn't always available when ones California blood is freezing.

13) Friday afternoons with the people in my program keep us sane, without them I think we would all be in tears. Even the boys.

14) When you sign up for a two year program that they call "intensive"... they aren't lying.

15) I now can watch Grey's Anatomy and other doctor shows and not only do I recognize all the terms they are using when McDreamy is neuro-surgery-ing but I can also explain to you why he is doing what he is doing.

16) I learned that Meningitis is actually an infection of the Meninges which surround the brain and spinal cord... that is why people freak out... it is a big deal!

17) I can go a full month without setting foot in a "grocery store". Trader Joe's is all I need. I haven't yet decided what I classify it as...

18) Now that I am finally old enough to have cheaper car insurance... I don't even have car insurance.

19) The Ashleys solution to sleep problems? Rearrange all the furniture in your room. We both have done it at least once since moving in.

20) Red Sox games are better watched in Boston bars... it just isn't the same elsewhere.