Unique experiences

In fall of 2011 I got to take my first and only class with my older brother

Scuba Diving!

So that October we made the ~500 mile drive to Utah to get our open water certification.

It was incredible!!

Here is a photo of me at an underwater charity poker tournament! The guy is my brother.

I tell you that to tell you this:

For the love of my life's birthday I paid for scuba diving lessons so he would also be certified when we go to Mexico this summer with my parents.  We have a full day of diving planned so it was important he got his certification!

So once again, I made the journey!

It is the entire length of Wyoming (not my favorite state to drive across....)

And a tiny ways into Utah

Now I am sure at this point you are asking, "You went scuba diving? In Utah?"

YES!

In a little town near Park City (where they held the 2002 winter Olympics,) there is a geothermal crater (The Homestead Crater)

The water is a fabulous 94 degrees!  It is like diving in a hot tub!

[For my fellow bachelor fans out there: this is the same crater Ben went on a date to and the repelled in the top,  you can't go in the top, but still very cool!]

It was a fun experience and I encourage everyone to put it on their bucket list of cool places to see!

However, with that, I am so happy to be home!

Love always!

R

Fantasyland

I think my Organic Chemistry Professor lives in a fantasy land!

In what world is a 58% a really good class average?

She kept trying to make it sound really good and calling it a D or a B.... I have seen her syllabus, a 58 is an F

Rant over

Back to smiles 

Good Intentions

Well, I had them....

I really did mean to study hard.....

And I really did study......some.....

But alas, the OChem exam came, and went...

I suppose we will just have to wait and see how it went....

At least I can drop one exam!!!

Lurking in the shadows

Last night was quite possibly one of the most interesting nights of my life!

I got my first chance to shadow in the ER of a local hospital!!!

Since emergency medicine is one of biggest areas of interest lately, you can only imagine how excited I was!!!!

I met a wonderful DO (another interest of mine as I just like their approach to medicine) who took me everywhere with her! And a HUGE thank you to all of the patients for allowing me to listen in!  And with that a HUGE thank you to everyone and everyone who allows students like myself to come into the room, you make a really big difference and play a great role in our education!!

Now I can't tell you much about what I saw, but I would like to say the two things I learned last night were as follows:

1) Getting old is rough

and

2) DO NOT DO drugs!!!!

seriously.....don't

Love love love

R

All I've ever wanted!

VAAACCAAATION!


Every hard worker deserves one right?

Well I am back from mine!

Every year my mom (my best friend in the world!) and I take a girls only trip to San Diego together.

Why the same place every year you ask?

It is plain and simple, because we know exactly what we want to do.

Day one:

Fly in to San Diego and drive up to La Jolla to people watch

As well as watch the newly born baby seals  (This one was only an hour old!)

Then we eat at an incredible restaurant called Tapenade, I highly recommend it!

http://www.tapenaderestaurant.com/

Then we head back to the Gaslamp to check into our hotel.

Day Two:

Head down to Las Americas Premium Outlet Mall on the border of Baja to do some serious shopping!

This year's trip included 5 shirts, 1 pair of shorts, 1 skirt, 1 dress, and 3 PAIRS OF CLARKS!!!  All of which was 50% off!!

I am not a shoe girl, but these 3 pairs were the most practical and beautiful pairs of shoes!

Then we head back up the strand to Coronado Island

Spend a little time on the beach!

Then it is back over the bridge for dinner on the patio of a Gaslamp restaurant for some of the best people watching in the world!

Day Three:

Head to Balboa Park for some art shopping

Then off to a near by beach to watch surfers

This time we decided to get a foot massage and have determined it is a must (!) for next time!

Again this evening includes a session of people watching on a restaurant patio

Day Four:

Back to the beach before hitting the air port all too soon!

Robyn

An explosion - Episode 1

So I have an Organic Chemistry exam the Monday I get back from spring break! Yay me!  I was reall worried I wouldn't have anything to do during all of the time off!

But apparently, under all of the pressure of the preparation for the exam, my desk exploded:

I have never seen it this bad!  But this gives us a moment to play a game of "what's on Robyn's desk?"
We would like to remind all of our guests to stay on the path and use the buddy system, we don't want anyone getting lost.  Here we go:

First we have my new EZ Ochem book:  - I have been trying to find some new chem resources since my professor doesn't seem to like using classroom time efficiently. Recommendations welcome! begged for!

Here we find my little black book - filled with cool and random things I learn about through out the day.  More on that later.

This brings us to the all important golden iPad  - I recently upgraded from the thousands of pieces of paper and various notebooks that were weighing down my backpack and causing pain, this has been awesome! Everything is so organized now too!! (by the way I recommend the NotesPlus note taking app) 

Here are a few spontaneous Microbiology note cards that need to be completed

A list of concepts for the upcoming, aforementioned, exam

Next comes my flotation device, OChem models

The note cards that came with the above models, divided by the concepts for the exams

OChem practice exams

Don't forget the most important meal of the day

And the most important part of the most important meal of the day

The top priority OChem homework, due tomorrow, that needs to be completed :/

Homemade "right hand rule" devices for Physics 2

Oh look!! The lost mouse!

A small bit of my abundant supply of sticky notes

A pen or 2

OChem note cards that I pulled from my MCAT set

The remainder of my MCAT note cards

Uh-oh! It looks like my desk had an accident - here we have a few various textbooks on the floor

If you peer between the notes-to-self, and weekly calender, you should be able to see a whiteboard uner there somewhere...

Zoom-in on the family photos - great motivation

A folded up textbook to bookmark important sections

Online web-page showing announcements for the exam

And finally, distractions!

Well, I have used enough of my time now.  Thank you for joining us for this episode of "What is on Robyn's Desk?"

Until next time,

R

"Inclement weather"

Sometimes it snows here in good old Colorado!

And sometimes it snows so much that they have to close down roads due to ice and what not.

And when they do this it is a wee bit hard to get to the next town for your shift at the hospital.

And in an attempt to avoid getting sued, said hospital asks their volunteers to not come in.

And so after said volunteer is awake, and dressed, and fed, and caffeinated  said volunteer must return to bed.  

Yes, I could have just said "well I am up now so I might as well get crackin' on some homework,"  but in reality it went more like this: "yahooo!!!! More sleep!" This was followed up by a nice swan dive back into bed!

Get this though, I still have to drive across town to go to class.  

You win some, you loose some.

R

Zzzzzzzz

I am what you would probably call, a morning person. I never really like sleeping past 8 because any more than that and I feel like I am just crunching into my day (see post about finding balance).

With that being said, I don't like to wake up before six, because I have a feeling that my morning person doesn't always wake up with me.

This all preludes to, you guessed it, I am up very early! This is no unusual thing for me as every Tuesday I have to wake up around 5 to get ready for work and drive to the next town to get to the hospital I volunteer at. But no matter how many times I do it, every Tuesday is the same.
Peel myself out of bed
Get washed up
Make myself breakfast with 1 VERY strong cup of black tea (no coffee for me :P )
Get ready
And drive
Up to this point I still kind of feel like death, but by the time I get to my station and start working and interacting with patients and families it becomes so worth it that it wakes me up more than the tea ever could.

Do something worth getting up for today my friends.

R

Creepy

Story time:

Today, in my opinion is the worst day of the year. The Monday after daylight savings. The spring ahead is simply the worst! But we all have to do it.

So in my organic chemistry course this morning, my very good friend Chris was struggling more than most with this time change, so basically he fell asleep in class.

My question is, is it creepy to take a photo of your friend sleeping in class and posting it to Facebook for all the world to see?

Unoriginal Ideas

I hate blogs.

That is the truth.

Because no matter what you choose to blog on, someone has already done it.

And I hate the term "blogging"  It just sounds so wannabe.  So fake.  Like saying "oh I need to write all of my personal thoughts down for strangers whom I will never know, because I am so important."  The whole concept is riddled with narcissism!

And yet here I sit, blogging, like the big fat hypocrite that I am.

But my point that I am trying to get around to, though I don't really know how the aforementioned rant pertains to it, is that there are no original blogs left.  Since I have started mine I have found 10, just like it, except better.  They aren't using some lame template (like I am), they have way more posts and followers (which is out of my control since I have just started), and they just seem more cool (in short, mine is not.)

So welcome my friends, to the very lame, been there, read that, "making of Dr. Robyn" blog.

Enjoy.

R

Ambitious

"Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine'"  ~Elvis Presley

I have always been a rather ambitious person.  I always had some kind of plan to do something big and new and exciting, which I like to think has really been beneficial towards making an outstanding application.

So with that, here is my latest plan.

I really want to get my first aid/CPR instructor certification and then possibly work at my school's rec center teaching classes.  I already teach French and I love teaching, and I really believe it is important to be certified in CPR and first aid, (goodness I sound like a robot that has been programmed by Nancy Drew! But it is how I feel so I am sticking by it!)

My only concern is that I might not have as much time as I would like to think I do.  The instructor's training course is only 2 days long, so that's not the problem, but if I never get time to teach a few classes I am worried it will look like I just got the certification to make my application look good.

What have all of you done to make yourselves stand out as applicants? Whether it be for medical school, a job, or some other application.

R

Private Practice

Today was supposed to be a very productive day.  It was snowing, the perfect work weather, and had no where to be.  Also, I have no exams next week.  A a reading quiz, 1 pre-lab, 1 lab write up, a group "exam" (more of a group assignment), and a physics assignment, but no exams! I could work solely on homework,  any assignment I wanted.

But instead, I ended up going to the grocery store, and watching a bunch of Private Practice (I had to find out about how Amelia's drug addiction worked out) and making a killer butternut squash and apple casserole.

So now it is 8:30 at night, but it is kind of like 9:30 because daylight saving time starts tonight, and I am just now working on some homework.  Which means tomorrow needs to be a work day,  which is easier said than done!  The boyfriend's parents are coming up for a visit and my spring fever is setting in with spring break looming a week away, which means all focus is being flung out the window!

Someone lend me some focus,  I will trade you a healthy dose of procrastination.

Love love love,

R

Finding Balance

Finding balance is an important thing in life.

Finding a balance between healthy foods, and those really tasty, but not so good for you ones.

Finding a balance between homework and having a life ( I will admit I really need to work on this one.)

Finding a balance between waking hours and sleeping hours.

Finding a balance between trying to reach out to a doctor of a specialty you are interested in and not being a pest.

Finding a balance between wearing comfortable clothes and looking fabulous.

Finding a balance between self tanning lotion and regular lotion so you don't come out looking like an oompa-loompa.

Finding the balance between helping others and helping your self.

Finding the balance between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (always air on the side on non-alcoholic!)

Finding the balance between nitrogen and oxygen in your tank before diving.

Finding the balance between being able to support yourself and doing what ever you want (you are lucky if you get to do both!)

Fining the balance between spending time with those you love and alone time.

Finding a balance between summer school and great opportunities for making a good applicant

Finding the balance is an art.

Until next time my little artists!
R