The Study Game 👾

I came into this book with an open mind not expecting anything. After reading it, I can definitely say that I have a much stronger appreciation for how challenging the life of a doctor can be. The book did a great job at portraying the life of Paul who transitioned through many phases in life from student to doctor and eventually patient. An interesting aspect about Paul is that he was always striving towards a big goal for him and his wife; this is especially shown by his persistence to finish school and become a great neurosurgeon. I found Paul’s struggle with cancer the most moving. He goes into detail describing the mental and physical effects the disease had on his body which was really eye opening to read about firsthand. I was especially humbled when he was switched to chemotherapy and could no longer experience the tastes of certain foods and found himself vomiting more often. The book is a reminder to appreciate time spent with family too because Paul never had the chance to w...

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, begin! These are the countdowns towards probably one of the most profound moments in life pushing us to achieve our greatest goals. Lately, I've been listening to the audiobook for Mel Robbin's "The 5 Second Rule." I've also heard a couple famous Youtubers recommend this book and even Mel's famous motivational speeches were enough for me to check out this book. She's probably as motivating as Tony Robbinson, the moment you hear or read the body of this book you can immediately pick up how strong and confident Mel truly is. I recently wanted to try and apply some of the methodology behind the book by first pushing myself to start by beating my alarm clock. Let me elaborate, in the book, Mel describes one of the biggest reasons for her failures towards success starting out was always hitting the snooze button on her alarm and going back to bed beginning a sleep cycle. For me, I personally don't hit the snooze and just enter another sleep c...

Lately, life has felt like a constant search for trying to find hope in everything. Looking at the news and social media can easily place me in a hopeless mood. It seems like every day the corona virus outbreaks are getting worse. People in the community are uncomfortable being near one another and are forcing themselves to find reasons to stay home and quarantine. I find myself reminiscing on times when life was normal, and we had no reason to wear face masks. I have not seen my family in almost a year now. Online communication and video calls don’t bring about the same type of connection that physical presence and touch has in life. Even if it may take a long time for things to return to normal, I have chosen to see the hope in this situation and take time to appreciate nature and the fragility of this life. During these times, there truly is no point in dwelling on the negative because it is literally everywhere now.

Recently, I started testing out a new study method now that we're all stuck at home for online classes I've started looking into the study art of writing out material and slides during study periods. Normally, I would just stick to using flashcards but since its a new semester and probably the last semester of taking regular classes for me before graduation I thought I'd give this method a try and see if I benefit from it, gain new insights, and improve my exam grades. Here is how I'm implementing this method: Plan : Obviously, during the writing sessions I'll eventually grow disengaged with the material so I plan on throwing on something interesting in the background such as music, podcast, or audiobook to keep myself engaged. Quantify:  During study sessions, I will be using Pomodoro timers to keep account of how much hours I'm logging into this practice and reward myself accordingly. Knowing how much hours to dedicate to this practice is essential so I plan o...

 Lately, I've been listening to the audiobook for "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle and it has absolutely been addressing majority of mine and probably also mainstream society's fears and worries. The reason why we become anxious or uncomfortable is because our mind is outside of the now. Our minds aren't focused on accepting who we are and where we are right now and that is what is truly holding us back from becoming great. One night, I couldn't sleep and decided to throw on this audiobook and soon realized the reason I couldn't sleep was because I was anxious about the future, specifically anxious about online classes and online exams this school year. I didn't quite get comfortable with the fact that these things are outside of my control and sphere of influence. If we try to control and change the future without identifying and recognizing our state in the present we cannot produce valuable change. It is in the recognition of ourself and our curr...

 Welcome back to this life of a graduate student blog. Today, I just finished climbing one of the heaviest and deadliest metaphorical mountains that is my email inbox. Since school started literally today, I've been fighting to stay on top of my work and also trying to make time for myself. My mind is still in summer vacation mode it seems and is more willing to take numerous breaks or lying hours than focus on looming over imminent exams. As these school hours have begun, I realized I become jealous very easily of my classmates. It seems like everyone else is on top of things and has it all together in school making me feel like a complete wasteman despite my continuous efforts to stay on top of my work. The school year, they say, is when we drop a lot of our free time and hobbies. However, I beg to differ. I prioritize my health this semester. This is my last school year of regular didactic work so I'm hoping to make this the most productive and rejuvenating of them all. A fi...

 Today, I'm trying something new utilizing my hearing to try out audiobooks to see if it helps me to work on my productivity. Lately, I noticed that listening to audiobooks is a trending aspect online for learning. Books are full of large amounts of knowledge so easily available to us. I wanted to give it a try and surprisingly it did not turn out as well as I had expected. Usually, when I listen to voice audio such as a podcast I'm very much engaged, however, I found it a bit difficult to stay focused for certain audiobooks. Maybe this takes getting used to so I will update with any new insights I discover in the near future. Today, I tried out an audiobook and found myself asleep in my bed. I'm going to try and experiment with listening to audiobooks outside of my bedroom in the near future. I do see the appeal. These books full of vast knowledge are now being consumed using a different sense which is sound. I did experience the benefits of being to multitask and found my...

 With all of the changes that have been going on with COVID-19, many are returning to classes this school year socially distant from home but that doesn't mean we can't do it in style or in the most fun way possible! One of the difficult parts about in-person classes is driving or commuting long distances to your school location. Online classes removes this time barrier giving students more time for just about anything whether it be preparing for a class or logging more hours of sleep. This is definitely time to be taken advantage of. Although many of us enjoy face to face interaction, not many of us are essentially tech savy, so being able to master establishing online connections and communicating our ideas clearly through text is a skill in itself. A skill that many can master in the course of one year. Taking breaks would probably be one of the biggest benefits of online classes. Feeling overwhelmed in lecture? Take a breather, use the bathroom, have a snack, and immediatel...