The Study Game 👾

 An interesting twist definitely. I remember when I was a kid we use to do these things called "Elocutions" for poetry where we would act them out and I can recall one of my performances involved acting out how humans always wear masks. These ideas of humans being someone else at different times of the day or around different people and scenarios show just how adaptable humans truly are. Fast forward to the year 2020. We find humans now wearing masks as part of their daily attire. Never in my childhood would I have been ever able to fathom a time like this. Imagine someone teleporting to the future to find out that they had to wear a mask when going out and that social distancing was required everywhere that is public and gatherings are discouraged. They would probably want to leave asap. However, imagine how did the human race grow through that time. Imagine what will be written in history books of our people in overcoming these challenges. Not many people may want to believ...

  From the documentary, I learned that elderly native Hawaiians truly value preserving their culture which is shown through their land, children, music, and language. Although many are now mixed, I understand that elderly Hawaiians may still take pride in many of the traditional practices of their ancestors including the use of traditional healing or herbal medicines.   One of my peers proposed that it is important to analyze the old treatment (Hawaiian traditional medicine) and compare them with current medicines to ensure there wouldn’t be any interactions. An understanding of this can ensure the best quality of care for elderly Hawaiian patients. Another colleague of mine, Rebecca also proposed a fear of possible conflicts of care, since some elderly Hawaiians may not be very accustomed to modernization or may have negative views towards healthcare providers. I believe that it is still important to treat all patients with empathy and respect, regardless if a situation like ...

 The reality is that nothing in life is permanent. The friends you have, your home, your job. Situations and events will always arise pushing you out of your comfort zone to perform at a higher level than you were originally. What matters the most in these moments is how you allow these events to affect you. You may not like change but one thing I've learned after experiencing so much change especially with COVID is that at the end of the day. We will be okay and it's more important than ever to recognize the good things that are actually happening in our lives. Don't worry about tomorrow and letting that keep you up at night. Be present with yourself and your current environment. Don't fear change, face it head on. We can do our best to place our efforts towards change and even if that may fail that doesn't mean that our efforts were futile. Surprisingly, with effort comes learning and kudos to failure too because that is probably where most of it is born. Why fear...

 Here we are, the year 2020, a year full of the craziest moments in history and probably one of the most memorable parts of it would be the huge shift to online learning. The whole in-person to online learning occurred last year in March of 2019 for me. I still remember the semester was almost over and we were all enjoying spring break. I recall catching that new Sonic movie that came out with my friends for my birthday. The next thing I knew everything began closing heavily. Now, after another event filled summer, we are back to another new school year. A year many of the younger generation are calling "Zoom University." Reflecting on all of this, I feel like this may be they way things are going to be for a while now. Surprisingly this is my last school year for didactic lectures before I begin rounds in the hospital and retail setting so I'm trying to enjoy every moment of this and create as much random Zoom memes as possible to keep myself and others positive. Benefit...

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...