Archive | March, 2009

University Pet Peeves

Categories: Life, Undergrad

I’d like to think that I am pretty happy with my university experience for the most part. But if I’m going to be honest, there are some every day type things or situations that annoy me a bit, and well, today I feel like talking about them! Don’t worry, the list isn’t that long, I’m not that irritable:

Med Hopefuls who Pretend to Be Your Friend

Given how competitive the medical school admissions process is, it’s not surprising to find a few med hopefuls who will do anything to get ahead: including trying to be your friend just so they can take advantage of you. I’m very fortunate that I’ve met only one or two people like that in my three years here, but even one can just be really annoying.

These are the type of people who actively search out people doing well in classes, and if there is a hint that student might be applying to medical school, this type of individual is suddenly your “best friend”. You rarely speak to them, but once you get a medical school interview, for some reason they already know. And, of course, despite the fact that you never talk to them except for the unfortunate few times you run into them in class, they try and pry interview questions out of you!

The amazing thing about these individuals is that they seem to be a bit delusional. You can give them the cold shoulder or make it obvious you are annoyed by the whole act, but they act as if they have no idea you find this irritating. It just blows my mind sometimes.

Seriously, people need to calm down. Honestly, if just the admissions process alone makes you so paranoid that you’re willing to throw your integrity and respect for your peers out the window, I’m worried about how composed you will be if someone’s life is on the line. Chill out!

Med Hopeful’s who Think They are Obligated to Know Your Marks

These people definitely aren’t as annoying as the first type, but can still push my buttons. Honestly, I’ve never been the type to ask other people their marks. You can tell me if you like, but it’s not my business, so I don’t really see any reason to ask you. Also, I would feel pretty bad if you bombed a test and I didn’t.

I’d like to think everyone else would feel the same way, but there are some people who thrive on other people’s failures. These are the people who ace a test, and of course, quickly go around asking people what they got, knowing full well they at least did equal or better. I guess it’s an ego thing, but it’s really annoying and a bit rude and unthoughtful.

Everyone else’s business isn’t your business. I mean, if it’s a close friend of mine who I like and respect, and I know isn’t out to get me or whatever, I have no problem telling him/her my mark if they really care to know. That’s cool, because we’re friends, and I know you don’t hate me or gain pleasure in seeing me do bad.

But if you’re only asking me my mark with the hope that you can tell me how much you owned me on this test, then that’s just super weird and you need to find better ways to have fun.

Professors who Don’t Post Notes / PowerPoint Slides

I really don’t understand the logic in this. There are professors who aren’t willing to post their notes or slides online. But somehow, they expect students to not only copy slides or notes down, but also pick up the information they’re saying at the same time.

But why not post your slides, so that I can give you my full attention instead of copying random bullet points down?

Fortunately, most professors don’t do it, but it just blows my mind when I have to sit through the few that do.

I’ve had one professor justify it by saying that not posting slides/notes forces students to come to class. But seriously, if your slides/notes are so good that having lecture becomes meaningless, then I think that’s saying something…

Hallway Cloggers

Sometimes you have two classes in a row, maybe far apart in location, so you’re in a rush to get from class A to class B. Unfortunately, you run into a hallway clogged by a group of people who are either standing in the middle, or walking as a group at a ridiculously slow place, as if they have no realization that there are other people who need to use the hallway or passageway.

Sometimes it’s a pack of friends, other times it’s a lovey-dovey couple in a tiny 2-person wide passageway. Please, be respectful of those around you, and recognize that every half or full hour, there are generally going to be loads of people trying to go somewhere!

That’s All?

I have a brain fart right now. I’m pretty sure I’m missing something, and if I think of it, I’ll be sure to add it later.

I hope these complaints don’t make me sound like a really angry person, because I’m not… most of the time.

Have something about school that really annoys you? I’d love to hear it!

A Little Update

Categories: Life

Ever since my second semester at York started, I’ve found it really hard to find time writing here. I also don’t really want to ramble about how my bus ride to school was or anything, because I don’t think people would particularly care =)

I do want to say that I probably sounded more composed than I actually during my last post. For some reason, I felt pretty bad after my University of Toronto interview. It wasn’t like a did completely awful (at least I don’t think I did). But for whatever reason, I kept dwelling on the 2 or 3 questions I didn’t think I performed my best on. And when you keep thinking about just the bad stuff, it makes you feel as if the whole thing was bad. I think I was also partially upset that I couldn’t sleep the night before, as that definitely significantly affected my focus that day.

One of the things about myself has been my ability to (for the most part) do really well under pressure and step up when it counts. That didn’t really happen on Sunday, and so that’s partially why it kept eating at me. After almost a week has passed, however, I am feeling a lot better and just going to remain optimistic about my chances.

I try to come off as composed and confident whenever I write, because that’s not only what I hope you guys aspire to, but it’s something I aspire to myself – I want to be able to not worry about random stuff and lose sleep at night. Maybe some people think I am this super human for whom things always go well and I never fail – unfortunately, I am just as imperfect, obsessive, and paranoid as anyone else.

I wish I could write more, but I’m in a pretty tired mood after staying up most of Thursday night to study for a test yesterday (not surprising obviously!).

Hopefully I am awake enough to write something a bit more lengthy this week – I miss writing, but I keep feeling way too exhausted to put together anything meaningful.

Post-UofT Interview Feelings

Categories: Interviews, Life, Med Admissions

So for some reason, I just could not sleep the night before again – even though I was in my own normal bed where I usually sleep just fine. I find it really weird, as I’ve had interviews or other important things before, but have never really had sleeping problems. Hopefully this doesn’t happen for McMaster again, especially since that one is longer and a bit more intensive.

When I got to the location this morning, it started off a bit weird. After getting off the elevator, the waiting room was already full of interviewees, as registration had not started yet. There were maybe a few interviewees chatting quietly in the corner, but there were a bunch of people just standing there not saying anything. There were even some people standing in a circle and not saying anything – that just blew my mind. I wonder how long some of these interviewees stood there staring at each other without saying anything – I was only standing near that circle for less than a minute, and I already felt super awkward.

But then I heard a few people behind me chatting about the Queen’s interview, so I joined in on their conversation, and met this guy who went to Harvard for undergrad. A few minutes later, we got into line for registration, and I started talking to a few guys behind me who turned out to also be in 3rd year, but from the McMaster Health Sciences program – that was pretty cool, because I ended up knowing a bunch of the people from their class.

There were three possibly interview times for the morning session – 9, 10 or 11 am. I ended up getting 9 am, which I was quite happy with because that means I wouldn’t have to spend 2 more hours thinking about the interview or anything.

After registration, we were led into a room with a bunch of chairs and a screen, and we listened to a quick presentation about UofT’s medical school from some 2nd year students, and also watched a funny video they produced about the interview process in the style of The Office. So that was nice for relieving any tension or stress in the room.

After the presentation, those of us with 9 am interviews got brought into a waiting room, where our interviewers would come and pick us up. The interviewers would be a 2nd year medical student, as well as a faculty member of the medical school. The interview lasted maybe a little less than an hour or so, I’m not really sure. I came out with rather mixed feelings.

Both interviewers were really nice, but I was a bit surprised with the format I guess. I’m not allowed to reveal much, but I will say I was a bit surprised in the sense that the interview was more formal and generalized than I expected it to be, mainly because most of the stories I’ve heard portrayed the UofT interview as more of a casual, personalized conversation. That being said, I have also heard that the interviewers are given a lot of flexibility in terms of deciding how they conduct their interviews, so I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised by anything thrown at me.

I definitely felt I didn’t answer some questions as strongly as others and some of the questions definitely left me flustered, and since I wasn’t being given too much feedback, it was hard for me to know whether what I was saying was clear, etc. So overall, it’s really hard for me to evaluate how well I did, because I didn’t get much information on how they were perceiving my answers – so in a way, I don’t really know what to feel – I feel uncertain, if that makes sense.

Also, they weren’t taking many notes or anything during the interview – they have about 10-15 minutes afterwards to discuss each interviewee, at least that’s how it seems. It makes you wonder – are they going to remember when I rambled? Or are they going to remember the good parts of the interview? What are they looking for and did they see any of that in me?

Although it was a bit different from what I expected, it was definitely an interesting experience nonetheless. Hopefully I end up with some good news on May 15!

Leading by Example

Categories: Personal Development

leadbyexample

I first joined my church choir about five years ago playing the trumpet. That didn’t work out so well, partly because I’m not very good, and partly because it just didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the instruments (guitar and piano). I still wanted to remain an integral part of the choir, so I began to sing instead.

When I first started singing, I remember the choir director would always tell me to sing louder. I always got a bit irritated, because I thought I was singing pretty loud. Of course, the reality was that I was only singing as loud as I was comfortable with – which means, loud enough for myself to hear, but maybe not loud enough for everyone else.

One thing I did notice though, was that when other people started singing louder, I didn’t mind singing louder myself – it was if I felt safe knowing that my voice would be blanketed by everyone else’s. It’s quite a common phenomena among new choir members who are afraid of hearing their own voice – singing is good when the leader sings, but singing becomes scary when the leader doesn’t.

As time went by, I became more and more comfortable with my own voice and other people hearing it. Now, I am one of the lead singers in the choir, and also sometimes direct the choir when the normal choir directors aren’t available. And from this position, I myself have seen other choir members dealing with the same experience – wanting to sing, but only when everyone else, particularly the leader, was singing.

This is why leading by example is so important. By being a leader who participates (and not just directs), you make those around you feel more comfortable getting involved. The more you do, the more motivated other people become, and the more comfortable they become doing it. Hopefully, one day, your team will have developed the confidence to begin leading by example on their own.

Sing loudly, and your choir will sing loudly with you.