Sometimes as a medical student, you tend to forget that you have a real life outside of school. This week I was reminded of that and about how important balance is as a med student. On Friday my DPM class had what they called “Footgiving” which was a get together that they want to do annually to have a Thanksgiving dinner as friends. It was a lot of fun to meet them all outside of class in a fun, social setting instead of just to talk about class and studying and the last set of exams. It was a good reminder to us all that we are more than just med students right now. On top of that, we celebrated my daughter’s third birthday this weekend! I must remember sometimes that I need balance between school life and home life. It was a blast focusing on my family on Saturday and not really worrying about school so much. Finally, Sunday I was given the opportunity to speak in our church service. I had prepared a talk last week and was able to give it to the congregation. I also sang with the choir in the service as well! I think it’s important to keep yourself from just studying all day and night. The ones that do that seem to struggle here more than others that have balance in their lives.
Last week I had 2 exams on Tuesday that I did well on! It felt good to get a couple of A’s on exams since it’s honestly been a little while since I have. It was Biochemistry and Medical Cell Biology, the two hardest courses this semester. Averages for these exams were much lower than they have been in the past and so both tests were curved, essentially giving me 100%’s on each of them. Way cool!
I am excited for this Thanksgiving break even though I’m going to have to spend a lot of it studying. It’s always nice to spend time with family, reflecting on all the things we are thankful for, of which I have so many! I never thought I would be here in Iowa going to medical school, pursuing my dream of becoming a doctor and a surgeon. Even now, I still catch myself being amazed that I am here! It’s like a dream come true and I love it! I hope everyone is thankful for their lives, relationships, friends and family and all the real important things in life.
Talk you to you all next week!
Levi Smith, PMAC & Podiatric Medical Student @ DMU
