Category: Academics

Hey UIC!

So I spent this week writing a 10-page paper for my philosophy class. I was having  serious writer’s block and it completely sucked! I went to Caribou Coffee, which is located conveniently right outside Marie Robinson Hall and I sat down for eight straight hours working on my paper! I realized I cannot write for long periods of time, but in intervals.

It was my roommate Katherine’s and my friend Jeremy’s 20th birthday so a group of friends and I celebrated at Grand Lux Cafe! It’s such a beautiful restaurant. I remember my older cousins taking me there when I was younger. Their red velvet cake was unbelievably delicious!

Red velvet cake!

I hope finals studying is going well! I have yet to start. I think it’s time I switch gears to actually preparing for finals. The end of the semester is only a few weeks away! Hang in there, UIC!

It’s a triple combo and its taking its toll on me. I normally get my average of 7-8 hours each night, but lately it’s been more like 5-6 hours. I wake up to a stuffy nose and teary eyes from morning allergies and they tend to last throughout the day until around dinner time. I haven’t had much time to myself because it’s either going into research, going to class, going to club meetings, or being at home studying for my exams/quizzes and soon finals! I wonder if medical school feels like this! Then again, most people just study in the first two years and don’t have to worry about a part-time job and hopefully they don’t suffer from allergies like me!

When I have allergies, I also have eczema and it’s all just a messed up fiasco. How do I get by? It’s hard to concentrate when my eyes are basically blinded by my tears! I stare at my textbooks but none of the information is coming to me. And this lack of sleep really makes me want to close my eyes and knock out all together. The Zyrtec at night doesn’t help either because it makes me drowsy. What’s a student to do…

I’m not a fan of cramming, but sometimes you have to in order to still be on your A-game! For everyone who is still trying to master the art of procrastinating, I give you a low-down on how I cram-study:

1. Read every single powerpoint slide or handwritten notes in order, starting from the new stuff because more likely than not you have not done your individual studying on the new stuff.
2. If you don’t understand anything, either go to the textbook and look it up or ask a friend/go to TA/Professor office hours.
3. After reading your notes, pick a topic that you know for a fact will be tested on (like in genetics class, nondisjunction at meiosis I and II will be heavily tested) and get a blank sheet of paper. Write the related slides and textbook information on that blank sheet of paper and draw pictures if necessary. Do this for each “big” topic.
4. If your professor has written you a nice study guide, I would obviously jump to that and cover every single topic they wrote in that study guide/topics sheet! Better yet, if you have past exams or quizzes from someone else you should start there!
5. Use the Internet if all else fails (in terms of understanding a concept or how to do a problem).
6. The best way to cram-study is to form a study group and ask each other questions or go over slides together and remind each other what was talked about and what key points to take away. Two or more brains is better than one!

All right. Time to go back to studying and hopefully I can sleep…I have to wake up at 6 a.m. to label tubes for research and then collect my human cells! I’m excited to perform qPCR on them to see what kind of phenotypes my macrophages are expressing. :D But I’ll also be super crazy tired and might mess up (let’s hope not). I don’t drink coffee but maybe I can find a banana in the cafe to keep me awake…look alive UIC! May is here.

I’ve officially been inducted to the Golden Key International Honour Society!  The induction ceremony was on April 24th.  My parents, brother and boyfriend were there to support me.  I have gotten so much support from everyone – my family, friends and even acquaintances on Facebook.

Part of me is feeling so proud of this accomplishment.  The other part is freaking out and totally overwhelmed with how much work I have yet to do for this semester.  Now that I have set the bar for myself, I HAVE to raise it….or at least stay AT the bar.  Either way, it’s pressure.  And it’s pressure I’m only placing on myself.  What is my problem!?

I am pretty organized and I make lists.  But I know I have a problem when I constantly re-write list after list and then just STARE at them, trying not to sob about how much I have to do. It’s funny how when you are stressed, you tend to look at the big picture that just gets bigger and bigger the more you stress, instead of taking it one step at a time. I think I need a pep talk! Stay positive! It will all get done!

Congratulations Golden Keys!!

Hello UIC!

Can you believe we only have a few weeks in the semester left?! It’s amazing to see how the spring semester usually flies by faster than the fall semester. College just passes by in the blink of an eye! As I prepare for finals and my summer plans, I can’t help but remember walking in as an innocent freshman to now a mature sophomore.

At this point, it’s important to remember to prepare for finals and put in our hardest efforts in these last few weeks. We are in the final home stretch! We are almost there!

I think at this point, we are all waiting for the wonderful April weather to come out, so we can enjoy our early summer extravaganzas. Chicago has been having bipolar weather, and you just never know what to expect!

Well, I wish all of you the best of luck with finals! I know I’ll definitely need it…

The semester is almost over! It’s hard to believe that I will be a senior after this summer. I still feel like I was a freshman yesterday…although I have accumulated a lot more federal loans that I will hopefully repay right after I graduate if I choose to apply to medical school next year…or just pay off after I get out of medical school on top of the $200,000 in medical school loans! Education is quite an investment, so it’s important to know whatever it is you want to do is something that you will enjoy for the rest of your life.

Anyway, this post will be an update on how things are with me. Let’s start with classes:

1. Genetics – We have an exam on the 29th and I hope to do really well on it! This class requires a lot of deep understanding for the concepts that only make sense if you have the details together. It helps a lot with the critical thinking that I need for MCAT questions so it’s fun but very challenging.
2. Biochemistry – I took my third exam on Thursday and it felt OK…but we’ll see when I get it back!
3. Homeostasis – There was like no one at our last lecture because of the huge flooding that went on Thursday…crazy weather. There’s so much information in that class, sometimes I feel like my brain is going to explode.
4. Honors Seminar (Diabetes) – We are doing group presentations! I’m presenting with two of my HAC members so it’ll be really fun to work with them on this project.
5. ASAM 105 – We finished reading The Coffin Tree and it was such a wonderful novel. I’d encourage anyone to read it.

In terms of other stuff going on, I’m going to be starting another research project with human cells soon that was similar to a mouse experiment that I conducted earlier this year. That will continue on through the summer when I’m in the MOST Summer Program. I’m very excited! Also, I was recently elected as President of SFP! I am so honored to be able to serve my organization once again and am also happy that HAC will be taken over by my fellow HAC committee member, Chandni. I sense progress in our near future!

Phew. I am very exhausted…once this semester is over, it is back to hardcore studying for the MCAT and getting my application together. Try not to get burnt out UIC! We’re almost there. =)

Last week has certainly been a busy one.

On Wednesday, I went to Springfield again with some other Undergraduate Student Government (USG) members and a couple of other students. This time around, we met with state senators and representatives and asked them to vote in support of some bills that will mandate publishers to be more transparent with textbook prices and that would create more affordable textbook rental programs for colleges in Illinois. We also lobbied for support of a bill that would provide funding for homeless students across Illinois. The trip was certainly successful and received a lot of great feedback from the legislators! I hope to update you all more with good news as time goes on.

On Thursday evening, I received the Chancellors’ Service Award for the third year in a row! But it wasn’t the award that made my day great. It was the fact that I was able to see so many of my colleagues in USG and other classmates receive recognition for all of the hard work they do for the campus and larger community. The university has a strong league of students who put so much passion and dedication towards what they believe in — whether it’s fundraising for disease prevention, researching, organizing charity events, creating school programs or lobbying for financial aid. The award ceremony made me realize how much goodness our students at the university produce. It really made me feel great about our school and even inspired me to do more next year!

Finally, before I venture off to my bed to rest after a long week, I wanted to remind you all about RECESS on Wednesday, April 24! It’s going to be a blast — with a huge roller rink in the quad, a wide variety of competitions and activities, music and a big burst of school spirit. Campus Programs and USG have worked hard to bring you this event so make sure you come on out to the quad between 4-7 p.m. to enjoy an end-of-the-year fiesta.

Until next week…

Mike

Have you ever heard of the saying, “When it rains, it pours?”  I would have used that phrase to describe last week.

I wanted to begin by introducing my readers to this story about U.S. Diplomat Anne Smedinghoff.  Anne was stationed at the U.S Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.  She was devoted to foreign service and helping people in Afghanistan, mainly woman and children.  She was on her way back from bringing books to a school when she and four others were killed by a suicide bomber April 6.  Less than a week before, she met Secretary of State John Kerry and was described by Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy as being “quiet but confident and having a great deal of compassion for others.” When her family and friends talk about her, they mention her smile, her confidence and her intelligence.  Anne was the sister to a friend of mine.

This story circled the news. Countless articles were written about what happened to Anne and people started to learn who she was. I never had the opportunity to meet Anne, but after attending her wake and funeral, I felt like I had known her.

The outpouring of support from the River Forest community was nothing like I had ever seen.  Every single tree in River Forest had a single white ribbon tied around it.  This picture does not do the scene justice.  American flags and white ribbons decorated the entire village.

After her funeral, firetrucks, police cars, and neighbors were out in the rain with flags honoring Anne. My heart breaks for her family. I cannot say I knew Anne in life, but I knew Anne in death.  Rest in Peace, Anne.

Here is a video from ABC News of Anne’s life and death.
I also had a relative pass away Sunday night and attended the services in conjunction with Anne’s. By Wednesday night, I was totally emotionally drained and wanted to relax the next few days.  Mother nature had another plan. The Chicagoland area was pounded with rain. It was raining, just like any other day. Except it didn’t stop. All through the night it rained “cats and dogs.”  My boyfriend and I woke up to a phone call from his mom who was at their house in Elmhurst.  “We have a lot of water,” she says.  “How much?”  “A foot.”  That was at 5 a.m. on Thursday morning.  We started receiving pictures of what it was looking like.  My boyfriend’s room was in the basement.  His TV, Xbox, bed – all gone.  At 7 a.m., we decided to make our way there to help, even though many of the streets were closed already due to flooding.  This was the first picture we received from his mom.
I live in Chicago and he lives in Elmhurst.  We thought if we tried to take Roosevelt Road, we could get through.  Nope. We made it to Roosevelt and 25th Avenue before we hit the first roadblock. We tried going down some side streets.  There was too much water, so we headed back.  We headed back East on Roosevelt and decided to try 1st Ave. Nope.
We were listening to Eric and Kathy on the Mix (101.9 WTMX) and they were asking for people to send in their pictures.  The best (or worst) flooding picture would win a prize.  I told my boyfriend to send the picture in.  We’ve got nothing to lose.  About 10 minutes later, Eric comes on and says “OK do we have some finalists?…Oh! we have a winner already? OK! Let’s see…how much rain has Elmhurst had so far? Our winner is Kyle from Elmhurst!” It was crazy! We won dinner for two at Shaw’s Crab House.

We made our way back to Harlem Ave. thinking we could get to an expressway.  Nope.  Next, we tried taking 355. Nope. Harlem going south was blocked off at Ogden.  So we tried to take Ogden as far as we could.  It worked! We made it to his parent’s house and THIS is how much worse the flooding became. Elmhurst, along with surrounding suburbs, was declared in a state of emergency and a disaster area.

There was really nothing we could do until we got the water out.  And we decided to head back to the city.  We finally got back to my house around 4 pm.  By that time, I was ready to go back to bed.  My brain was fried and I was still so emotionally exhausted from the week’s previous events.  We’re hoping we can get some help from FEMA alleviate the financial loss.

As the semester winds down and before we become wrapped up in finals week, I thought I would highlight some great events going on at “home.”  UIC has some things going on to finish up the year.  So in case you missed the Annual UIC Fashion show, or Campus Recreation’s Zumbathon…fear not! It’s not to late to take part in UIC events.

1. UIC Theatre’s production of “Time of Your Life”

When: 7:30 p.m. April 19-20, 25-27; 2 p.m. April 21, 28; noon April 24

Cost: $11-14

Support the arts and check out UIC Theatre!

“In the time of your life, live — so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world…”
UIC’s landmark theatre season closes joyously with William Saroyan’s true American classic “The Time of Your Life.” The first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critic Circle Award when it premiered in 1939 toward the end of the Great Depression, it remains eternally contemporary and optimistic through its spring awakening-plea to live life “so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.”

2. RECESS!!!!!

when: 4-7 p.m. April 24

Where Lecture Center Plaza

Celebrate the end of a great year with Campus Programs and Undergraduate Student Government. One of UIC’s most fun traditions is back on! Visit the roller skating rink in the middle of the Quad, plus free games, tie-dye, airbrush tattoos, giveaways and more! In the case of rain, Recess will be rescheduled one week later, May 1.

I am super excited for this. I am a kid at heart so anytime I take every chance I can to bring myself back to recess.

3.  The Annual UIC White Sox Night

When: April 26th

Where: U.S. Cellular Field

UIC students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends are all invited to a fun evening as the White Sox take on the Tampa Bay Rays. Tickets are half price, including $12 and $10 LOWER LEVEL tickets exclusively for this UIC outing!! Also, there will be fireworks after the game! You can buy tickets online at whitesox.com using the code ‘uic’ to get your discount. OR you can avoid online fees and use the online order form.

I can’t believe it is the end of the year again. With that said, we can’t forget the “granddaddy” event of all: graduation! There are graduation ceremonies such as AAAN Commencement ceremony May 10th and the Lavender Graduation May 3rd as well as each of UIC commencement ceremonies. The schedule can be found here.

So how are you celebrating the end of the year?

Hey UIC!

Last week, I went to my very first Bulls game vs. Orlando and we ended up winning! It was so much fun! I would definitely go again if I have the chance! It was such a coincidence that I ended up going because my friend and I were literally scrambling around for a month looking for tickets for the Miami Heat game. The tickets we were finding we way too expensive so we ended up not going to the Heat game. Then, about a week later a Greek organization my roommate is involved in was selling tickets for $25 each. It’s amazing how things work out when you least expect it!

This is a picture from where I was sitting. We were pretty high up but it was still amazing to be there!

My friends Kathleen (left) and Jhanvi (center) came to the game with me! Seriously two of the most hardcore Bulls fans ever!

I would definitely recommend going to a Bulls game at some point in your lifetime, even if you do not like basketball! My other roommate doesn’t even watch basketball but she had a blast!

I need to stop worrying.

For some reason (and being only a few weeks away from my last moments of junior-ness), my brain has been literally EVERYWHERE. It thinks, it cries, it shivers, it freezes! I can’t comprehend nor make my mind up about anything (or if I do, I change it the next day). I’ve gone to pre-health advising and it is always helpful when I go but when I’m by myself I just think more and then I’m back to square one. What on earth am I going to do?

We had our last official HAC meeting on Thursday! Instead of being in the Honors College lounge, I suggested we take a field trip to the Inner Circle and get dinner together (funded by SFP). It was a lot of fun and we had great discussions on how to improve the health education program next year.

The main spark of all this nonsense has been the hype and talk about applying to medical school. I can’t make up my mind whether or not I want to apply this year or the next, but when my “real” brain chimes in — it’s pretty obvious what I have to do and that’s not to worry.

The first thing to get across on all grounds is that one of the most important parts of the admission process is getting that solid MCAT score (mainly just so that you at least get looked at). Ah, MCAT studying…what happened to that? Oh yeah, school happened. Hah…as I saw my MCAT score improving, I also saw my grades in my classes dip and I didn’t want to let that go. I’ve been studying rigorously to pull my grades up and I honestly think I can make it alive possibly with As (I hope). I did so well last semester and I really want to keep that trend going. I’ve grown to actually really like my classes after taking the time to read and understand the material, but then the MCAT looms over my head and itself is saying words like “Hey Milie. So uh, you forgot about me and it hurts my feelings. Please come back.”

But if it means pushing my MCAT date again so that I can have a good score, I’ll do it! And besides, a year will fly if I do have to take one (and many say it is very beneficial to do so in many aspects). I could do research and have a clinical job too! It’d be nice to pay off all of my students loans from UIC before entering medical school.

Can you believe I was thinking about marriage and kids with me being a doctor? Man, women have to give up everything. Sure they can work it out, but I can see how a devotion to patients overrules the devotion to your kids, especially when you’re not getting paid to take care of your kids and you are possibly the only one bringing a stable income into the home. Yeesh. Too much to think about and in the end I shouldn’t be thinking about this at all. Those things will naturally happen whenever they happen. We can’t plan for things. It’s just not possible.

So, for anyone who is worrying about their future like me, try your best to maintain your composure, finish this semester strong and study hard. Everything else will just fall into place. And if they don’t, you’ll manage and still work hard because that’s what you do.