Monday, October 15, 2007

Consistency

I received the results for one of my exams from last week. The hard work payed off -- I got the H! It will be another week or so before I get the results for the customized NBME exam, but I'm pretty sure I got the H on that one as well.

Why can't I be more consistent? Why does it seem like I'm always on some sort of roller coaster?

My wish is to find that right balance that allows me to perform well in school, yet feel like I'm still participating in life. Currently, I'm either in multi-slacking (a la Seth Rogen in Knocked Up) or crazed-gunner (a la Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series) mode. I need to find that sweet spot -- that Tiger Woods setting.

I wish I could, but I can't study non-stop week after week because after a week or two of crazed-gunner mode, I don't want to look at anything related to medical school. And then I fall behind and I'm playing major catch up. However, crazed-gunner mode seems to be the only way for me to get grades in the Honors range.

Friends have suggested a modified crazed-gunner mode, where I still study hard, but take a break every other weekend or so. On these weekends I don't study as much, but meet up with friends and get out for a while. That way I don't feel so isolated or like I'm missing out on life. I think they may be right.

So, on Saturday, I'm off to NYC to visit a friend for the weekend. That means I'm going to have to study hard all week because I'll lose some study time on the weekend. Hopefully, having "scheduled distractions" such as this will help me to feel more balanced and to perform more consistently.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your H!

DC Med Student said...

Thank you! Hope Monday's exam treated you well. :o)

Anonymous said...

well done...

Unknown said...

Very nice, but does that H make you a better doctor? Keep this stuff in perspective - if you burn out it's a long rode to retirement. . .

DC Med Student said...

Stinky: Thank you!

Anne: Thanks! You're right, it says little about whether I will be a better doctor. However, it's hard not to get caught up in the race.