Sunday, September 18, 2011

Threshold

1 : the plank, stone, or piece of timber that lies under a door : sill
2a : gate, door
b (1) : end, boundary; specifically : the end of a runway (2) : the place or point of entering or beginning : outset
3a : the point at which a physiological or psychological effect begins to be produced
b : a level, point, or value above which something is true or will take place and below which it is not or will not

The threshold is the potential that a cell must reach when depolarizing in order for an action potential to occur. The threshold is also the point or value that I must obtain on my exams this week in order for me to pass and for my career in medicine to continue...
I feel like I am kind of standing on a threshold, the threshold of my life, and that this week will determine a lot (but not everything, because, as Amy suggested, I'm giving myself till Christmas).
I didn't expect to like my med school class this much this year. I didn't expect to enjoy it this much. I didn't expect to make this many friends. Last year I didn't really care. This year I do, for more reasons than just my future as a doctor.
But, like my fellow student said on the way to chapel a few weeks ago, there's not really any reason to worry or be anxious, because it won't accomplish anything. It will just make me miserable and make my studying less productive. So I'm just going to do my best to not worry, trust God, and do the best that I can on exams this week.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Facebook, part 2

So I stayed off facebook completely for 6 days...I went back on because Friday the 26th was my sister's birthday and I wanted to wish her a happy birthday on fb. And the funny thing was, as I looked through all I had missed over the previous week (yes, I did indulge and let myself do more than just wish my sis a quick happy birthday) I found the whole experience to be incredibly anti-climactic. In fact, it was quite boring. No offense to any of my friends or anything, but all of the monumental things that I was imagining I must be missing all week just weren't happening. So all in all, I just confirmed that facebook is a huge time-waster filled with information that I really didn't need to know in the first place.