Living

So...the big question: Where will you live?

And possibly the bigger question: Who will you live with?

My advice, if you can afford it, is to start the program living alone (or at least without a random roommate). Most likely you don't know anyone else going into the program at the same time as you, and therefore you have NO IDEA about their living habits. The last thing you need to be worrying about during your 1st tri is your dirty/annoying/alcoholic/slutty roommate.

I choose to live in a studio apartment at Perry Hill (just 2 blocks from school) and I think it was a great choice. I just moved in with another wonderful girl from my class. However, this was only done after very careful consideration. We have the same living habits (clean, respectful, quiet) and we get along great.

Luckily, since I started at Palmer, the school has added a helpful apartment finder on their website. Finding affordable student housing on your own on the web is difficult. Most of the places don't have websites. So I would recommend using the new web application (the school will send you a password and info to log on).

As for choosing a roommate. I would highly recommend waiting. Most likely you will meet someone who you would feel comfortable living with after you have been at school for a while. I will report back after my roomy and I have been together for a while and tell you how it is!

1st Post & Recap

 I should have started this blog at the very beginning of school but, you see, I was very overwhelmed my first few weeks at Palmer, so later I will give a little recap.

I am writing this blog as a way to stay in the present. All too often I find myself talking and thinking about the future: "When I am a chiropractor..." or "After school..." or "When robots run the world...". Ok so the last one is a joke, but you get the picture, I rarely celebrate the now! Someone famous once said that its about the journey, not the destination and I want to remember that and tell you about it!

Just as importantly, I want to be a resource for anyone who goes to chiropractic school and would like some advice, help, guidance, etc. I may not have done everything perfectly my 1st trimester, but if nothing else, I can help someone else avoid my mistakes ( tip #1: Don't go on a date after working in the cadaver lab, if you don't know why, you soon will) and hopefully I can help make the experience a little more bearable and you a little more sane! 

 

The Recap:

My first week at Palmer, all was well. School began at 7:30 and I would force myself to go to bed before 11. The second week was when things began to heat up. I almost had a break down in the CNS lab, I did have a break down after my cadaver (aka dead body) lab. I just wasn't sure Palmer was for me. Luckily I only live 2 blocks away and was able to run home each time before bursting into tears, but those tears really made me question my decision to be a doc. This stuff wasn't for kids.

After several weeks of tests and finally (no seriously, it took me over a month) figuring out my way around the Palmer maze, I realized that I wasn't as dumb as a box of rocks. Nevertheless, school was still consuming every minute that I wasn't sleeping or eating. Where was my time for fun???

So I met with Dr. Margrave and had an epiphany. She gave me lots of great advice, tips on studying, and told me I had to make time for fun. Like, she was forcing me to. Ugh. Forced to have fun. What a life. So the next day I up and went to a children's museum. My boyfriend and I were the only ones there over the age of 10 that didn't have children of their own. In fact, as we waited outside the ceramics room the other class participant had her head stuck in her mother's crotch and wouldn't tell me her name even when I used my cute little kid voice. Her mom had to tell me her name that that she was almost 3.

I ignored my embarrassment and we went in and I sat on the wheel and for just 10 minutes. Suddenly, I forgot about school, the stress, the 5 tests the next week. I forgot about how all my friends were back in Cedar Falls, how I lived alone, how I wanted to quit. It was therapy. Basically, I had seen the light. The remainder of the semester went much more smoothly. I stopped stressing so much, I made time for myself, and I made friends.

So lesson #1 of chiropractic school. It is not only about school. Its about your life at that time. Don't make yourself miserable. I didn't fail any of the tests the weekend after I threw pottery. In fact, I probably did better because of it. You have more time than you think you just have to manage it well. And smile, never forget that.