My Advice: an oxymoron

So as this semester comes to a close I have been thinking about how I could have studied harder, better, more, and made better grades. I think about what I have learned and worry a little about how close I am to taking Step 1. In my examination of myself I have realized that I rely too heavily on others advice and opinions of certain classes with respect to their level of difficulty and what books to buy and how to study for them. The fact is that I am not those people that I am asking. While I greatly respect their opinions it is all too often not my experience.

So this is the part where my post is an oxymoron. I am about to give you advice to not take others advice. Do with it what you may.

You must know yourself first. Then use what others tell you to your benefit. For instance, I am an auditory learner. If someone will explain a concept to me and I can understand the concept and tell it back to them I will never forget it. I can read the same concept and it is never internalized, and pictures are worse. But if I ask a visual learner what book to buy or use, they will probably recommend a book with great illustrations and less words. That book will be not only difficult for me to read, but it will be very frustrating for me to study. I learned that this semester.

When you are researching which books to buy, thing about how you learn best. If you are asking an upperclassman which books to buy then you should know how they learn best and if you learn the same way. Otherwise their opinion is, for all intensive purposes, useless to you. I have learned this the hard way.

What works for others may not work for you and you have to know yourself well enough to know what you need to make the material "stick" for you.

Many students have very useful advice on what to buy and how to study. I am not saying don't listen to them at all, I am saying use it to your advantage and not to your detriment. If you find that a text book recommendation is not working for you, move on, find something else.

If you need to rewrite your notes for them to make sense then do, I would advice you to use your time understanding the material and reading it rather than writing a bunch of stuff. If notecards work for you then make them, they generally only work for me if I am looking at the notecard.

I love highlighting text. I love going back and reading what I have highlighted to see why I highlighted it. I understand it better that way, but that doesn't mean that it is the best way for you to study for medical school.

My gibberish is getting old, now and I hope that I have driven home the point. KNOW YOURSELF! Know what works for you. DO IT!!!

Best of luck to all the new students arriving at UMHS!

Until next time,

Amy Jones

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Holidays in St. Kitts

There a lot of holidays in the US. We generally know exactly when they are because they are written into almost every calendar you ever buy. From the time that we are little children we learn that everyone stays home on holidays, and the banks close and the government offices close, and the post man doesn't come. There are some holidays that grocery stores and resturants close for like Christmas Day and sometimes Thanksgiving. Then there are some holidays for which there are limited operating hours, perhaps Easter and Independence Day. Generally the larger stores are open for all holidays except Christmas. Well, as you might would expect that is not the case with St. Kitts.

Today is a holiday as was yesterday. It is the independence holiday and everything closes. The grocery stores, the retailers, the resturants. . . I don't even think I saw that many goats grazing today!

It is the weirdest thing. There are some tourist traps that remain open like "The Strip" and "Rituals" (a tourist trap but I like it), and the Mariott (enough said). It isn't like you plan for this either because their isn't a sign on every door prior to the holiday stating that there is a holiday coming up. It is just an email from the University on Friday afternoon around 3pm that states that the island will (for all practical purposes) shut down on Monday and Tuesday. Well by that point it is too late to make arrangements for anything and if you have business to do it is already too late because even on normal days the banks and business offices shut down at four o'clock at the latest and generally 2 o'clock is quittin' time 'round here.

This is probably the most unusual and difficult practice to get used to. I plan to go to the bank and realize that it is 3pm. They're closed. I want to call the cable company and it is 3pm. They're closed. Everything closes by 3 or 4 pm which is about the same time I get out of classes. Granted by that point my brain is fried or I would remember prior to calling that they close at 3 or 4.

Therefore, I find myself saying "tomorrow, I will".

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What to bring?

Everyone has the same questions before they get to the island. The most frequently asked and unclearly answered is "What should I bring". I can tell you what I brought and what I wish I had brought, but really it comes down to what you like and where you will be living.

If you will be living in the Royal St. Kitts then I recommend these items.

something that you cook with or on:

hot plate

griddle

toaster oven

fast boiler (I am not sure what the technical term is but this is like a little pot that you can plug in and it boils rapidly. I use mine to cook pasta, oatmeal, boil eggs, etc)

If you choose to bring a hot plate or griddle you will need:

pots and pans

spatulas

stirring spoons

Even if you think that you will mostly eat out and not eat in your room I reccommend these Kitchen type items:

plates (can be plastic disposable)

utensils (also can be disposable, but I prefer real utensils)

some kind of cups/glasses

coffee cup

plastic gladware

foil and plastic wrap

ice tray (even though there is an ice machine you might prefer to not have to go out to get ice. )

Items that you might not think to bring that you will probably want and definitely might need:

toilet paper

paper towels

good smelling candles/air freshner

cleaning supplies

laundry detergent sheets

laundry bag/hamper

toilet brush

Shaving/hair removal items

Food items that can be brought for nearly nothing but will you cost you a bunch on the island:

cereal

fast prep rice/pasta sides

chips

coffee

granola bars

snack foods in general

Other items that you might want to bring a lot of b/c they are way expensive:

shampoo/conditioner

body wash

hand soap

dish liquid

deodorant

sanitary napkins/tampons

sunscreen ( I bought mine at the dollar store for a buck a bottle)

tanning lotion

towels

bed linens (as most places don't supply those even the royal)

IRON ( I cannot tell you how many ppl didn't bring an iron and have needed one)

favorite perfume/lotions

face washes/ makeup remover

extra makeup (it seems very expensive here and I am not sure where you can buy it easily)

immodium/ibuprofen

midol

Scrubs

close toed shoes/athletic shoes

My suggestions for fitting this into two suitcases!

Pack up all that you can w/o going over the weight limit into your alotted number of bags and then bring your carryon that is as large as it can be and still be in the limits. Load up your backpack as full you can get it b/c it can be a carryon too and you likely won't have to weigh it.

Make sure that you opt for the supplies over clothing for the first semester. I had five bags total and only had to pay for two. None of them were over the limit! I cannot tell you how many ppl look great, but have no supplies and really wished they had brought less clothing and more food and supplies.

If you rent a house/apt most of the cooking stuff you can leave out, and on some occassions they will also provide you with towels.

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