Goodbye 305

Warning: Cheese ahead.

Apartment 305 is home to many of my favorite memories - nights where we refused to go out and stayed up to hours that grandmas wouldn't dare, crafting away and crocheting patchwork blankets endlessly. Nights where we would sit around eating cereal (this happened so often we deemed these occasions "cereal parties") laughing about things, both silly and serious. That moment we decided that a pen club really was necessary, and that we had to be the ones to start it (and then convince others that it was not only cool, but that they wanted to join it). The nights of buzzing worry and anticipation before our half marathon, Half Dome hike, 5K, and our respective grad school tests. Our champagne and "strawberry shortcake" cake night to celebrate acceptances to schools and the beginning of our lives' dreams. The time Annie impressed us by cooking an omelet.

A Year Well Spent

I have been working at the Clinical Research Center at the School of Optometry for almost 3 years now and in my time here, I have developed close friendships with my co-workers, a couple of which are now first year optometry students at the UC Berkeley School of Optometry! I would be lying if I said I didn't wish I could be them. I see them drop by between lectures to squeeze in a couple hours of journal reading or office work and then head off to pre-clinic. Seeing them together and sharing their first year experience with one another has definitely made me think about whether or not I should have taken a year off between graduation and the start of optometry school. Was I just being lazy or did I really need this year off to strengthen my life experiences and application?

Now, almost an entire year after graduating, I can confidently say that taking a gap year was one of the best decisions I have ever made. :) I wanted to take the year off to focus on myself for once and try new things that I never had time to try during undergrad. This past year was all about personal and professional growth, stepping out of my comfort zone, and making new memories. 

Why I Decided to Take a Gap Year

For Berkeley students, its pretty typical to take a gap year before plunging into a health professional school. I think its becoming more and more common, as people begin to realize the amount of debt they will be in as soon as they finish med/dental/opto/whatever school, and see that there's significantly less room for simply enjoying life. Plus, Berkeley kids are usually burned out from 4 years (or more) or camping out at the library, being constantly caffeinated, and just getting too little sleep.

So why take a gap year? Here were my reasons:

Sleep, play, and learn. 

A Case for Journals/ Personal Blogs

There are a lot of things I did wrong during college, but a couple of things I did right. 

Whether you're starting out as a wee freshman or embarking on your senior year,  keeping a journal or blog is important. Trust me, your memory will thank you for it a thousand times over once you're in the process of applying for dental school, organizations, or anything that requires some reflection on your end.

Need ideas for what to put in your journal/blog? Here's what I did. 

For some, it's rather intuitive - you just write what you're feeling. But for those of you who are new to journals/blogs, here's what I've kept in mine over the past couple of years.

1) A short explanation of current goals for the future. I included why I wanted to be a dentist, and paths I wanted to pursue to stay happy.

2) My current GPA, and classes I planned on taking to improve it.

3) Positive character traits, and examples of them in action.

4) Negative character traits, examples of them in action, and how I wanted to change.

5) Important events that happened and my reflection on them.

How to Sneak Coffee Into a Library

DISCLAIMER: this post is not for those who intend to wildly splash their coffee on books in the library, or leave crumbs all over tables that are supposed to be used by others.

This post IS for people like myself, who are coffee-addicts, and need the caffeine to stay awake and really just need to study. I'm talking about those days when you walk alllll the way to the library from your apartment, only to realize you left your coffee thermos at home, and you're still running on only 4 hours of sleep. If this is you, this trick just may save your life, as it has mine ;)

Materials:

• 1 delicious cup of coffee (or a latte, or tea, or an americano, whatever floats your boat)
• 3 coffee lids (THREE, not two. You will not be happy if you only bring two)
• A backpack with side pockets or a jacket (a coffee hiding place)