Test Shmest

The first few weeks of school were a bit stressful. I didn't know what to expect, how to study, how long to study, or how deep to get into the material. Not wanting to give up my social activities or this newly-wed time in my life, I was carrying out a nice little balancing act. After the first anatomy test on Friday, I can confidently say that it's doable! I wanted to be over-prepared for the first exam, so I gave up some time with family and friends to study. Although I'm glad I was super ready for the test, I now realize that the world will not fall apart if I put down Gray's Anatomy and board a Pirate Ship with my friends (which I did miss out on... tear).

Some quick study tips:

1. Prepare for lecture by reading the notes, looking up crazy names of bones and ligaments, and finding pictures the structures I will learn about the next day.

2. Be efficient. By using the hours during the day to study, I am able to make dinner, walk to the store, and enjoy some QT with Matt at night. Sometimes I get out of class at 1pm - leaving 5 or 6 more hours to color code pictures of arteries and veins.

3. When studying, don't just do the reading to "check it off" my To Do List. Actually memorizing and learning structures, attachments, and functions while reading is more efficient than reading and then going though it all over again to actually learn it.
(Who knew the foot was so complicated?!)

4. Plan! If I create a study plan for each day, each week, or each test then it's easier to stay ahead of the game and not feel overwhelmed!

5. Prioritize - not only what to study, but for how long to study that topic or those details. If something is super complicated, I'm going to need to spend more time on it... but how important are the tiny details of that complicated topic versus another topic I haven't even looked at!?

It's nice to know that hard work does pay off, as usual. It doesn't hurt that there were 8 extra credit points at the end of the test... "Is this medical school or eighth grade?!?!"... not that I'm complaining :-)