Social Activity

Last night the 1st and 2nd year students planned an outing for us all to hang out. Because the 2nd years weren't on campus this summer, we (the 1st years) didn't get to meet many of them. It was a lot of fun to meet and not talk about school...ok, we talked about school A LITTLE but what can I say - It is a HUGE part of our lives right now.

When I applied to PA school, people told me - you won't have a life. You won't have any time to do ANYTHING but study and that really isn't true. I am writing this blog, right? :-) In actuality you make time for the things you find important. People in my class are married with kids or pets. Some live over an hour from school and yes, they commute EVERY DAY...I think they are crazy, but I don't really like to drive in traffic. I avoid it at all costs! But it is proof it can be done. People make life work around the things in their lives that can't budge.

For example, I am a Christian and feel that church attendance is really important. I am also involved in a couple Bible Studies that meet weekly. I feel it is actually time that I NEED away from the grind of studying and school. Over the summer, I needed a break from the Anatomy lab! Now, I just need time away from the monotony. There will always be more to learn, more to study and by the time we graduate, most of what we learned will be inaccurate. Ok, maybe not "most" but there is a large part that will be replaced with the "new research."

I am sure you get tired of reading about the new scientific study that NOW says eggs are good for you, when a few years ago, they told you not to eat them because they could kill you with all that cholesterol! Well, people in the medical field deal with that on a daily basis. Drugs that yesterday were the "best on the market" are now deadly and cause cancer.

What I have learned over time is that when we call something a "science", it means it is always changing because new methods of research are either proving or disproving past discoveries. It is constantly being refined and sometimes flipped upside down. So why do we call something a science when we really mean it is precise...don't we really mean it is a "math"?

Math? Hopefully 1+1 will always equal 2 (unless you are one of those computer geeks who wear teeshirts that try to disprove this) :-) The area of a circle of a particular size will always be just that. Sure, new methods come out for different learning styles, but the answer is still the same!

History? That probably won't change - unless we find hidden artifacts or novels that bring about new facts.

English? Always changing but even "old" communication styles still work - Thou art the most skillful in the land!...see, you understood :-) Sometimes I can't keep up with new lingo like all the chat abbreviations (ttyl, lol, brb - the ones I actually know).

I guess this is why we are told never to stop learning. Nothing is completely static - so why not pick a field where it changes almost every day? You won't have to go out looking for something new to learn, it will come to you! :-)