Week 4

Hello all, I am sorry it has been so long since I have written a blog. To be 100% honest, I really have not had the time. I am officially a dental student in every way, shape, and form. As I had told my mom...I have diminished my sleeping time to about 7 hours a night (when I usually get about 8-9), need about 3 caffeinated beverages a day, and haven't exercise in about 2 weeks. All due to:

Sim lab on Mondays, exams every Tuesday, dental anatomy quizzes on Thursdays, 5 hours of lecture Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then presentations/quizzes or lab practicals on Fridays. Phew....! Not to mention the 4-5 hours of studying a day and all weekend long. This is a 24-7 job. I have worked so hard to get to this point and I can't complain. I anticipated dental school to be hard and most definitely is!

I have had some fun though as well, don't get me wrong. I have been golfing a few times (which is absolutely necessary now that I live in a state where it is warm year round!), hiking new mountains, playing volleyball, drinking with friends, going to sport events, and coming up in a few weekends.....sky diving!

This is the greatest time ever! I love my classmates and everyone is so great full to be here. I do miss my family and friends back home and staying in touch with people has been tough. I continue to work hard every day and am so excited to continue on my journey.

I miss and love everyone back home and hopefully will be able to blog a little more often than I have been!  

And so it begins....

Orientation is over. Well for the most part. I do have one more day (tomorrow) which is the sim clinic orientation. Tomorrow is my official first day of school as a Dental student. Little scary!

Orientation went well. Lots of information thrown my way but mostly all was useful. Friday was the most exciting day of orientation. I received my ID badge, which really makes things official!! And most importantly my photo on it doesn’t look to shabby if I don’t say so myself J. We also got fitted for our loupes (magnification glasses). This was a big deal; they only cost about $2000. They were custom fitted which took a while, and then I got to pick the frames I liked best. I decided to go with the white frames, which no doubt look pretty dorky, but hey it will only help me see which is very important!

Friday after orientation the D2 class held a D1 vs. D2 BBQ and event evening. I have to say we have a few pretty strong guys in our class, so to put it lightly: we kicked some D2 butt! It was a good time and there was good food! Afterwards everyone went to RTO’s which is an Irish pub not far from campus. What a great night! I met a bunch of my classmates and more of the D2 class. Everyone is so nice!! What a great group of future dentists.

Saturday was recovery! Saturday afternoon a bunch of us dental students (as well as optometry) got tickets to a Cardinals game. We went early to ensure good parking and got some food/pre gamed. The yard house is a great place! I don’t think I have ever seen that many beers on tap before! After some drinks we headed to the game. What a beautiful stadium. And even better, it was air conditioned. It was a fun game, but unfortunately the Card’s lost. Better luck next game I suppose (though I have heard rumors that they aren’t the greatest team!). After the game a few of us decided to head back for some late night hot tub/pool time with more Optometry students. A great finish for the evening.

Sleep was definitely in order after a crazy few days. So I slept in and ran a few errands this morning. Then Jason (only the coolest opto. student J ) and I went hiking at South Mountain. It was very hot but a great hike. I needed some time outside and to get my heart rate going a little after the last week!

Tomorrow it all begins. The journey is here and I am ready to take it on full force! Tomorrow begins my future career…who wouldn’t be excited about that? Hope I can sleep tonight!

Orientation Day 1

Whew! Well a whole lot of sitting went on today. Got lots of information thrown my way. Some informative; others overkill. Insurance was a little over my head but I feel like after a while I will get a good grasp of what the heck health insurance involves (never have I been on my own so it was something I didn't need to worry about!).

For some reason, I got a little nervous sitting and listening. A lot of things flew through my mind. I wondered if this was really it for me. Dentistry I mean. This is what I have always wanted and now I am here, it just seems fictitious. Even though it was day one of orientation, things still haven't setteled in. My mind actually went to marrige (even though I am single haha). I thought to myself: is this what getting married is like? All this contemplation? I believe in my heart that this is where I am supposed to be, I think it just takes a little getting used to!

After the sitting, sitting, and more sitting, we got to take our photos for ID. Fingers are crossed that a decent picture is soon to come!! It felt like the DMV: smile, put sign down, smile, ok good, get ID in mail, look like crap! Hopefully this isn't the case. We then moved on to getting fitted for our white coats. A little surreal.

After a wonderful day at orientation, a bunch of dental students decided to have a BBQ at one of the apartment complex's nearby. What a great time! Who knew that beer pong could be played in the pool? :) I met lots of D2's and more D1's and everyone is fantastic. There are so many amazing people it just boggles my mind. Today was great, tommorws another day, and I have no doubt it will be equally as breathtaking.

The Beginning

Hey everyone. Well Arizona is AMAZING. Number one, it sure is HOT HOT HOT here. Never did I imagine the heat would be this overwhelming. Note to all Minnesotans - a dry heat does not mean less heat.....its still fricken hot! The drive was very long but I made it in 2 days. Upon my arrival I started getting things for my appt. immediately (literally). I even had a bed to sleep on for night #1. Impressive I thought. With all the hustle and bustle of the arrival I completely forgot to eat and yes even drink. Finally I decided to stop at Subway, little did I know nearly passing out would occur. I thankfully got some food in my stomach and had some food. Drinking water is an absolute MUST! Adjusting to the time change was hard, I had many restless nights at first but am beginning to acclimate.

I have met many amazing people. Everyone here at Midwestern is so fun and from all areas of the U.S. which always makes for good stories. I have been all over seeing as much as possible while I am not busy with school. I have gone to 2 golf courses (an absolute must of course), checked out the night life in Scottsdale, went to a few bars in Glendale, went bowling, climbed Camelback Mtn., tubed down Salt River and have gotten more than enough pool time (ohh and alcohol too!).

I am very excited for classes to begin and to meet more of my classmates. Most importantly I am ready to get into a routine! If you know me well, you know I love school and I am very excited but very nervous. I just need to remember that they obviously saw something in me to accept me to dental school and I need to maintain confidence in myself!

Orientation starts tomorrow and continues until Friday afternoon. I have already ordered my scrubs and gotten my parking pass, so I need books, loupes, instruments, my laptop and all those fun gadgets.

I am loving it here but missing everyone at home too! This is my first time living in another state, especially one quite far away. I miss and love all my friends and family and I know they are all rooting for me! Hope you all keep in touch and follow me in my journey! More to come :)