Finished Year 2

Whelp, that’s that.

Finished the Pharm exam, headed to Charter for a slide show and champagne. Then a jump off the cliff behind the library.

Now my mom and brother are coming to visit, landing in just a few hours! Frond’s parents are coming in too – on the same flight. Yowzas.

Leah and I went up to visit another roommate from first year before heading home, and as we exited the elevator, on the other side was the Pathophys prof and a tutor! The tutor with the bump on his head, the tutor who i felt was giving me such a hard time, and at the time it shook my confidence up. I thought it was because I was the only girl in my small group. It was the start of a term that wasn’t as academically challenging as last term, but somehow it was one of the more challenging, emotionally, mentally. I had moments where I felt so full of anxiety and stretched-too-thin, that I felt something in my chest was going to burst. There were moments I felt so jaded about this career path, asking: why do I care?

Now it’s finished and there’s a new feeling settling in. Something about reaching the end. Days can seem so similar, and trudging along, it’s hard to see where things are going. But moments like these are a chance to breathe and soak it in. It’s a turning point, people!

When I saw the tutor during Pathophys quizzes, he always gave me a smile, which I thought at first was a smirk. But the more sessions I had with him, the more I saw he was really teaching me something new I hadn’t learned yet in school. Out to get me? I think he was out to push me to be a better student, clinician, and better me. He lit up when he saw us leaving the elevator and asked us how the last exam went. Good! we told him. Best of luck on the step and in your careers! he told us, genuinely.

 

Last seen in Grand Anse

A classmate once described Grand Anse beach as “Peanut butter and jelly” type of beach. Even though it’s the most well-known and most frequented, it’s still my favourite. No other beach I’ve been to can beat it’s clear waters!

I’ve been swimming there since coming to the island, but this last week I saw some pretty cool things.

 

Like a Moray Eel, sticking it’s head out from a hollow rock. It’s jaws were open and it looked freaky. Those eyes! Leah dove down for a closer look and I was scared it would chomp on her. But it just shut it’s mouth and tucked back into the rock.

National Geographic

 

A tiny jellyfish, clear but outlined in purple-pink. I couldn’t find a similar picture so here’s my artists’ rendition. It was jiggling away, the mushroom top part of it fattening and flattening as it squiggled through the water. I looked up to tell Leah but when I looked back down I couldn’t find it.

Caribbean sea cucumber (NOAA PHOTO BY BECKY A. DAYHUFF)

 

When I learned how to scuba dive, my instructor Ricardo picked one of these up off the seafloor to show me. It felt firmer than I expected, and the size and shape of it made me want to throw it like a football through the water. They’re basically just a gut tube!