The ramblings of a study-addled mind

Pressured

So it seems like I have posted for a while. Laziness, preoccupation with other tasks, and photography are a few reasons why; but the main reason is uni. I am currently in the middle of exam block for semester 1 of 2009. And thus far it has been so enjoyable enthralling. Stay with me over the next few sentences, I’m just having a bit of a ramble. It gets better

3rd science has some quite interesting and engaging subjects, don’t get me wrong, but it is the fact that you have to know so much that puts a strain on so many. On saturday I had my first exam of the period, Developmental Neurobiology. I went in pretty relaxed and apart from a question or two, came out of it pretty relaxed. That feeling of relaxation after an examination is weird. I studied for a week leading up to that exam, and then it passes almost without a blip on the radar. I’m not one to go back and look at notes to find out where I went wrong, and this certainly wasn’t the case on saturday.

My next exam is on friday and it will be Cardiovascular Science. This will then be followed by Human Reproduction and Fertility on Monday and Psychology of Sport and Exercise on Wednesday. Then I’m done! Although the finish line is just over 1 wee away, it seems way further than that. It is going to be a fun weekend after Cardio as I desperately cram in female reproductive knowledge such as LH, FSH, ovulation, menstruation, fertilisation, progesterone and oestrogen. I really enjoy repro, and there is a lot of knowledge still sticking there from lectures, so that’ll help. It’s probably one of the reasons why I want to go into Obstetrics or OBGYN. The subject is just so interesting.

So that is basically me for the next week or so. After that time it’ll be out with the friends for movies, games and general lazing about. I’ll be up at mooloolaba for a week this holidays as well which will be awesome. The rain that has been around might mean that there are lots of bream in the river. My mooloolaba week every year is like a fishing trip for me. Due to uni I’m unable to get away around Easter to Evans Head for the annual fishing long weekend where I’ve caught everything from mullet and tailor to an octopus. If you ever have the chance to get to Evans Head I’d highly recommend it. It is a small fishing town on the North Coast of NSW, and is great for a couple of days to get away from things. Or you could just go about an hour further north to Byron Bay. I’ve been going there annually since I was 3 y.o and it’s always so relaxing. Just do your own thing and no one cares.

Well I guess I better get back to learning my Cardiovascular Science. Basically it’s drug actions and effects and the development of the the cardiovascular system, as well as what happens in a disease state such as Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). If anyone has any questions pertaining to my study or is just interested in one of the subjects that I’ve eluded to to, drop me a comment and we can have a chat. I love a good science conversation (god I’m a nerd).

In other news, I sent off my medicine application a couple of weeks ago and just got notice that it is in processing. If everything runs smoothly, this means that I will be beginning medicine in 2010. It’s going to be a long and grueling journey ahead of me. Fortunately I will likely have a number of my friends doing the course with me, so that’ll make it more enjoyable.

If you haven’t noticed already, you can follow me on twitter @ twitter.com/nelpix

All the best, and I’ll keep this updated more regular from now on in between study and listening to awesome music. It’s almost relaxing and therapeutic

and the rain just keeps pouring down!

So i just got back from a day and a bit at the sunshine coast. At the moment it could be called anything but the sunshine coast though.

I arrived with the family, and the clouds were foreboding. Stepping out the car, it didn’t look good. After a couple of hours, it started. First it was light, and then it poured. And it continued to pour for the next day. Apparently it’s now the wettest April in a long time. This statement makes a bit of sense, because never have I heard of flash flooding around Gympie during easter.

Even though it rained a lot ( ~200mm in 3 hrs), I surprisingly didn’t mind it. In Brisbane you get used to the mugginess and fluctuating heat. In the recent past there hasn’t been much rain though. This ‘drought’ caused our dam levels to drop to near 20% overall and caused level 6 (?) water restrictions. Naturally we all stepped up to the plate and kept our water usage down. So when it decided to rain heavily for an extended period, it kind of felt nice.

The good thing about QLD weather is that when it rains in summer/autumn, it doesn’t get that cold. You can sit in front of the TV while enjoying a quite relaxing temperature range.

It was a shame that the weather decided to turn bad, because this meant surfing was out of the question. The surf was crap bad, which was annoying because it’s one the things that relaxes me. The rain meant no photography outside either. Which was doubly annoying.

So from my easter weekend came some positives and negatives. On one hand, I got to enjoy the rain for once, but on the other hand, there was no surf and I couldn’t take any photos. Oh and a major positive has got to be the easter eggs. Chocolate for breakfast only happens twice a year, so you have to relish it when it comes around.

I’ll be doing a fair bit of stuff over these next few days, so I’ll try and keep the updates coming thick and fast.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable easter and got to relax a bit.

mid-semester break time!… minimal break though

Ok so uni is now on mid-semester break… yes! And to make it even better, the Masters starts in about 6 hours. YES

The problem that arises is that some uni subjects have decided to destroy the break by putting their assignments over it. First question, why? Second question, why? Fortunately for me, my subjects this semester mean that I don’t have any exams around the break. Also fortunate, is the fact that in 3rd yr science you have a 3rd yr non-teaching week. It’s a shame, because this week is after the mid-semester break. That means, assignments!

For a science course, I’m at uni 5 days a week. It pretty much is my full time job. That is why I take my holidays, when I get them, so relaxed if I can. I want to get as far away from uni as possible. This means that I’ll be heading to the Sunshine Coast for a couple of day for some surfing and photos. It’s really annoying that I’ll have to come back from that break and get stuck into work straight away. Oh well, nothing can be done.

Wish it was like the northern hemisphere and we were just about to finish semester

I’ll probably be posting some photos on flickr in the near future, whether they be from fame promo shots, or my travels to mooloolaba. Just trying to get away from uni

Hope everyone is having a good break so far. Try to enjoy it and relax, too much work is just hurtful to yourself.