For the first time as a student at Drexel, I feel there is not enough time in the day to complete my work. I had my first Ochem II class today, and have realized I must read the textbook to understand the material...The profs handwriting is horrible. In addition, my cell bio book for this term is worse than my freshman bio book coverage of the same material, so I will be reading both, thus I have twice the material to cover, than in last term. This is only the first week. Ill I can think right now is how little I feel I know. Yes, I am leaps and bounds from where I was in my understanding of bio when I graduated High School, however, with all these classes, pack one after another, you cant help but feel as if I forget more than I know.

DOWNPOUR!!! Its the first day of summer classes, which have been welcomed by a continuous storm front that has been pelting us all with rain for the past three days. The admissions event this morning was humorous, as all the event staff and visitors looked like shaggy dogs, soaked from head to toe. My classes began at 10a with physics, cell bio, and orgo lab. So far, I like my profs, however, I already have assignments due by the end of the week. Good times. With a five-day weekend around the corner, I plan on completing all my assignments early so I can head down the shore for the first time this summer.

Yea, so the weather outside is officially horrible: damp, humid, rainy.....I have spent the entire day moving in to the new dorm, East Hall, which I must say is the nicest I have lived in thus far at Drexel. The room layout is great, the study halls are classy, and the multipurpose room(s) are extra nice. Also, having 30th street 2 blocks away, and the lecture hall across the street makes my life easier.
My class list for this term is pretty rough: Ochem 2, Principals of Cell bio, OChem lab, and Physics 2. I am particularly worried about Ochem2. Last term I worked my butt off for my first 4.o, and I know I will have to work twice as hard to du equally well this term. This week will be spent getting to know my classes, and how capable I am of studying without my roommates of 2 years. We have relied on each other to get through our classes; we studied together for all our classes at Drexel since the beginning, and now, I am all alone, and yes, its a little scary. Time to trust myself, and rely on myself to accomplish success. The rest of my weekend will consist of reviewing for my Ochem class, as the prof has already sent an email to the class instructing us to begin reviewing. Good times.

Yesterday turned out to be an amazing day. I began work in the admissions office as a part time employee for the DWC, and I already love it. I am still unsure of how I will balance classes and office time, however, with enough effort, I will be fine. I left the Admissions building around 6p and visited my roommates, who are studying for the MCATS over the summer at Drexel. They are originally from Maryland and have decided that studying will be much easier on campus than at home with all the family/friend distractions. "They," four in all, recently took the prelim exam, and performed above the national average, so for all of you who have been accepted to Drexel and are interested in med, such as myself, this should be good news...If you do the work allotted by the profs, you should perform well on the MCAT as well.
After visiting the crew, I made my hour-long commute home to Ambler, little did I know I would be spending the entire evening with Chelsea...Brief detour at borders for some CD/book purchasing and then to the mooooovies to see the Omen...Yea, didn't get much sleep after this, the "kid" gave me nightmares. Knowing that I won't see Chels very often over the next ten weeks, I tried to enjoy her company as much as possible. Nonetheless, a great night.

The results are in! With great pride, I have achieved my first 4.0 trimester at Drexel. After 10 weeks of upper level science courses, I have found the balance of work and play that will lead to my success in class. In the beginning of the term I was overwhelmed with the level of course work (physics, Ochem, Genetics, psych of Drugs) and how I would find time to study for each class. During the first few weeks I found myself turning to the stress-reducing aspect of playing Mario Cart. During the middle of the term, between physics exams and lab reports, bio pop-quizzes and chem, I lost any hope for moments of relaxation. However, after receiving my grades, I will say the effort was well worth the result. My next challenge is to repeat this performance in the coming term. Another 4.0 would really build my confidence.

Its about 8p on Saturday, one more day till the physics final. Another 200 review problems and Ill be good to go. The fam stopped by to drop off some comfort foods (4 boxes of cookies, milk, ect.) which will hold me over till break. Looking forward to the Ambassador BBQ tomorrow.

This evening was spent with good friends and good music. Keith and I traveled to N. Philadelphia where his family and I enjoyed an evening of Jazz. Warren Orree and the Arpeggio Jazz ensemble are Philadelphia natives, who are famous for mixing jazz standards and improvisational poetry. After a few sets, we headed to Ginos for a few steaks before I returned to Drexel. Looking forward to getting a handle on physics and bio.

I returned from Chelsea's graduation this morning. Waking up at 6am to catch the R5 back to drexel was hard enough. Bombing the physics quiz didn't help my day either, although I saw this coming. Coming back from the physics quiz already depressed, I herd news that my boss from CoOp will most likely succumb to his battle with Parkinson's this week, as he is in critical condition. Although he has been ill for some time, I still struggle to comprehend how a man, renowned as one of the greatest forensic pathologists of his time, can cease to be. He has taught me about his art and science of identification, and I owe him more than I have to give. To this end, I say thank you "Doc," for your trust and inspirations.
I have 4 finals next week, and need an A in all of them to keep my final grade as such. This would really boost my GPA.