I just love the build up to rain....infact I enjoy it more than rain itself!!The graying sky,the rustling wind,the swaying trees and the sound of thunder every now and then....surreal!!!!!I am glad that this break from studying today has more to offer than the usual "fix something for lunch and drag self back to books".
I think I'll step out for a bit and make the most of this temperate weather....sure won't get to see much of the like in Ohio!!!

Exam Experience and Preparation (USMLE step 1)

Thought I'd put these up here as well.

Exam Experience

Preparation

Hope this helps!

THE WAKING - Theodore Roethke

I wake to sleep,and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling.What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to seep,and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me,which are you?
God bless the Ground!I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree;but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep,and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me;so take the lively air,
And,lovely,learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady.I should know.
What falls away is always.And is near.
I wake to sleep,and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

iPrep for USMLE

This article was just added to the "prep4usmle" forum - Its an interesting approach to tackle the exams and the iPrep award is an added incentive.:)

And the score is........(Guest post by Dd)

Alright......are we all ready for this????. On 21st January 2006, while sitting in the library I heard my phone buzzzing....at approx 2:47pm....I picked up the phone and on the other side it was my mom screaming ....Aya ka score aa gaya! ....Aya ka score gaya!(Aya's score is here!). When I heard those words ....a thousand things went through my head ...did she pass ??!!!!!did she make it ..and when my mom told me the magical number I felt like getting up from me chair and kissing the lady sitting infront of me....but then I had to really control myself. Started dialing to see if aya would pick up and I sooo wanted to be the first one to mess around with aya, but I knew that my dad had already called her. I am soo happy for Aya ...Allhamdulillah...you deserve every bit of the 94 that you got. Aya you kicked butt!!!!;) (Aya ....for the future ....continue to kick butt!!!) I love you loadzzzz.....We all are proud of you ....Deedz

Logged on to OASIS yesterday.It tells you whether your score has been reported or not.Lo and behold!Score reported on 18th Jan.*gulp*
Did the "OASIS trick".in whcih you try registering for the exam again and if you have passed...it won't let you register.Happy to report that I have passed...alhamdulillah!This wait for the scores now is just ughhh..(can't come up with a better word)
Extremely restless,fidgety,nervous....serves me right though...I had planned on not doing this entire oasis thing...but couldn't help myself!!
Will probably have the score report...rather my parents will have it..by Monday.Till then...pray for me people!

Joy And Melancholy

Aunt and uncle got back yesterday.It felt great to be around them and I have never seen them so happy,especially my Aunt.The stampede at Mina was indeed a tragedy and hearing about it first hand made me feel even more melancholic than when I read about it/watched it on TV .My aunt said that people were actually rejoicing,saying how lucky these people were,as they would head straight to heaven.Somehow, this notion doesn't hit home with me.I shudder at the mere thought of being trampled to death like that.It also breaks my heart to think of the families of all those people.May Allah grant them all the strength to deal with their losses!ameen!
Moiz makes some excellent points here.

Characters of note at work

"The Talker"

Meet "The Talker" - 21 yr old devout christian.Nice guy BUT immense potential to bring out the worst in just about anyone-because there is no end to his constant jabbering!!You'd know minute details like the kind of wall paper he'd put up in each bedroom of his future house within the first 10 min of meeting him for the very first time!
Thank God for small favours though...comes in to help out, only from 3-5 p.m.There have been days where he came in at 12:00 and yeah...thats all I have to say for now!
Oh!and he wants to be a florist and hopes to own and run his own little business.(He'd give discounts to only the church and the elderly)

"The Turk"

Poet/Writer.About 55.Comes in almost everyday.Spends an hour writing letters to friends back in Turkey.Has dreamt he was carried up to the heavens by two angels.Basically writes poems about that.Works at a nearby grocery store.Thinks "eid" is not the befitting word for errr "eid"...apparently,it sounds a lot like "aid"....and thats not a very nice thing!

"The Freak"

This one has to take the prize.Just came in today and I honestly hope and pray he doesnot return!Can't even come up with the medical jargon to categorise this gentleman(NOT!) into some sort of a personality disorder.African american.Came looking for special type of perforated paper.I didn't have any.Suggested he check this other store but since i am not from around here...I couldn't give him directions.So,I am sitting there, oblivious to whats to happen next.He picks up a paper clip from the work station near the entrance.Says,"Nahh!this ones too small".Picks another bigger one.Walks up to my desk, THROWS IT AT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and says how could i do this to him.My reaction...stunned of course!!He says he was just kidding.I just stare at him and he leaves.I need to make better use of the stapler that sits right in front of me the next time!!!

Quote of the day

"a" is 14 and she deserves honorable mention here today for coming up with what I call "Quote of the day".


"You should be thinking about the future-not dwelling on the past."

How it applies to me?Simple!I should quit looking up answers for questions I think I messed up on the exam and get down to studying for the next!

Faith Freedom?

Ordered-chaos forwarded me the following link.
I had never come across something like this before and I sat there dumbfounded!
Apparently there are millions more of the like.
Seems like muslims themselves are their own and Islam's worst enemies!The prologue is extremely disturbing.What is beyond me is, what could have driven these once muslims to such disillusionment and extremism.What is it that provoked them to come to the conclusion that Islam needs to be eradicated from the face of the planet?Whatever it is...they seem to be making methodical adavances to achieving exactly that.

Missing Home

D...can't wait to get back and resume our Sunday ritual!!

Saadeo...Hows the laddoo,dude?
Eat all you can...Ayas coming back soooon!!

I am turning into a couch potato!!!
My day starts at 6:30 a.m.Drop off "a" at school around 7:30.Get back and am at work by 8:45 a.m.Business is slow nowadays-not surprising, as people have probably overspent on christmas and the new year.So,basically i have a lot of time to myself at the store.I get home by about 5:30 p.m...have food and just slouch on the couch in front of the TV.I normally hardly watch any TV...just a few select shows.I really don't know whats got into me!

I had been putting in a few hours of studying till friday.Figured I'd start with psychiatry as its almost the same stuff as behavioural science for step 1.Got done with the psych and ethics portion by friday and that was about it.The weekend was as lazy as it could ever get and the laziness lingered on today as well.Shall take off tomorrow as well because of eid.This should be about it i guess...enough time off.Its time to hit the books again!!I need to register for the exam soon.In a dilemma here though.My best friend is getting married in April.I,so want to be there but it just hit me today...if I go I'd probably be going for two weeks at the max.I am just not sure how to work it around the exam.I want to take the exam at the latest by end of May.I am apprehensive about what effect the ten days/two weeks would have on the prep.I talked to my father about it today and he said it was all up to me......I think I'll just sleep on it for a while and see.

Which Disney character are you most like?

Take this quiz!

Shall pick up from where I left....
The two years of FSc were the worst ever...actually make that the first-got used to it by the second!I hated being away from home.I couldn't come to terms with the fact that I was expected to memorize endlessly long derivations of formulae ,without ever finding out the practical application of it all.I remember having trouble with physics and approaching the teacher for help,only to be told,"Why don't i get you "notes" from "DEFG Academy?They cost Rs 300."Ohh!I could go on forever on this!Bottom line,I don't think I learnt anything substantial in those two years...whichh is just sad!The prime focus was on rote learning,memorization and developing the ability to churn out facts and figures when prompted.I tried and failed.So,I just kept on doing things my way and managed to get decent marks/grades.The only good thing that came out of all this was that i started praying regularly...courtesy,room-mate's influence.In the meantime,my father got posted back to Pakistan but to a different city.Next came the medical college entrance exam.It was a ray of hope because my marks for FSc weren't exceptional and if i did well on the test, I might actually stand a chance at getting into medical college.I remember the test day...I saw the hordes of test takers and thought I really didn't stand a chance as only the top 1200 would actually get in!!There were no less than 10,000 people at the place where i took mine.The entrance test results were announced and I miraculously made it....I think I was nine hundred-something!!I desperately wanted to get into a college in Lahore as my family had moved there.The chances of that happening looked bleak...until one day i just happened to look at my test results.I realised there was a discrepancy.One of my right answers had been marked wrong!When that correction was made,I moved about a hundred people up the list.With the final lists drawn,I was placed in a medical college in LAHORE!!!Life couldn't be better...I thought this was it!!...as i had been told numerous times - just get this right and you're done...this is it!!Well,it was once i started medical college that i finally realised that it would never be it.That,it would have to be constant struggle...a never ending story!

Atlanta,so far....

Interesting things have been happening...

Found out I was supposed to be in charge not just of A and a(my cousins...:)..),but also have to take care of my uncle's postal store!!So,uncle and A got down to teaching me the ropes as A had to be back at university.I have learnt a lot in these past four days and it seems almost unnatural to be doing something not even remotely related to medicine.There is a problem however...I am horrible with figures/numbers/cash!!!!!!!!!!!!HELP!!!!!!!!I balanced the cash register fine the first day and then these past three days I have either been short or over!!!!(D..I've always had immense regard and respect for the work you do at the bank...but now i can really empathise with you feeling low over "being short or over").This coupled with the fact that there is this high tech(at least for computer illiterate me) software that you have to use to print labels and stuff...hmm...makes me wonder...But,its all good!I think i've got the hang of it.I opened and closed on my own today and it went fine...alhamdulillah!(I pray two nafal in the morning before i leave and pray that i DONOT mess things up!).So,today went fine...except...i made a complete fool out of myself in front of the UPS guy and had to call A to get things sorted out....ughh!!..He took the packages,came back inside and was like,"Is there anything else i can help you with?".I just said,"No,Thankyou Sir!.I think I've done enough damage for the day!".No worries though...Insha'Allah tomorrow is going to be awesome....no embaressing incidents to report,hopefully!!

On Sunday we went to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the IMAX theater.
I read somewhere that they had spent an amount equivalent to that spent on LOTR trilogy!!!!!!!!!I would have sang praises of the Harry Potter movie,had i not known this....No comparison ,whatsoever!!We had a great time though.The best part was when we browsed through books at a nearby Barnes and Nobles...loved the store...an absolute treat,I must say..what with the escalators and elevators and Starbucks!!!!

Heres hoping for a great day tomorrow!

A formal introduction is in order...
What my previous posts "might" have made apparent...."might" - because complaining/whining/worrying took precedence...

I am a doctor from Pakistan,currently in the US and i just took the USMLE step1....three days a ago!

Here's more....

"In transit" probably describes most of my life.My father was in the army and so we had to move to a new city every two to three years....which was fun and annoying at the same time.In the long run,I think it equipped me with adaptibility which definitely made life easier for me as an adult!

I'd like to think I was destined to be a doctor.I say this because all through my O'Levels I enjoyed subjects like english literature and world history more than the sciences.I was actually all set to take up something like Classical Civilisation for my A'Levels.By the way,this two year period was when my father was posted in Sri-lanka...nice place,great people!Anyways,during my post O'level break...i got to thinking about the possibility of medicine as a career...probably because my best freind at that time,was obsessed with it.Another thing that was disturbing was that it was very likely that my father would get posted back to Pakistan during my A'Levels.There were no guarantees that the city where we next set base would even have a school offerin A'Levels let alone Classical Civilisation!!!So,come july'97 I was off to Pakistan with my mother....I was to live in the hostel/on campus and do my FSc(premed) at one of the colleges in Lahore!

Have to be off now....shall be back with more...soon!