To Finally Begin
Today marks my first day of dental school classes, a day that I am sure will be indelibly imprinted on my memory for the rest of my life. I’ve been prepping for today for the past 5 years and suddenly, as if from nowhere… here I am. In anticipation of The First Day, I have worked on:
- a biochemistry degree
- study skills
- paperwork juggling
- being less dumb (in a broad sense)
- housing location
- finding a quiet area to study
- finding a table for that quiet area (thanks, grandpa Bup!)
- figuring out how to get to the U
- being less dumb (in a narrow sense)
- getting a job in my “year-off”… which is what you call it when you don’t quite get in the first time
- calculating my loan totals (and payments when I’m done)
- …and even coding a durable version of this website to last through school
I thought I had anticipated everything, and yet I didn’t count on the incredible level of apprehensiveness and nerves. I wasn’t tired at night, and then exhausted when it was time to get up. I was concentrating in class, but feeling like I couldn’t absorb a thing. A day full of dichotomy, yet straightforward and not over-scheduled.
Once these first-month jitters die down, I hope all the preparation pays off.
One luxury of working for a year instead of coming straight from undergrad: perspective. The isolation from the real world in higher education is a double-edged sword — it is both a shield from the harsh light of reality but also a roadblock preventing one from enjoying the benefits of being part of the workforce. For me, imagining that light of a 9-5 (not 7-sleep) job at the end of the tunnel helps pull me through.
A few notes: I’ll post a bunch of recent State Fair photographs and then daily photos will cease here at tumbledry. After 3+ years and well over 1100 photos, I will only have time to post but a few snaps per month; I hope to show only the best/most memorable pictures. I will miss you, daily photos.
Text updates both short and long will absolutely continue — this is my life journal and it only ends when my life does.
I was planning on ending there… but gosh that sounded rather morbid, no? Here, I’ll fix it:
Comments
Nils
Good luck on your first week Alex. Take it all in stride. I’m sure you’re more than ready to handle this next round of schooling.
Alexander Micek
Nils — you’re very good at taking things in stride; I’d really really like to learn that skill. Thoughts on how to stress less?
Caley
Welcome to the U, Alex! Let me know if I can do anything to help you out here on campus…my classes start next week, too, so I can relate (on a smaller scale) to your jitters. Congrats and I hope to see you around this place soon. It’s good to have a fellow former Tommie in this land of Gophers.