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Keeping Perspective for the Spring

Being a biomedical sciences (BIMS) major, it is fair to say that most of us want to eventually go to professional school.

Most schools take holistic approaches in evaluating their students, so we applicants try to make ourselves as well-rounded as possible. As much as we don’t like to admit it, this leads to a certain amount of competitiveness between us.

Shadowing, volunteering, working, or research—these are all experiences that we all try to stack up. And I find myself comparing what I’ve been doing to what my peers are doing: She’s volunteering at St. Joseph’s Hospital and doing research! He’s shadowing in the operating room over winter break! These thoughts constantly pop up.

Last semester, I worked two part-time jobs, one as a lab assistant in Texas A&M’s health and kinesiology department and the other here as a BIMS Ambassador.

Academically, I was also taking “Organic Chemistry” and “General Biology II,” along with six other credits, while doing research as part of the Biomedical Research Certificate Program.

Time management skills were crucial. I learned the hard way that studying ahead of time was the only way for me to be successful in really understanding the material from my classes for exams.

I learned to take deep breaths and pace myself when things seemed overwhelming and like they weren’t accomplishable.

I have learned to accept that I am already trying my best and doing what I can as an applicant. Comparing and worrying will do me no good, thus my goal for this semester is to start out with a different mindset.

Everyone is striving to reach their own goals and working hard for themselves, but we can all be in it together and help each other get through the rough times.

I can already feel a portion of the weight that has been on my shoulders lift with this change of perspective of things!

If you really want it, you’ll make it FIT

In veterinary school, it can seem like studying and learning can consume your entire life to the point where you do not have time for anything else. It is a really intimidating feat to try to eat, sleep, shower, clean, and stay fit, all while being at school all day and studying at night.

 

Luckily, there are a lot of different ways I try to incorporate fitness into my life. There are many places I utilize—like the Student Recreation Center on main campus, the Wellness Room in the veterinary school, the intramural fields, and even my gym at my apartment complex.

 

It is all about just making time to do it.

I love to change up my workout routine, so I definitely take advantage of free workout events such as the free week for classes at the Rec Center or the veterinary school-sponsored yoga.

This semester I actually found a class that I found really interesting—hip hop. After trying it, I ended up paying for the class for the whole semester, which really motivates me to go for that hour twice a week. I love the class so much that I even convinced one of my classmates to join me!

The class really challenges me because the style is so different than what I got classically trained in, Bharatanatyam (a major form of Indian classical dance). Oddly enough, the class also is helping me with my body awareness, which made me improve on my CPR for my clinical skills class!

 

Hip hop hooray!

Managing Time as a BIMS Major

Priya BandyI’m
almost half way done with my first semester of my sophomore year as
a biomedical science major. Looking back to the start of the fall
semester, I anticipated a lot of exciting things when the semester
began: another Fightin’ Texas Aggie Football season, taking courses
more geared toward my major, the sophomore wildcat (a way for
students to show class pride), earlier registration for classes,
and not wandering around campus looking completely lost. However,
after a week in, I realized I had a lot to balance, as well: a job,
demanding classes, honor societies, organizations, officer
positions for honor societies and organizations, volunteering,
shadowing, and training to become a certified first responder.

In high school, I was extremely involved, took
advanced placement classes, and also worked, and I still had time
to sleep and actively maintain a social life. In college, I’m still
extremely involved, taking hard classes, and working, but I barely
have time to sleep and actively maintain a social life. The reason
I haven’t completely shut down is because of my time management
skills. Time management is necessary, especially in college. Even
though I’m always shuffling myself from one part of campus to the
other, I still make time to study for classes and squeeze in a
couple hours of sleep and playtime with my two dogs.

The one piece of advice I always give to any
incoming freshman is to learn how to manage your time efficiently
and early. I didn’t learn how to manage my time until the end of
the second semester of my freshman year. During my first semester
in college, I always procrastinated, not really studying for my
exams as much as I should have; at that point in my college career,
my classes weren’t as hard, I wasn’t as involved, and I didn’t even
have a job. I just simply didn’t know how to utilize my time to the
best of my ability. Therefore, a drop in my grades wasn’t a
surprise, but it was a huge wake up call for me. I realized I
needed to change the way I was doing life. I stopped
procrastinating, started getting ahead in my classes, and spent
less of my time going out or watching Netflix and more of my time
in the library or volunteering at the hospital.

In short, I began making the most out of the hours
of my day and encourage everyone who may be struggling to work
toward actively managing your time; it really is the best way to
make college less stressful.