Distillation

So on Thursday in O Chem class we took our one-week old mixture of sugar and yeast and distilled ethanol. Well, the rest of the class did. My partner and I distiller water. Twice. We can turn wine into water!

14 Years to become a stand-alone practicing doctor?

Excellent article.  We really do need more doctors, and fast!  Worth a read:

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/03/physician_shortage_should_we_shorten_medical_education.html

Reactions with Alcohols

No, sorry, no wine or beer here.  Just started learning the chapter on alcohol in organic chemistry today.  And worked on alcohols and carbonyl groups in my Kaplan class this evening.

Also updated my Go Fund Me campaign.  At this point, it may be the only way I can make it to medical school.  Sigh.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with some alcohol facts that may be a little more intriguing than the organic chem version:

This is what happens in the body during a heart attack!

Scary!

In other news, I got a 51 on my Organic Chemistry quiz.  Not surprising considering everything I was dealing with up to that day.  On the other hand, I'm keeping up with the new stuff and plan on getting A's the rest of the semester.  Hope I can still get an A in the class!  :O

A Third in...

About a third of the way into this semester, and I'm running scared!  I'm behind on my Kaplan class homework and my Organic Chemistry class.  But I caught up some this last weekend, and a little more today.  I hope to finish catching up by the end of next week!!

We had our first test in OChem yesterday. Scary! About 40 reactions to know (benzene and carbonyl reactions), and I know some of them left my brain during the test.  I hope they come back by finals!

I've upped my campaign for money for medical school.  I hate asking the world to help me, but it's so important that I get to medical school (and not default on my bills), that I'm doing what I need to do, as long as it's legal!

I'm relearning a lot in my Kaplan courses.  Also freaking out at just how much I need to have at the tip of my tongue for MCAT test day.  Still, I'm going for my 36!

Sharing some cool science stuff, thanks to Neuroscience Research Techniques on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/NeuroscienceResearchTechniques):

bit.ly/1ibcDSa

Read more: http://bit.ly/1gkJh3i
Journal article: Genome-wide association study reveals two new risk loci for bipolar disorder. Nature Communications, 2014. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4339
Image credit: dullhunk/Flickr

Panic sets in...

I'm now behind in my Kaplan class and my Organic Chemistry class.  Only about two or three hours behind in O Chem homework, but likely about 10 to 15 hours behind in Kaplan.  Aargh!

Also incredibly broke.  I'm making less money with my part time job than I did on unemployment.  I can't afford to pay my bills.  I still can't find a second part-time job or a full time job, and, even if I did, how will I find the time to work it?

I had my bills paid down before losing my last job, and now they're all back up again...and my FICOscore is going down.  This can affect my chances of getting a student loan.  I was also told by the Financial Wizards at the medical schools that I won't be able to afford old bills while living on a student loan during medical school, so I need to get those paid off.

Here's my quandary: if I take off the years I would need at my current rate of income, I'll be in my seventies before graduating from medical school. If I continue as I am, I'll have a horrible FICO score and I won't be able to actually get any student loans. If I find a job that pays more and can actually go there, then maybe I can graduate from medical school in my early sixties.  If I claim bankruptcy, I'll be ineligible for student loans.

So, what I need is one of the following:

• winning the lotto
• setting up a Kickstarter account and actually reaching my goal
• finding someone who will give me a quiet personal loan that I won't have to begin to pay off until after I complete medical school (in five years or so if all goes well)
• a miracle

Any other ideas out there??

Sigh.  Guess I'll get back to my O Chem homework now...