The semester is…

The semester is coming to the end and I’m making one final push to the finish line. I have two more papers left to write and three finals left. I calculated my biostats grade and I only have to score a 25 out of 50 on my final to maintain my A. In my health care finance class, I only have to finish a 10 page paper and my final to receive an A. Both of those classes I am not too worried, but I’m still keeping a watchful eye on my work. The only class I’m worried about is my Epidemiology class.

Epidemiology is an interesting topic, but my professor is terrible. It’s been a wash all semester and it’s my first real introduction to dealing with a bad professor. It’s a frustrating experience because I know I do not need to depend on anyone in particular for my learning, but for such a foundational public health class, I feel I need more than just a text to absorb the material. Right now I have an A in the class, but my second test I received an 86% on it. The tests are from some main test bank and do not reflect any of the material we read or from the lectures. The questions are worded on how much can one person recall certain phrases from the book. Some questions were like comparing two lines on a graph in the book and which one had a greater percentage. Again, recalling things from a book, that you can’t open while taking the test. I want to do well in all of my classes, but especially for a foundation class. If I want to do any more academic work, that letter grade will always be there. If I don’t do well on my papers and my final, I could see my grade drop down to a B which would disappoint me.

Living in Savannah, GA is nice, but Brit and I are already talking about where to go after I finish my MPH. We’re looking at bigger cities and considering moving back to the West Coast. Most of my family and all of Brit’s family is back on the West Coast, so it’s difficult to communicate with them with all of the time differences. A lot will depend on where I can find work afterward, so I hope the job market and non profit hiring will increase in the next two years. There’s little to none nonprofit work in Savannah, so I’m finding it difficult to grow my career aspirations. I know school is my first priority out here, but I feel I need to get some work related experience in order to make myself more desirable after I complete my masters.

In the meantime, I can always have a voice in the public health community, so I plan on blogging more after I finish this semester. At least I’ll have some proof to show that I’m thinking about problems in the community.

When the semester ends or in the next coming weeks I have a few things to write about. There’s some Cambodia stories I want to write about, the psychological impact from that trip and how much it has changed our lives, and my interest in military medicine.

Have a great Thanksgiving to those who continue to read about my academic progress and those who stumble across this blog.

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