Entry 2: Night Before Senior Year

Hey Everyone!  So it's the last night of summer vacation before I begin my senior year at Arizona State University.  As I stated in my introductory post, I am a Chemistry major, so this year will be my last year of required chemistry courses.  On deck for this semester are Inorganic Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry.  I still have to take the lab for Analytical Chem but to make a very long and tiresome story short, I had a problem with scheduling in the chemistry department so I have to take the lab at another time.  That means instead of graduating in May of 2010 like I was supposed to, I will be graduating in December of 2010. So, I suppose this brings me to my first little lesson that I learned:  scheduling problems really stink!!!  I have definitely had my fair share of bouts with scheduling after three years of college, but this one really is annoying.  Since there was nothing I could do about it to fix the problem, I guess the only thing I can suggest is to always keep in touch with your counselor.  It is very important that they know who you are because it will definitely make things like scheduling much easier.  If anything, you will always be on track and never behind in your courses if you make regular appointments with your counselor.  Anyway, I am also taking two classes that will bring me closer to finishing my minor in Business:  Managerial Economics and Real Estate Fundamentals.  I always know I'm the only person in the room who studies science in those classes because I'm always the guy who's in the worst physical shape!  Oh well.  I also have to make an appointment with my pre-med guidance counselor so I can let him know how I'm doing with my MCAT adventures.  For those of the younger college crowd reading this blog, two very important people that will help you throughout your college career and preparations for med school are your two counselors:  one for your major and the other for pre-medical school advising.  My pre-medical advisor is an awesome guy and has been absolutely helpful from the beginning of my freshman year.  So with that, suggestion number two:  know your pre-medical advisor and know him/her well!  Once they know you, they will go above and beyond to help you achieve success.  As for me, I recently took the MCAT with only two and a half months of study (cross your fingers everyone), so I need to tell him that I took it as well as my current situation for the upcoming year.  After seeing what I've written just now I think that's about all for tonight, but I will let you know how the first day of being a senior goes tomorrow! Wish me luck and I hope everyone has a great first day back!

-John