Post Graduation, Pre Matriculation

Maybe it's just me, but I sometimes worry that with summer brings a certain level of intellectual depreciation. It's as if my brain will slowly turn to mush without continuous stimulation. During my four years of undergrad, this potential dumbing wouldn't bother me due to the fact that the first month of the semester can often be used to message the brain back into working order. Of course, with this strategy comes an awful lot of procrastination and for lack of a better term, brain farting, as you work to clean the cobwebs out of your attic in time for the first round of midterms.

I find myself in a far different situation in the summer of 2008. Looming ahead of me is medical school, lovingly referred to as "college of the damned." It is a place where there is no 1 month grace period dedicated to cranial housecleaning, and is reserved only for the fittest, healthiest, pinkest brains to parade their talents and neurotransmissions around for all the world to see. Or so I hear....

This is what scares me. My entire life I have let my summer brain feast on video games, candy, and court TV. Now, all of a sudden I am expected to prepare my noggin to hit the ground thinking in August. Therefore, I decided to employ a few strategies to help keep my mind sharp.

1) Exercise. Healthy for the brain. Simple enough. 5 days a week x 1 1/2 hours a day = a number I can compute during the summer because I exercise. I have even gone so far as to develop a workout regimen designed to enhance my ultimate frisbee skills. One of my favorite exercises is one I like to call, "running on a track." While I am "running on a track" I enjoy making the noise of a speeding vehicle as I pass by other, slower runners. This usually produces a chuckle from people as they realize that the likelihood of a person producing such an exaggerated doppler effect is slim to none. However, one day a young woman had a much different reaction to my exhibition of human horsepower. As I made my pass at full speed and growled, "vvvrrRRROOOOOOOOOMMMmmm," the girl actually covered her head with her forearms and ducked out of the way. Normally, this occurrence would give me a sense of pride that my car noise had become so realistic, but then I realized that we were running on an indoor track on the third floor of the rec center.

2) Reading. I will typically read voraciously for at least 9 months out of the year. Mostly textbooks, but "fun" books as well. I find it humorous that people will ask if you are reading a book for school or for fun. I guess the idea that the two motives can be combined into 1 ultimate reading experience is preposterous. Anyway, instead of forgoing the summer reading in favor of less stimulating activities, I have kept the books handy and at my disposal.

3) Writing. Hence, the blog. I like to write. In my opinion, it's the most rewarding form of expression. I may even continue with this activity once summer is gone and my life is handed over to Dartmouth Medical School.