Time flies. It’s only been a week, but I know if I’m not too careful, I’ll wake up to find that it’s already been five years.

I’ll make this update quick. In theory I should study for our first ever exam next Friday, and I also have a writing job lined up for tonight (freelance earning FTW!).

BEST G12OUP

Still proving to be the literal best group!

Before the start of classes, we had a last-minute and hope-fuelled outing around Ortigas. Only half of us came, but it was still cool. We got to watch Suicide Squad (entertaining movie, by the way), eat good Japanese food at SumoSam, and hang out in Moonshine.

I collected a lot of good memories that night. I’m glad I was the only one really sober, haha!

There were a few other hangouts here and there: a before-everything-goes-to-hell /Mythical 7/ night and a spontaneous its-raining-hell night, both at M’s place. (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HARBORING US!)

But the highlight of this life: BEST G12OUP in our white uniforms! 

(Are we not gorgeous? Brilliant? Literally shining bright?)

I’m screaming, the photos by X look so good!!!

(I also have a bunch of stickers made and in progress because Telegram is God’s gift to the millenial messenging community.)

Actual Acads

I’m really, really having a hard time with the 8AM to 5PM sched. I can wake up early just fine (thanks to having a roommate plus the fact that it’s only the first week of school), but sometime around 10AM and around 3PM I get super sleepy.

I’ve resolved to bring apple slices to wake up. The internet says it works, so I’m pretty much gonna do it.

But in terms of what we’re studying, we’ve got our first module entitled Principles and Perspectives. It’s basically laying down the foundations for a biopsychosocial approach to healthcare, i.e. culture, society, psychology and many other factors aside from the biomedical matter when it comes to health.

It has been fun. It’s also always a struggle of deciding where to sit.

The day I sat in the back was the day I slept for two hours total. Life is so hard.

And anyway, I’ve been enjoying the whole process of fixing my school supplies, organizing my study materials, and so on –basically everything except the study part.

I sent this to E(/G? lol) ages ago when I was still fixing up my side of the condo. But the moodboard/whiteboard is cuter now!! And the desk will definitely be more messed up in the future.

And I’m not actually studying that well in my house right now. I even had the time to do this layout for this blog post.

And the Trans system is another thing! Basically, groups rotate the responsibility of having to record the lectures and editing all the information into an easy-to-review format. Groups are also assigned to ‘police’ or edit the transes made by other groups, which is a savage and also fun endeavor.

I’m theoretically a scribe, but our group hasn’t actually made a trans yet. Next week!

Eton XXXX

I feel so sad because A and I don’t have a picture yet. In any case, let me take this time to shout what a wonderful roommate A is. Love you! 

We had the chance to bond last Wednesday because classes were suspended. It was supposedly because of the weather, but honestly the skies were pretty clear that day. (Not the case for Friday night though –got home 1AM because of the weather!). We just kept sleeping and eating and kind of maybe studying.

I feel like we have a pretty solid foundation of being acquaintances then close friends then friends then schoolmates since elementary. And that ridiculously long ride from ASMPH to Manila was solid too.

A and I are still figuring out some other things, condo-wise. My mom is also still labouring over our two extra beds (she likes to DIY things, much like me, haha), and we still need to move in some other little things. But overall I love our loft! 

If I had the editing skills, I’d make a loft tour in a month. But I don’t, so just take my word for it?

There are also cool places downstairs, like Mr. Park’s (the fast wifi is killing me with happiness), and Maria’s, which served good sinigang. I’m still looking forward to exploring Ortigas more in the future!

And lastly

Miscellaneous things: I want to keep working out, but it’s proving to be hard. I guess I should exercise when I get home (definitely no time now in the mornings, probably). There’s a CrossFit only a few buildings away, so I’m thinking if I should enroll.

And I still haven’t picked up my uniforms from Laguna. Lol.

AND I CANNOT BELIEVE I almost forgot about the Pinning Ceremony! Our very first day as official YL5 students was marked by a mass (which I slept through, I am so sorry Father Ben), and by a very traditional entry (“Who knocks on the door of learning?”).

And I almost forgot too: I joined my last debating tournament as a debater (until the next Manila Intervarsity, probably) the weekend before. (Yes, right after that sober inuman sesh).

M and I got to Grand Finals, and I got 8th best speaker, which was the most awesome thing ever –mainly because we had literally zero training, and our last tournament together was NDC 2015, and basically, WHAT HAPPENED. Haha!

When you debate with people you love, for reasons of love, things just work out!

And I guess that applies for med school too. Here’s to five years with these people I love, working for this country of mine.

EDIT: And then there’s IMDC pa pala! Haha. Update for another week!

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