Life after first semester

Seeing as it's been almost 2 months since my last post, I feel I owe my blog another update. Unfortunately, not much has changed. However, I have noticed 3 important things I'd like to share that will hopefully help someone, somehow, someway. Anyway, no new Air Force stuff, so I'll jump right in.

1. Easier classes do not equal better grades

-This is pretty counterintuitive, but hear me out. Last semester I did fairly well for myself. I had a few close calls but made roughly half As and half Bs in what was touted as the 'hardest' semester. No doubt, it was VERY time consuming and quite difficult. This semester, the 'easiest' semester, is no doubt far and away less stressful and time consuming than last semester. However, at my current pace, I'll end up with darn near the same GPA as last semester. Why? I think it has to do with expectation. When we are told something is difficult, we tend to prepare for it to be so. The same is true in reverse. If we are told a class is easy, we don't try as hard (in general). So keep that in mind when you head to dental school. Just because a class is easy doesn't mean you're going to be handed the grade you want without effort. No, it's not effective to put a ton of time in an easier class, but don't walk in and not try just because of what you've heard. Not everyone will be good at the same things so just because it was easy for someone else does not mean it will be the case with you.

2. Fair = unfair?

-We recently took two exams (in different classes). For the first one, a test was given that was outdated, from last years curriculum (it's been largely condensed this year for this particular class). Most of the class did terrible on it for the simple fact that we were not even taught all of the material on it! This is obviously unfair, but since our attendance had been lacking (the lectures are recorded, so we DID watch them all), the professor deemed that it was our lack of effort rather than lack of knowledge that led to the poor scores. Huh? So in other words, us not learning what was on the test had nothing to do with the fact that it wasn't taught? For the record, I made a 58%. My worst test in dental school by roughly 20% points. WOW. There was no score adjustment.

-As for the other test, we were given two versions (half got A, half B). Version A and B contained the exact same questions, just in a different order. As it turned out, version A scores had an average of 27/36 while version B scores had an average of 29/36. Logic would lead one to believe that it just so happened that those with B happened to do better out of their own accord, not due to the difficulty of the exam (because they were the SAME). Our professor, however, decided that somehow the ordering of the questions on form A led those with form A to miss an average of 2 more questions. Once again, huh? So he awarded form A people with 2 bonus points. If you're thinking "how is that fair?", you're not alone. Long story short, someone in the administration at the College of Dentistry did an analysis and found that random distribution of students had created a situation where a disproportionately high number of highly ranked students happened to get form B. Well duh, right? In the end, both versions got 2 extra points.

-The moral of this story (or stories) is that you control your fate. Study hard and do well enough so that when these crazy and weird situations arrise, they have a much lower effect on you. In the first case I was sitting at a very high B going into that test. Needless to say, I dropped quite a bit. Luckily, I ended with an 82% in the class (it only lasted half of the semester) so in the end, it didn't matter to me. Others who were counting on this test to pass the class didn't have that luxury. So even if you don't want to specialize, or just don't feel like studying all that much, find it within your self to try your best so that you don't get stuck in one of these situations. (As a side note, neither of the professors work directly for the College of Dentistry. They are professors that work in other departments that come and teach our science material.)

3. Enjoying dental school has very little to do with dental school

-This is just an option I hold, but I've found that those who have something to look forward to OUTSIDE of dental school tend to be happier in dental school. It seems that those who get caught up in 1 point here and there, a procedure in clinic, etc., tend to be the most stressed out. Relax and do your best, and it will all work out. Oh, and have something you can look forward to every night. Whether it's going home to your spouse, eating some chocolate (guilty), or playing with your dog, don't make dental school your life. It's a part of your life. The way I see it, happiness is 10% your situation, 90% your attitude.

Other than that, things are smooth sailing right now. I work as a tutor for about 7-9 hours/week, depending on the week. I'm also on the lookout for a place to move sometime in August. If I haven't said already, I currently live with my dad about 25 minutes from school. We're selling our house and he'll be getting remarried so it's time to move on! Hopefully it's also time to move closer. Being 25 minutes away from school isn't bad... until you do it every day.

For those looking for just an ounce of Air Force in this post, I'll say this. Each day that goes by I am more and more pleased with my decision to take the scholarship. I can't tell you how much I love being able to sit back and not worry about going into debt. It's nice to even be making some money to do what I want. I'm pretty frugal so I'm trying to save as much as I can just in case, but money stress is something I don't have and don't plan on having ever again. Between the scholarship, my tutoring job, and getting paid to mow a few lawns, this dental school thing is turning into a decent gig! In this economy with school getting more and more expensive, I'm more than happy to trade 4 years in the military for 20 years of paying off loans.

As always, feel free to email me (and follow me on twitter!) if you have questions about the Air Force HPSP, the DAT, dental school, or whatever. I get about 1 email per week from a new person with questions so keep them coming!