023 sweat

Sweat is fluid produced by sweat glands in our skin that percolates out of our pores. I've always wanted to use "percolate" in an entry and I'm not sure if I used it in the right context but I'll use the excuse that I'm no English major.

I've been doing the Insanity workout with some friends of mine and first 10 minutes into it, I'm pouring a storm. I guess genetics placed upon me overactive sweat glands. Sean T knows how to work you hard. In his words, "Get fit or GET OUT". Super encouraging I know.

Last week during our pharmacy orientation, my roommate was describing an awful experience she had with one of the transfer students in our incoming class. We'll call him Joe. Joe was talking, quite audibly, with his fellow transfers about our incoming class's overall GPA. He claimed that the rather low number was due to the fact that the pre-pharms didn't have to work at all to get into pharmacy school and that it was unfair of the advantage they had over other non-pre-pharms. After this, my roommate was paired up with him for an exercise and Joe asked her where she went for undergrad to which she replied, "Pacific" and Joe ignored her for the rest of the exercise.

I was so angry after hearing her story. I thought to myself, "How dare he judge us even before meeting us!" I'm at fault for having pre-conceived notions about people as well, but this guy's actions afterwards were just plain RUDE. I can attest that, maybe not for all but for most, pre-pharmacy students at Pacific work their ass off to get into the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy. We have shed blood, tears, and sweat to get this far and for someone to dismiss our labor as diminutive, well I have a pretty finger for you buddy.

So I've never pointed the middle finger at anyone, but to think it means I'm pretty mad. Despite his less than friendly demeanor towards my kind, I extended grace to him. While standing in line for the Rite-Aid BBQ, sweating in my business attire under the cruel Stockton sun, Joe was standing right behind me, talking about going to Barnes and Noble to study. I turned around and offered that he should try studying at the Health Science library or the main campus library so he could save gas. He said thanks and I resumed my place in line feeling less mad and filled with more love, but still sweaty.

022

Snippets of this past weekend:

After 3 grueling long hours inside Faye Spanos, the PharmD Candidates of 2013 emerge to the bright, outside world where we were surrounded by loved ones. Here's my freshman and sophomore roommate from undergrad Anna aka Roomie.

My favorite Pacific Copts and I saying "GIBNA!" to the camera.

My #1 supporters, through thick and thin, and oh how I love them.

021

Pharmacy school has been very intense and everything I expected it to be. It's challenging and all the information I am learning is everything I need to know and want to know about this profession, place, and business. This entire week, I have woken up at 6:30AM to prepare for classes from 8AM til 12PM and then usually labs and discussion until 5PM. By the end of the day, I'm pretty tired but I have to hit the books so I don't fall behind. Most nights I go to bed at around 1-2AM and I rewind and grind again. I know I'll get used to the schedule but right now, it's been hard waking up these past few days.

Something else I learned this week, not only do pharmacy students work and study hard, but they play hard too. I think the past few nights have been filled with going out, clubbing, and indulging in adult beverages haha. I guess from all the stress and workload, we need some type of outlet to let loose.

When I look back on this blog and this particular entry some odd years from now, I want to say this to my future self: "Antoinette, your first week of pharmacy school was overwhelming and super fun. First day of lab, you're already learning how to inject shots! You've had over 100 pages of reading. And as an intern pharmacist, you can do everything a licensed pharmacist can do except hold the key to open the pharmacy. I can't believe you and Anna went clubbing. Stay away from strobe lights. Tracy Joy is pretty wild. Also, you're pretty crazy even when you don't have any alcohol in your system. Please continue to be the DD".

First week has been great being back at school. In one of our books we're reading, it says that to be a pharmacist you need to be a lifelong learner and let me tell you, I've learned so much within these past few days and I am looking forward to the next three years. Dr. Dinh will soon be in.

020 jesus walks

Often times while I'm driving and listening to the radio, I flip stations to hear my options. Wanting to gauge my ears out with a large pitchfork after hearing Katy Perry's "California Gurls" play on three different stations at the same time, I decided to pop in Kanye West's The College Dropout. This album is pure gold. I'm glad my opinion of hip-hop and rap has changed within the past year and a half. I'm ashamed to admit that I stereotyped this type of music with ghetto-Blacks only interested in sex, money, and power. Granted, there's a lot of music out there like that but I'm glad albums like The College Dropout exist to give me hope and insight on the world's issues. One of my favorite songs on the album is "Jesus Walks" mainly because Mr. West skillfully addresses the issue of why the media shies away from the subject of faith, but readily embraces sex, violence, etc.

I ended up buying his first three albums and though 808s & Heartbreak was alright and I have to listen to "Power" a couple more times to absorb what he's trying to say, I got to admit that I miss the old Kanye of his College Dropout days. But I'm looking forward to what he has to say and offer. Thanks to those who opened my eyes to this often misunderstood, poetic world.

019

See you later summer, we'll meet again in three years. Time to leave the little girl behind and step into my big girl shoes.

NAAAAAAAAW lol FOREVER YOOOUNG!

018 an august adventure

This adventure involves Australians, a broken bone, and cardboard.

It's amazing how time flies by and in this case, it was 30 years for my dad to reunite with his best friends from high school after they escaped the Vietnam War. Within that time, my dad and his buddies were able to share stories and laughs over dinner at our house for the past few days. One of his friends, who managed to escape to Australia, Bac Hua has two daughter my age. So I had the wonderful opportunity to show these Aussie girls around NorCal and let them try wonderful things such as In'N'Out Burger, YogurtLand, and California Sourdough.

On their last evening in the area, we went to the Cheesecake Factory with my uni friends, Josh and Sam. I tried Sangria and Long Island Iced Tea for the first time! On top of a glass of white wine that I had earlier at the house, it was a very delightful evening with new and old friends.

Afterwards, Josh motioned for an adventure with not much detail. Putting faith in our friend, we decided to go along with it. It was 12:30AM and we ended up at an empty park with these massive stone slides embedded in a steep hill. If you have ever seen Avatar: The Last Air Bender, think of those mail chutes in King Bumi's earth kingdom - that's what those slides looked like. Since the slides were not made out of plastic, like normal playground slides, we had to use sheets of cardboard to slide down these slides to prevent burns. It was hectic fun. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body as I would see my friends fly down. Eventually, it was time to wrap things up. Before heading back home, Sam decided to slide down one more time in super speed. We watch him slide down and literally fly off the end of the slide, his cardboard disappearing into some random direction. Sam didn't move so Josh and I ran down to check on our friend to see Sam swearing and holding onto his shoulder. He tells us that he landed on his shoulder and thinks his collar bone broke. OH SHOOT.

It's 1:30AM by now and the 5 of us head off to the nearest emergency room to treat Sam. I'm pretty sure the Aussies weren't expecting to be waiting in the ER on their last day in America. Sam is admitted and we wait, and wait and wait. Apparently, the doctors forgot about Sam for about an hour. Josh ended up driving the Aussies back to their motel so they can get ready for their drive down to LAX. Josh and I wait for Sam and when he came out, he told us that all they did was put his arm in a sling and gave him some ibuprofen...haha. There was a lot of back and forth driving since Sam was unable to drive his car, on account of his broken collar bone. Eventually, everything got taken care of and by the time I got back home, it was 4 AM.

Talk about one crazy night! Shut the gates!

017

One of my favorite greetings I learned in Egypt is cheek kissing where two individuals kiss each others cheeks alternately. It's normally done between same genders. At first, I was very surprised when an older Egyptian woman would lean her face toward my face, all the while I was thinking, "WOAH, TOO CLOSE TOO CLOSE!" and she would lovingly kiss my cheeks about 2-4 times. I got the hang of it where I was greeting all my good female Egyptian friends that way. It was a wonderful way to show someone that I was genuinely happy to see them. I wish people would convey that more, in any form, whether it be a hug, a simple question inquiring about their day, or a smile. We're just too busy, it seems, to even do that.

016

My Epic Egypt Adventure

The above text is a link to a newsletter I made in Microsoft Word detailing my experiences and the lessons learned on my mission's trip to Egypt this summer. Yalla beena!

Also, some things I did not include in my newsletter:
+ Jumped in the Red Sea
+ Only got sick ONCE, and it was on the last day (thanks for all your prayers!)
+ Jumped on a donkey cart and garbage truck
+ Sailed on the Nile River
+ No one could really pronounce my name haha so I gained 7 new nicknames: Magnoona, Nerfertiti, Armoot, Georgette, Nighty, Foofy, & Netty

015

"Then we can land in the motherland,
Camelback across the desert sand".
Lupe Fiasco's "Paris, Tokyo"

Riding a camel across the Giza Desert with the Pyramids as our backdrop was definitely not an expectation on my trip, but was surely fulfilled. More adventures to come.