Things I wish I could remember

Below are 9 numbers that I have to memorize for a test next week. I'm about to give up on those and start studying stuff that I can actually remember. I have 3 more tests to write next week, that don't require the memorization of things that my brain refuses to remember.

Trying to remember those numbers is like trying to remember chemistry nomenclature. I can remember facts, formulas, concepts, conversion factors and densities without any problems... I suspect that I have a big gaping hole in the part of my brain that people are supposed to use to memorize stuff like this.

Did I get dropped on my head too many times when I was a kid? Did I eat a bunch of lead paint when I was a kid. WTF?

Critical Pressure of Oxygen: 715.87 psig
Critical Temperature of Oxygen: -118.4 C
Boiling Point of Oxygen: -183 C
Melting Point of Oxygen: -216.6

Critical Temperature of Carbon Dioxide: 31.0 C
Boiling Point of Carbon Dioxide: -78.4 C
Melting Point of Carbon Dioxide: -78.4 C

Boiling Point of Nitrogen: -195.4 C
Melting Point of Nitrogen: -209.86 C

Study strategies

I wasn't really being too smart about how and what I was studying, so I found myself a bit behind in my studies by the middle of last week. Most of my falling behind was due to poor study habits and strategies.

I was actually trying to study in my living room! That didn't work out so well. The temptation to turn on the TV was too great to resist and I found myself taking frequent breaks, from studying, to watch "a little bit of TV". I now have a dedicated study space, formerly known as my dining room table, which I use for my studying.

I was reading stuff in my textbooks that wasn't required. If I'm supposed to read a chapter in a textbook, for a course, I now refer to what's in the course outline and in my lecture notes to make sure that I know what has to be read. If it doesn't have to be read, I try not to read it. Sometimes you can avoid reading several pages in a chapter if you know what can be safely ignored. It's better to focus on what you need to learn and learn it well. Unfortunately, there's lots of interesting stuff to be ignored...

Last school day of first week

My reading list for last night, was a bit too optomistic. I still have to do a bunch of reading to catch up. I was only able to get throught the material for Respiratory A&P. I felt the need to read slowly and study the diagrams, so that I was actually comprehending what Iwas reading. For my General A&P course, I still need to read chapter 1&2 of Marieb and Module 1&2 of the course module package. For my Cardio A&P course I still need to read chapter 18 of Marieb and Chapter 5 of Des Jardins.

I had my first Infection Control and Safety class today. Wash your hands. Wash your hands well.. Wash your hands often.

I went to a BBQ this afternoon and met a few of the second year students. I also had a couple of interesting conversations with a few faculty members. I was feeling pretty anti social, so I was ot of there pretty quick.

Apparently we only have 4 students in our class that came straight from high school. They're known as the Highschoolers. Most of the students in my class seem to be in their mid twenties, with a few in their thirties and possibly a couple in their early fourties.

Lots of reading today

I actually got a decent amount of sleep last night, so the material covered in the Cardio A&P lecture today made sense. Sleep is good. Sleep makes me less stupid. Being less stupid is a good thing.

Today is only the third day of school and I'm already starting to feel like I'm falling behind. Today I'm trying to catch up on my reading.

• For my Respiratory A&P course, I need to read pgs. 831-838 of Marieb, pgs. 7-23 of Des Jardins and pgs. 174-180 of Egan's.
• For my General A&P course, I need to read chapter 1&2 of Marieb and Module 1&2 of the course module package that the school self published.
• For my Cardio A&P course I need to read chapter 18 of Marieb and Chapter 5 of Des Jardins.

Today I overheard my Cardio A&P Professor mention something about previous students "having breakdowns". I'm not exactly sure what she meant by that and I've decided that I don't really want to know.

Timetable

My Timetable was available on the Student Portal yesterday. A few things about my timetable:

• 9 hours of Anatomy and Physiology every week! I have 3 A&P courses in first semester (regular A&P, cardiovascular A&P and pulmonary A&P). Is the human body really that complicated? (Air goes in. Air goes out. Blood goes round and round. What else does an RT need to know?)
• My earliest classes are at 8AM. I was kind of hoping 9AM. Waking up at 7AM, like a civilized human being!
• My elective is an ethics course. Do not lie, cheat or steal. If you lie cheat or steal, you will be punished.
• If I get an exemption for my ethics elective, my first class on Tuesday will be at 10AM. I don't lie cheat or steal, so I don't need to be taught about that! Sleeping in, until 9AM on Tuesdays!
• My first class on Friday is at 10AM. Sleeping in, until 9AM on Fridays!
• I finish classes on Monday at 11AM. Very Happy to see that. I have some stuff I want to do, in another city, late Monday afternoon.
• My General Therapeutics course has a theory and a lab component.
• The General Therapeutics lab is for 2 hours on Friday. I'm pretty sure that I only have to wear scrubs in the lab, which would mean that I only have to wear scrubs once a week on Friday.
• There seems to be a job shadowing component in the first semester. That appears on my timetable for 4 hours on Thursday. I don't think that it's for 4 hours every Thursday, because I only get 24 credit hours for it. I'm guessing that it will be for 4 hours for 6 weeks.
• Without the job shadowing stuff, I have 22 hours of class and lab.
• My latest classes are finished at 3PM.

Why I'm looking forward to RT School

Freadom over at Respiratory Therapy Cave recently wrote A list of what I like about being an RT, which got me to thinking about why I am looking forward starting RT School.

10 Reasons I'm looking forward to RT School:

1. I can sleep in every day. I won't have to get up at 4:30AM on work days anymore.


2. I don't have to pick up, drop off and pay for dry cleaning any more. No more wearing dress pants, for me.


3. I can be unemployed. It's OK to be unemployed when you're a full time student.


4. I don't have to shine my shoes on a regular basis.


5. I get to buy a stethoscope.


6. I can spend a few years learning some interesting things.


7. I can stop worrying about looking for another IT job.


8. I can start using the, "I can't because I have to study" excuse.


9. I can get to school in less than 10 minutes. It now takes me hours to get to work. I'm not kidding, or exagerating, it takes me over 2 hours to get to work.


10. When I'm finished, I'll be a Respiratory Therapist.

First semester text books

This is the stack of required text books for the first semester of my Respiratory Therapy Program.

Current Student

On Friday I received a big envelope from the college. The envelope contained a student Orientation Guide, Student Enrollment Form and instructions for picking an elective. The Student Enrollment Form shows a status of Enrolled for all of my courses and lists the choices that I have for my elective. All of the instructions in the orientation guide, and on the sheet that explains how to choose my elective, tell me to go to the "Current Student" section of the college web site.

Current Student! Yippee! I feel kind of lame for mentioning it, but I now feel like more of an RT Student than I did on Thursday. When can I start calling myself an RT Student? Now? After the orientation day? When I get my student card? On the first day of classes?

Books

Yesterday I picked up the last of the books that I'll need for the first semester or Respiratory Therapy School. I only had to pick up one text book and a couple of course note packages. I've already purchased all of the other required texts.

Unfortunately, I didn't have an excuse to buy a stethoscope yet. It wasn't on the book list and I haven't yet seen any indication that it's required for first semester.