university

You know that saying ‘ When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’? Well, medical school is a lemon farm and it feels highly unlikely that I’ll finish all the lemonade. The quote ‘When medical school tries to drown you in lemon juice’ seems rather more apt. The exam stress has me feeling a little despondent. But it can’t really be that bad…right?

Let’s go with right. I was thinking of taking a positive spin on this whole exam revision thing and so got ~~(carried away)~~ inspired with lemons. My goal: to channel help you ( and myself) channel the exam stress, the essay blues and/or feelings of inadequacy into feelings of Yes-I-Can.

Before we start dissecting the lemon, some key terms:

Carpel – The partitioned sections of a lemon (clearly seen in mid-sagittal * longitudinal section) These are the segments we separate. Juice vesicle – The little bits of fleshy pulp

I trying to convince myself that first year has given me lemon. Note the missing ‘s’. Lemon as opposed to lemons sounds a lot more manageable. The lemon represents year one of university, a carpel segment is a module and the juice vesicles are the lectures. Sure, it seems overwhelming at first, what with the hundreds of little vesicles, yet, when you look at the grand scheme of things – the whole lemon – you realise it really is just that: little vesicles. Now if we say your mouth is your brain, and you think about the relative sizes of that tiny vesicle and that large mouth, you’ll see each vesicle for what it is. A small mini ( used lightly, baby steps people, baby steps) obstacle.

Since it is just one lemon, you got this. Break it down, eat it segment by segment. You’ll get used to the tartness and maybe even start enjoying that sour sensation. (If you’re salivating at the thought of the little vesicles bursting their (not so) sweet sour goodness like a sunshine party, you’re already halfway there.)

To those that are eat the whole lemon in one go, good luck, and I commend your skill and talent. I’ll just say I’ve never seen anyone bite into a citrus fruit like it’s an apple, but then again the world is full of wonders.**

Although right now, (i.e. if your first exam is in less than 36 hours…) it may feel like you’re trying to eat half a lemon and keep finding vesicles you’ve never seen before. as long as you take it piece by piece, you’ll be okay. I’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay.

To close, this is one for your quote book:

So when life gives you lemons, eat them like oranges. One carpel at a time.

Nibbling on this year’s lemon,

-KK

Ps: Good luck to you all. The end is in sight.

Mid-saggital: vertical plane. Since it’s an anatomy term, I’m counting this as revision and not some form of procrastination.

Important to note: everyone eats their citrus in different ways: some like to chew, some suck and some swallow whole pieces. A bad habit of mine is comparing my revision methods to others and feeling like I’m doing it wrong. This is unhealthy and so I’m trying to break that habit. You do you guys, and Imma do me. As long as that lemon goes down, we’re all doing it right.

In case you were wondering about the lemon seeds, I’m thinking that if we plant them and grow more lemons, we’re basically keeping education alive for incoming years. Sustainable education for the nation.