There's no place like home for the holidays!

I am glad to say....

....that I am HOME for the holidays!!!

I have survived my first semester of pharmacy school!!! I can hardly believe it. It really flew by! All that time studying and in the library really did make the time pass so quickly.

I came home yesterday afternoon as quickly as I could. I took my last final (of eight) at 9 am yesterday morning. My first final was the Monday after Thanksgiving. We had one that Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. The others started last Wednesday, and then we had one a day (Thursday-Saturday, Monday) through yesterday. Most of my grades are back, but I am still waiting on a few. I never have understood why it takes so long to get scan tron tests graded and back? But for some professors it takes nearly a week.

I am glad to say that with the Lord's help I passed all of my classes with A/B+! I remember after the first couple of days of school at the beginning of the semester, particularly after my first biochemistry class, feeling completely overwhelmed and in over my head. I am not a science person at all. I love English and Math, but Chemistry and Biology have never really been my thing. The thought of making a good grade in Biochemistry was not even in my head when I started out this semester. I actually remember going home and calling my dad in tears after that first class, thinking there was no way I would be able to do it! The professor jumped right into the material in the first class and explained in detail the mechanisms for how two different drugs work, and I remember our entire class sitting there stunned and completely lost. I am so thankful that the Lord has helped me to persevere and study, not just for Biochemistry, but for all of the other courses as well, and achieve good grades. I know that he has made some miracles happen.

One of the biggest 'miracles' happened just today. Our most difficult (well, my most difficult exam - Biochem) was last Wednesday, so after that exam, I was so burned out! It was difficult to find the WTS (will to study) as me and some of my classmates like to call it, and studying for my Saturday morning exam was no exception. An EXAM?! On Saturday MORNING?! Whoever heard of such a thing? I went into the exam feeling a bit unprepared, and walked out thinking I had bombed the test and wouldn't be able to keep the A that I had in the class. I looked through my notes and found 6 or 7 questions that I thought I had missed. At 2 points a piece, that put me too close to the grade I needed to make, so I honestly thought that I had hurt my grade. I was really hard on myself for a couple of reasons: 1. The test wasn't too difficult and I should have known the material better. 2. I made good test grades all semester and was aggravated that I didn't apply myself the way that I had in studying for those tests. So I've been a bit nervous over the last few days about the grade, especially since it is the heaviest weighted class this semester. Well...this afternoon, the professor sent out an e-mail notifying us that the grades had been posted, as well as our final grades, so I pulled up the site nervously. I was with my dad when I checked, and was shocked to find that I made a 96 on the test. I have NO IDEA how that happened, and I kept saying that to dad over and over. "This makes no sense, dad. How did that happen? I thought I had at least 10 points lower than that." And he chuckled and said, "It's funny how God works sometimes!" And it was so true. I have no idea how that happened, because I was certain that I had missed 6 questions. I still can't believe it, but am glad that things turned out the way they did! Thank you, Lord!!

I enjoyed my first full day at home today. I spent some time with dad running errands and just being buddies! And I hung out with my sister and mom and watched a movie, and also got to spend some time with my boyfriend and his family. It was a very relaxed day. It is so nice to be at home and not have to be concerned about what I need to be studying!

I have no plans for tomorrow, other than some online Christmas shopping! I got really behind on gifts this year because I was so caught up in studying for finals for the last few weeks. I love Christmas time!

Can't wait to see what I am able to do with the rest of my free time tomorrow!