SUCCESS!!!!!!

One cool thing about Chris' medical school (and something I now envy, being in grad school myself) is the pass/fail grading model. It's easy peasy (the system, that is)....either you pass or you fail. Your grades essentially don't matter because as long as you achieve a passing average on each subject block (ex. all the GI block exams averaged out), you pass and move forward in the class. Grades are never posted, the students are never ranked, and it takes away a bit of the competition felt between the classmates. They feel more inclined to help one another and (in my opinion) it creates a better sense of camaraderie. Takes a bit of the pressure off. Christian seems to really love it and it makes sense to me, especially for medical school.

Well, my school is decidedly not pass/fail. It's A/B/C/Fail (as in, anything below a C is failing...below a B in my assessment class). This daunting fact, combined with the fact that my entire advanced pathophysiology class is comprised of five grades (four exams and a presentation) has had me a little nutty with stress. With the first exam quickly approaching and me trying desperately to catch up on my lectures, I think I started to lose it a little. I did a few hours of cramming and, while reviewing a practice exam, I didn't understand a few questions in a row...so naturally came the water works. Enter husband and his ability to always know the right thing to say. He hit me with a with a solid pep talk and informed me that he'd be so proud of me, even if I got one point for putting my name on my paper (which we don't even do...online exam). What a guy. 

So after all the drama, I just found out a few hours ago (via email): I scored higher than the class average! 87%! I cannot begin to describe the sweet relief. And, according to the professor, this is the hardest exam of the course. I guess I'm not getting tossed out of grad school after all. :)

Woo hoo!!!

Since my brother and I have been hanging out in Tucson together, we've been able to see lots of family. My aunt and uncle invited us over for dinner tonight and somehow we managed to gather eight of the nine grandkids on mom's side in one place (the only girls are my sister and me, and I am the very first/AKA the original grandkid). I lined the boys up for some pictures and, well, I'll leave you with their shenanigans. OH by the way...since when do kids you used to take care of/play with/babysit get driver's licenses and join the military??? Jeeze, cousins. Stop growing up.

Monday is home sweet home (my folks are back from their Alaskan adventure!) for a certain mister's birthday on Tuesday!!! It's pretty much one of my favorite holidays. :)

XOXO,
Ash & Vies (AKA Lazy Bum)