The second week went by really quickly. Many of my fellow scholars were excited to hear that the Organic Chemistry and Physiology tests were postponed until Monday- allowing for an extra weekend of study time. I believe that this excitement marks the excellence seen ubiquitously among the SEP scholars- the desire to be successful and desire to do well.
During the second week, everyone started feeling the academic intensity of the program. There was more homework assigned, more quizzes given, and more test dates posted. More material being covered meant that people were studying a lot more. In order to save time, a few friends and I went to the cafeteria in the Children’s Hospital right next to the Old Dental School everyday so that time would not be wasted. This proved to be an efficient method to fuel our bodies while our minds were hard at work.
Since it is hard to study on Tuesdays and Thursdays because classes and SI (Supplemental Instruction) sessions run until around 8:30PM, I tried to do my homework during my lunch break, which proved to be very effective- I wouldn’t have to spend much those two days doing homework at the dorm, essentially saving time on sleep.
I think that this program is based heavily on time management, and I believe that in order to do well, people must schedule their time effectively. I started scheduling my days out by hour intervals for everything that needed to be done, increasing productivity.
As a last note before I get back to studying Physiology, I want to applaud the study groups that fellow scholars have formed. They are very effective, information is communicated very easily, and knowledge is obtained in a friendly setting.