Six Chapters Proved Too Much

And really–did the professor ACTUALLY expect the class to read 268 pages in 40 days? That’s almost 7 pages every day–it doesn’t look like much, but focusing on dry, factual info and remembering and comprehension takes time.  I tried, really I did. But on top of keeping up with the lecture notes and handouts, the papers, and studying–not to mention other classes and work, I didn’t get through the reading for 1.5 of the required chapters. I feel like if I didn’t, then nobody did.  And I’d like to, because the textbook seems well-written and helpful–but it’s just not a priority with 2 weeks of school and a million things to do within that short time. I wish professors would write a PRACTICAL syllabus. . .

That’s where I’ve been. Writing papers (trying to at least), accumulating the important facts for each class, and slowly studying what I can. I can tell both my professors want to get through more material then the semester allows for, because the amount of info tripled–it feels like.  It’s overwhelming and frustrating and makes me feel guilty and nervous. Which I guess, is how every student is SUPPOSED to feel with finals approaching. And to compound the issue, I lost yesterday to work and the worst headache ever!

It came on around 9:30 or 10 in the morning. I attributed it to having too much coffee between 4:30AM and 5AM, and drank loads of water to rehydrate. But the headache stayed. So I took some Ibuprophen thinking, maybe it was due to waking up at 2AM for an hour, getting up in the 4s, and working. It got worse. At lunch, all I had was corned beef hash (really salty) and I only ate a little not wanting to exsacerbate (where the eff did my auto spell-check go?) the problem. And I layed my head down, trying to cat-nap in order to feel better. But everyone is loud and sleep was evasive. After lunch, I could hear my heartbeat in my ears–that’s how bad the headache was. And if I tilted my head forward a milimeter, the pain brought tears to my eyes. My job requires me to bend and lift often. And obviously, I couldn’t leave work–being a vet tech and all. In fact, I really felt like crying because of the pain. I took Alieve, but that offered to relief either. The only thing that gave any relief at all (maybe up to 10%) was rubbing a certain spot at the base of my skull. So I thought maybe the previous night’s massage might have caused the headache–toxins from all the trigger-points, or too firm of a rub or something.

I went to bed at 7PM, hoping sleep would help. And I woke up at 10:30PM with headache pain so bad it made me nausous (Jesus, I want spell-check!). So I took one of Cool’s migrane pills. And, boy, was that the best night of sleep I ever had! I slept without waking, to my alarm–which never happens. And woke up refreshed, without headache. But the point is, I lost study/school project time Monday. So today, I’m a little stressed out about it. Why am I taking the time to write a blog post, you ask.  Well, because I just spent 4.5 hours writing papers, taking notes, and memorizing flashcards and I’m going a little crazy.  Also, seeing this in print makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something–and have a good excuse when I’m not.  And it generally makes me feel more organized and motivated–and who are you to ask such hard questions of me, I don’t have to explain myself to you.  OK, just to myself.  So I’ll try to do one little thing at a time, get a good night’s sleep, and plug along for the rest of Thanksgiving break. With the exception of cooking and eating Indian Tacos on Thursday of course.

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• My Take on Headaches (stephmeilyn148.wordpress.com)
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