Without fail, I take a week-long mental vacation after every exam. It's my way of coping with the trauma of extreme sleep-deprivation and fears of failing spectacularly. The problem with taking exams on Monday and Tuesday is that by Wednesday we are expected to be ready to go, and this last week was a particularly cruel one that involved preceptorships, anatomy lab and a several tedious lectures. Some people, without a doubt, can go on with their lives and continue studying with due diligence. I, however, am not one of those people.
Exams take a lot of out me, and much of it has to do with my procrastinator lifestyle. By procrastinator, I don't mean the type that doesn't study and then crams on the weekend before an exam: I mean the type that should be studying an extra hour or two on top of the usual, and striving to stay continually focused, everyday of the week. Inevitably I fall behind on studying the material and find myself scrambling to really understand and internalize it all before the exam. That's my medical school version of procrastination, and the few days leading up to an exam are some of the most stressful days of my life. I don't eat well, I don't sleep well, my blood pressure and cortisol levels rise higher and higher, and my mental sanity is on the verge of cracking.
Thankfully I only have to go through this chaos about once a month, but it takes me a full week to recharge. What that means is that I spend more time sleeping, daydreaming and watching tv than I do focusing on lectures and powerpoints. But that's ok, because after my mental vacation I feel good; I feel relaxed, recharged and ready to tackle anything. My mind is clear, my body is energized and I'm back to a nice level of zen before s*** gets real (again) in a few weeks.
My mental vacation means that I will have to study twice as much this week to be caught up, but it sure was worth it.
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