In honour of the newbies

Today, my little sister moves into her new residence for her first university year. Our parents will be helping with the move, and I know it will be a difficult day for them all. I wish I was there to help. I remember so clearly how hard the goodbyes were when I first came to

Birthdays at Sea

It was my birthday yesterday. I turned 23, which makes me one of the oldest undergraduate students on the ship. Another (perk? downside?) to doing a six-year course. Every day at sea, they announce the day’s birthdays during the afternoon announcements. There were two of us yesterday (or the day before? I don’t know which

Ten (mostly good) Things About Hilo

15 and 16 January we docked in Hilo, Hawai’i. After FINALLY clearing customs and finding our way off the ship, Hilo was ours to explore for 48 hours. I don’t know what I expected of Hilo, but it definitely did exceed my expectations! Here are some (mostly good) things about Hilo. 1. The Hele-on bus:

Conversations on Board

ME: Hi, I’m M, I’m a fifth-year medical student from South Africa- HIM/HER: So that’s like a Public Health Major? ME: Not quite, I do an MB.ChB. which is a Bachelor’s of Medicine and a Bachelor’s of Surgery- HIM/HER: So you’re pre-med? ME: No… I a medical student. We do Medicine as a six year

SAS Resolutions

It may be well into the second week of the new year, but I figure it’s not too late to make some resolutions. The Chinese New Year is still around the corner in anycase (and it’s the year of the snake, my year, yeah!). Some of these are true-to-the-word resolutions, and others are kind of

A Tired, Anxious, Excited Post

It’s amazing how few places offer free wifi. But San Francisco does, and I’m super glad! One of my (sponsored, not self-paid) tickets is First Class. It’s a first for me (see what I did there) and it’s pretty cool. I’m so full on good food that I don’t have much else to do during

it begins

I am on the plane in Johannesburg now and awaiting departure to the States. What a crazy day it has been! I think it just hit me that I’ll be doing THREE courses via selfstudy. It’s going to be crazy. Everyone’s tempers seem to be flaring. We all just need a nice nap. Also there

Boop-Beep-Boop-Beeeeeeep-Beeeeeeep-Beeeeeeep

That’s supposed to be the dial tone. I used to hate that thing. This is me sending this post in via email – which is how I’ll be posting on Semester at Sea. … … … Sorry. I had to freak out for a moment that this is ACTUALLY happening.

This made me tear up

Can you tell that I’m a little nervous and incredibly grateful that in 17 days the trip of a lifetime will begin? This is a promotional video about Semester at Sea, the program I dreamed of, but thought I’d never get. It’s a 12-minute video, but really well done. And interesting. Well, I think so.

All them youngins’ got swollen heads

We referred a young, generally healthy patient for a CT scan a while ago. I can’t remember what we were investigating, but I do remember that she didn’t have any hard signs of cerebral oedema (brain swelling). Lo and behold, the radiologist’s report proclaimed, “signs of cerebral oedema.” Uh-oh.