Confessions of a Crescent City Transplant

It's still a bit surreal that my classmates and I are done with the program. I think it's been hard to find closure as the world paused time or is operating in slow motion. It's like we have all been hibernating and awaking to Spring, except Spring is entering a reality of change. Although we were physically apart for graduation, we made the best of what we had: having an "official" ceremony in the morning and a departmental party on Zoom later in the day. It was heartwarming to see my colleagues in their regalia and their family members joining to celebrate our accomplishments. My own family joined in from Indiana! Linh made a video of all of our pictures together and a videos of us saying goodbye, which was really bittersweet. Caps off to us! Roll Wave, Ashley Happy Graduation Pharmacology Class of 2020! Tulane Medical School Graduation Message Link

Even though I've completed my program, May seems to be non-stop. I'm pretty sure my family thinks I must be bored out of my mind, but it doesn't seem like there are enough hours in the day. May has been mainly sunny and hopeful. I've been applying to jobs (A LOT), applying with AMCAS (MD schools), and AACOMAS (DO schools). If you've never seen a med school app before, you'll probably be surprised at how much time goes into perfecting them. I'm also preparing for the MCAT (of course, June 27th is going to be my day to shine... or evening. I'm taking it at 6 pm, what is that?). Here are some May updates for you. May Life Updates  Cucumbers from my garden with Greek yogurt dip Unusual chilly day in the hammock 

Here we are, wrapping up the program! It's a bittersweet moment as we transition into our next season of life, but here are my thoughts about the month of April, the past year, and my life moving forward! (VLOG and pictures below!) Blessings, Ms Ashley  (Social)  (April Classes)  (Entire Year Reflection)  (Graduation and Side Rant) (Post Graduation Plans)  My garden is blossoming! (Eloise made an Instagram this month)  Easter Cookies! Healthy Reeses Eggs! Easter Dinner Advances Prep with Lavender Tea and M&Ms (of course!)

In a time of massive changes worldwide, I decided to change up my blog and post a "Vlog" instead! Feel free to comment with ideas for next month, and so sorry for the "umms" and crazy facial expressions haha. Talking to a video camera is weird! Definitely not in line for a career in acting. Also forgot that I collected soil samples in the city to check for lead levels! Which is a project that one of my Environmental Signaling professors does for research. (Community service), and social advocating through social media! Social media can be powerful for communication, so I have been posting a lot of volunteering resources as well as resources for those in domestic violence situations during their quarantine. Blessings, Ms Ashley (For grading you can skip to the last few videos lol)                             Intro to Vlogging Lifestyle Entertainment and Socializing      Mental and Physical Health  E

February as been a bit of blur, and not just because of Mardi Gras. It is time to begin getting serious in preparation for our modified "shelf" exam, which for all you kids at home is like a final exam mixed with standardized testing. It's a huge percentage of our grades and covers all of the major material that we have went over for the year. To say the least, we are feeling some stress about that as well as the MCAT. I think the majority of my class is also taking the MCAT in April, so back to back intensive studying, as well as working on major projects for some of my electives like Neuropharmacology and Endocrine Pharmacology is right around the corner. We began looking deeper into psychiatric drugs in a few of our courses this semester, a big class of those drugs being benzodiazepines (or "Benzos" as the title indicates).  Benzodiazepines are drugs commonly used in the treatment of anxiety. They work with the GABAergic system, which in anxious patie

December: A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year first of all! December was a tad crazy for me flying home to see family and friends. I enjoyed spending time with my Eloise, eating a ton of amazing food, and a lot of laughing and sweet moments with my sister. My lovely friends on New Years  Christmas with the family Eloise is a Scrooge My siblings (Brett and Alli) My favorite place in my hometown Me and my child Alli and Eloise Christmas Eve January: So I fly back to New Orleans, and I am instantly SICK. I come home to my clean, but no food* apartment with a definite need for cold medications. Luckily to my pharmacology knowledge, I made it through the first week back at school with my personal pharmacy. (Even if my Sleepytime herbal tea is unregulated by government standards and might be a placebo- I am still telling myself that my sinuses were soothed). The last unit we were in was Endocrine pharmacology, which I thought was really inter