Weight Loss - Part 8

It's been a month, so it's time for that new update on my weight loss goal.  Once again, while not directly related to pharmacy, working towards improving my health, self-esteem, and energy levels will most definitely help me reach my goal.  It's not all about fleshing out the application.  (Unless I end up writing a little something about this in supplemental apps.)

Now for the numbers:

Starting Weight: 216.8
Weight Last Month: 204.0
Week 26 Weight: 204.0
Week 27 Weight: 206.0
Week 28 Weight: 208.2
Week 29 Weight: 207.4
Week 30 Weight: 209.4
Total Weight Loss: -5.4
Pounds Still to Go: 24.4
Trendline Estimate: 205.0

What happened? Failure is what happened. I can say a lot of things. Like I haven't been going to the gym to heal the damage to my calf that I've been feeling, that my brother came back from med school for two weeks and we've been eating all the food he hasn't been able to eat while over there, but in the end, I just failed. At least during this extended period from January until my birthday, failure means I still lost 2.4 pounds total. It's not good enough. I didn't get myself the birthday present that I wanted to get, but in the end, this deadline was also almost essentially just a number. Weight management is a hard fought battle, and the battle wages on. Next deadline - Week 52.

Pharm Tech Hire... So Close! And Resume 1.5

Ok so... I went in to the Human Resources office to physically fill out an application for the pharm tech job. As I was filling it out, a nice lady was walking by and stopped. She asked me what job I was applying for and I told her. She asked, "Do you have a resume?" I told her I did. Then she asked, "Did anyone recommend you?" And I said yes to that to. She then told me that she'd go ask the director if I could get an interview on the spot!!

Unfortunately when she came back, it wouldn't be possible at that exact moment, but she was going to make sure the director got my resume, and that I would be getting a call. Not the absolute perfect storm, but still that's some nice weather blowing my way.

And the resume I handed her wasn't quite the one I posted up the other day. I made three significant adjustments.

One, I added to my objective that Volunteering was also an acceptable option that I'd be willing to take. One more point to emphasize that I'll be there to really learn the job, and that I'm not just applying for money. The experience is more valuable to me than money.

Two, I added that I have my CPR/AED certification.

Three, I added that I'm a member of the American Pharmacists Association. That's not something I've talked about on here before I think. That's because while I do get the emails, and I do get the magazine, I have yet to participate in any event. I became a member... in November of 2009 I believe. But most of the events are really geared towards pharmacists and student pharmacists, and then pharm techs. I have yet to figure out how to fully utilize my membership as just a pre-pharmacy student. That's why I initially left it off, but my friend convinced me that I deserve to put it on there because I have contributed by paying my dues.

When I asked my cousin to review my resume, he brought up three things. He works in the biotech field, and felt that while it was good to put my goals on the resume, he felt the 2012 date for when I wanted to be a student pharmacist was a detriment. However, from all that I've seen, a there have been plenty of student pharmacists and presenters that talk about how even just one month of experience will help in your applications to pharm school. That gave me the impression (perhaps mistakenly) that there are plenty of applicants that don't work for very long, and so saying my target date by Fall 2012 meant I actually wanted to work there for a long time. The position is also just an On Call position and not full time, helping to strengthen my belief that putting the date on there is the right thing.

My cousin also thought that putting the gap in time under my Pre-Pharmacy Association involvement was a bad idea, and that I should have just written it as 2006-Current. But there are two issues with that. I have a hard time lying. It's simply not true. The other is that I think it's actually better to have that gap. I was the founding Vice President, and then nothing else. If I was involved that whole time, I think it actually looks worse on me that I didn't take any other position. Maybe I was a bad leader, people hated me, or simply lost interest. I think by having that gap, perhaps that might lead to an interview question asking why, and I could explain I gave up on pharmacy, took a break, and have regained my motivation.

In fact, I think collectively all the additions really tells that story on my application, that I've come back with determination to make it. I have three items under Licensure/Certification that all expire in 2011, and I have it written down that I rejoined the PPA and became a member of APhA at the same time, and they know my goal is to make it into pharmacy. Collectively that seems to me that it speaks out that I've been taking all the proper steps to make it towards my goal, and will be a pharm tech that will be working his best to make it there.

Genetics Take Home Exam - Quick Correction

Two things about the exam. It seemed to be a consensus that the Question 1 could have been worded better. That seemed to be the question most people were asking about before class was started as they compared answers.

The other thing is that it's good I double checked with someone else. I overlooked an important sentence that was part of Question 2a. I read the question as: Both John and Jane have siblings with sickle cell anemia but don't have it themselves.  What is the chance that their child will also have the disease. I overlooked the part of the question that said that no one else in the family had sickle cell anemia. That completely changed how the problem should be approached since the disease is autosomal recessive.

Genetics Take Home Exam

I've been working on my Take Home Exam (which will be averaged with my lowest exam score). For the most part, most of it is pretty easy... except for the very first question which is worth 15 points. I don't think we were taught how to indicate the chromosomal make-up of a cell that's gone through meiosis I. How do you show chromatids connected by a centromere if the original cell began with 1m1d2m2d3m3d?

And the question asks to state the possible chromosomal composition of daughter cells.  Does the=a? Because there isn't much space to write the answer, so it can't be to write down all the possible combinations due to crossover.  Well, there is no Psy Research tomorrow due to a furlough, so I'll have that hour free, and get some help from classmates. (Working on the exam with others is allowed. I wanted to work on it by myself at first because I wanted to really see if I knew the material.)

We'll see how it goes.

Resume 1.0 - Pharmacy Technician

Well... I made a resume. I got a tip about a possible job at a hospital, and I put together what I could to make a resume. It's a bit sparse. I had to really find a way to word my duties working for the Census to have any kind of relevance towards duties as a pharm tech. But at least I do have something to put under the work experience section now.

The key things on here that I have are that they know I have the PTCB certificate and license to work in CA, they can clearly see that I will have the motivation to do well in the job because I plan an using the experience as an important learning experience to becoming a pharmacist, and while I don't have any pharm tech experience yet, I've obviously taken plenty of classes that use many of the same math concepts required for the job and have first hand experience with the equipment that I may be using.

On a more anal note... I probably spent half an hour or so deciding what font I wanted to use.

(Yes, the rest of this post is 100% about font choice.)

I googled "resume font" and the sites I went to suggested Times New Roman and Arial to look more contemporary. Well I originally wrote it in Arial, but when I was done, I switched it to Times just to see what it looked like.

Well... the website was right that Times does look more old fashioned. It also is a bit smaller than Arial. With the Arial font, I took up nearly the whole page, in Times there was a larger gap at the bottom, and switching to a 12 font made it exceed one page.

I felt comfortable with my choice in Arial until I changed just the header to Times. I really liked how the header looked in times. That came off as more professional looking. I started questioning myself that maybe Times looks more professional on the whole. Should I go for a contemporary look? or professional?

I kept on looking at the whole thing in Times, and I just didn't like the body that way. I liked the header in Times and the body in Arial. But maybe that's just crazy. It might be off putting to other people. So I tried to ask for opinions. Unfortunately, all 5 or 6 people that I attempted to ask all did no respond (and in the case of one person her internet cut out and she left to go buy a new router.)

So to prevent myself from looking crazy, I just settled with my original choice and left the whole thing in Arial, and sent it in.  We'll see if this leads anywhere.

When I was done, I switched it all to Times just to see what it looked like.

(Ok I lied... a quick update about the Library Aide part time job process.  I had my first mishap with my alarm clock and set it for 7:30 pm rather than am, but I woke up with just enough to get to the Library and take their evaluation exam. It was essentially some basic math and sorting Fiction and Non-Fiction books. When I showed up, there were about 50 people also taking the exam, so getting hired isn't likely.)

Goal Setting - April 2010 through September 2010

Alright, I'm a little behind on this.  I should have put up this post in early April.

January through June Goal Progress

- Graduate

- Become a Pharmacy Technician

- Research Schools

- Lose Weight

- Graduate - I am on track with this.  On track and ready to graduate with my BA in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry.  And graduating with A's in both Psy Research and Genetics

- Become a Pharmacy Technician - This goal is in question. I finally got my pharm tech license, but it may have come too late to be of immediate use.  I did however at least get to work for the Census as a temporary stop gap, and applications are out there.  And listened to a talk from a Walgreens District Manager.  I haven't ignored this goal, but how it's going to turn out by June remains in question.

- Research Schools - I drove down to USC, asked all the schools about their policies on expirations on old completed requirements (I have yet to post about that actually), listened to a presentation by the Phi Delta Chi pledgeclass from UCSF, and took a closer look at GPA requirements and prerequisites.  I could have done more sure, but that can always be said.  I think I've done pretty good in this area.

- Lose Weight - I've somewhat done this. From the beginning of January until now, the total weight loss has only been a slight loss.  (I gained a couple pounds two of the past three weeks.) But I've still been maintaining a slow but steady weight loss.  As long as that continues, it is never horrible.  It would be better, but it's still loss. I've lived with my weight for years, and in the end the time it'll take to lose it all with be nothing compared to that.

Reevaluating Old Goals and Setting New Ones

- Graduate... with A's - I don't just want to graduate. I want to get A's in both my classes. That's something I should be able to do.  It's within my grasp.  I do have to work for it, but it's there.

- Become a Pharmacy Technician... or Just Get Work. - I have to downgrade this goal.  I had my schedule open to get full time work for this time period, but that's now coming to a close. With the semester that I'm planning to have for the Fall, if I can just get part time work that will fit in with my schedule, that will be enough for me.

- Research Schools... Both In and Outside of California - I'm doing decent with the schools inside of California, but by the end of six months, I better know something about the school outside of California.

- Lose Weight... and Reach 190 Pounds - I should be able to lose more than that, but maybe not. The weight loss is steady, but it is slow. I want to keep it up, and outdo it if possible, but at least keep it up.  It feels good to feel good about yourself.

- Study for the PCAT - New goal. I bought the book. I haven't be using it. It's time to change that. I don't need to take the test in the near future, but I will need to take it. It's time to get started with that. Something I really need to do during the Summer months before my 19 unit semester starts.

Summer and Fall 2010

Alright, well... at 6:37am this morning I did a quick check to see if I could add my classes even though it was officially scheduled to open to to all at 8:00am, and bam! I enrolled into both Cell Biology and General BioChem. The numbers had not changed at all with 76 and 39 spots open respectively.  I refreshed the pages as soon as I added and saw the decrease immediately in the numbers, so it's pretty clear those were the actual numbers. 

Besides considering any possible difficulties in a slightly different change in system, I missed the absolutely obvious reason as to why there would be so many spots open in that it costs a lot. There was no regular half time payment for 6 Summer units. It's $1998 total for my two classes.  So I'm lucky that I have this opportunity, but I still have until June 4th to really decide if I can afford the classes.

So how does that affect my Fall semester?  I'll be moving Micro Economics to Fall, making it a total of 19 units. Biology I, OChem I, Microbiology, Nutrition, and Micro Economics. I'll be improving decent grades in the first two classes, fixing a bad grade in microbiology (due to lack of trying), and taking all new classes in the last two.

I hope to also have part time work. Likely not as a pharm tech. That would be ideal, but as I said before, it sounds like people are letting go of techs, and the ones that they are hiring, they want them on for full time. So I have my license now, but it may not get some use for a bit, unless someone wants to hire me full time for the Summer during afternoon to overnight hours.

So I have my Pharm Tech license...

Now the question is, can I get a job?  The job market isn't good right now, and from what I heard from the SF Walgreen District Manager, people are being let go, and not hired.  On top of that, I was hoping for my license to arrive in January or February so I could work full time until the Fall semester started. But now the Spring semester is almost over. Unless someone wants to hire me just for the Summer, I don't expect much to happen. With that said, I've sent in my application to Walgreens. They have a very nice and simple setup at their website. I'll be applying to other places as well, and just see how it goes.

I'm not expecting much, so I also applied to work as a Library Aide. The pay isn't much, but it's still pay and work experience. And they specifically want part time workers which is what I'm going for, especially if they want evenings and weekends. That's something I'll be able to maintain during my 19 unit Fall Semester.  At least that's I hope to enroll in. Fall registration at CCC begins May 3rd.

Summer 2010 - Revised Again or SFSU Continues!

I'm juggling so many balls in my head right now.  It's somewhat hard to know where to start, but let's go ahead with school.

Summer 2010. I made an assumption, and I made it wrong, that it would be nearly impossible for me to get into Summer classes at San Francisco State. The programs are impacted, and it has been nearly impossible to get into any class these past couple semesters. But when I checked, just in case, on the enrollment info for Cell Biology, I was surprised with a nice 76 seats still vacant out of the room that seats an estimated 120!  Priority enrollment continues on until tomorrow, but no one added today.

8:00am Monday morning I'll be adding the class, and I expect to get in. The $325 a unit isn't going to be fun, but this is an opportunity that I shouldn't pass up.

More importantly, because of this latest development, I was browsing through the other available classes for the Summer. I had always assumed that BIOL 340 was the only Biochem class, while it was BIOL 349 that was being offered. Well... just in case again, I just clicked on over to the Western U website to pull up their convenient website that lists equivalent courses, and voila! BIOL 349 is also an acceptable class!! And it still has 39 seats open in a room that holds an estimated 150!

This is huge. I was going to play it by ear, with what classes I'd be able to take and see which schools' minimum requirements I'd be able to reach. Prior to this, I really only had a solid shot at UCSF and Tuoro, but all the out of state schools that I have yet to research. With as many units as I have, and the F's that I allowed myself to get by prioritizing school last in my life, it remains to be seen whether or not I can get the 3.0 minimum prerequisite GPA for USC or UCSD. hose schools are already moved over to the 2nd Round of applications column if I don't get in to other schools on my first attempt.

I also will not have the two required BioChem classes that Western U requires, nor do I plan on applying to Loma Linda because they ask for one Letter of Rec to be from a... I forget how they word it exactly... but something like a faith counselor. Right now I'm a non-practicing Catholic, and I wouldn't feel right asking a priest to write me a letter or recommendation.

So that cuts my choices down to four. UCSF, Northstate, Touro, and UoP. Four thanks to my ability to take both Cell Bio and BioChem during the summer. I expect the reason why there are still seats open is because this isn't the normal enrollment system, and people have to go through the special College of Extended Learning portion of the website, rather than the normal sfsu.edu. Whatever the case may be, I lucked out.

What does this mean for Microeconomics and Intro to Biotechnology at CCC? Well, if I get in, I'm going to drop that, because my schedule would conflict, but I'm still going to take the Biotech class. That class is online and isn't offered on a regular basis from what I can tell.  It's certainly not offered in the Fall.

And this post is long enough as is. I'll just have to get to the other thoughts moving around in my mind in a later post.

CCC - Summer 2010

So with my hopes of being able to get into Cell Biology at SFSU burned down to a nub, I went to my safety net of CCC to sign up for classes. I signed up for Microeconomics with no problem... but when I attempted to add Gen Chem I, it said I couldn't add it.

Apparently since the 8 years or so since I took that class and left CCC, they started a new school wide policy.  No classes can be repeated unless you receive below a C-. That was new to me. After emailing all the schools to find out their expiration date policies for prerequisite classes, I'm pretty safe not retaking a class I already got an A in. But that alters my plans for the coming Fall and Spring semesters. There's no retaking Calculus I & II at CCC. I'll have to explore other community colleges if I want to take those, unless I can get permission.

So what to do? I signed up for Intro to Biotechnology. If things don't work out, I gotta prepare for a back up, and right now working in the biotechnology industry might be it.

SFSU Genetics Exam 2 Results

Ok, exam results in, and it's not good. I got a 62 on the exam. A 62!! Of all the thoughts that went through my head as I walked out that door, almost the wost case scenario happened. The big issue... problem number 1 which was worth 30 points.  

It was one of those problems that had multiple parts to it (5pts, 10pts, 10tps, and 5pts)  For some reason my mind couldn't just quite get the first step to the problem (figuring out the order between three genes) and that messed up my results for the rest of the problem. I changed my answer to one part losing me 5pts, missed a 10pts part, and only got half of the other 10pt part. Netting me only 5 points. (I do however think I should have gotten partial points because I did the calculations flawlessly, just with the wrong assumed order. I'll be going to my professor's office hours and discuss that.) Considering how much time I spent on problem 1 that took time away from reviewing a simple problem that I wanted to take a second look at, in total that simple mistake cost me anywhere from 20-30 points on this exam.

So where does that leave me? There are 400 points to the class. I got a 99 for Exam I + Bonus Quiz.. I have perfect attendance which should equal 50 points. I have my research paper on ALS turned in which can get me up to 50 points. With this 62 points, that's a total of 261 points of 300 taken so far, with 100 left to go.  Sort of.

Good news is that the professor is going to give us a take home exam. Open book, open notes, open people.  The score on this take home exam will be averaged with my lowest score. That means my 62 can turn into an 81. I need a 92% to get an A in the class.  So I have a 12 point window if I perfect the take home and the paper. Perfecting the paper is unlikely. I'm guessing 1 to 5 points taken away from that. If I can get some partial credit of 2 points on my Exam 2 raw score (netting me 1 point after averaging a perfect take home.) then that means I have an 8 point window for Exam 3.

That A is still possible, but I want it guaranteed.  I'll be going to my professor's office hours once a week from here on out.  I don't want a stupid brain fart to cripple my score again.  There will be no bonus quiz this time.  No take home exam.  Exam 3 is Exam 3 and that's it.

Pharm Tech License Finally Arrived!

Title says it all.  I'll write more later.  I've been up for 41 hours.  Time to sleep.