Going back to school was probably one of the best decisions of my life. I don't know if it's because of the people I've met the past four months or because it's postponing entering the real world. Either way, life is really good right now.
The semester started off with the boat cruise. I was seasick the whole night, but it was still a lot of fun.
Even though we all have the same classes, our program is divided into 5 different lab groups. We didn't have a chance to get to know each other until that night.
This is the gamma camera. Probably the most expensive camera I will ever get my hands on. This is also the basis of my program and what I will be using for the rest of my life if I choose to stick with this career. I'm all smiles in these pictures, but to be honest, I hate using that dual head camera. We have older models that are far less complicated and I prefer to use those machines. I'm old school like that. During labs, we all fight to play with the wheelchair and walker. Our professors also head to the wheelchair the second they enter the room. Also note the dummies that we have to work with. They wear socks and shoes too and scare the shit out of me.
Working in the hot lab used to scare me, but I've gotten used to having the radioactive symbol being on everything. I've only gotten contaminated once and it was only on my lab coat. Classmates have gotten their skin contaminated and were forced to wear gloves for 6 hours (!!!).
This is Brian. Our Radiopharmacy prof. Probably my favourite instructor of the semester. He was our toughest professor and very intimidating, but I know he just wants us to succeed. His class was every Thursday and Friday at 3 to 5. He knows how tired we are at the end of the week, so he would bring us food every class to help keep us awake. Note the wrappers on my desk. We decided to repay him by making a Brian cookie.
Our next big class outing was this one. This night started our weekly tradition. We'd all meet in the lobby after Radiopharm and walk to some restaurant for dinner, pre-drink in Schatz hall, and then end up at a bar. This happened pretty much every week until the end of the semester! During this particular night, we ended up at the Madison for dinner, pool, and darts, and then migrated over to the Fox and the Fiddle for some karaoke.
You guys have probably heard me talk about Melanie. She's pretty much my soulmate. We instantly hit it off. We both have odd last names, are very white-washed, have VERY similar backgrounds in terms of schooling, family, and friends. We get the EXACT same marks in every class and even own the same cell phone. Our classmates still get us mixed up sometimes. This was one of our many impromptu dates at the park.
Dinner at Casey's followed by drunkenness at Bar 244 (our favourite hangout). Cheap drinks and a dancefloor is all we need.
Mel's birthday happened around this time too. Stone's Place is where we ended up. Reminded me of a much larger Doogie's and the HBF MUST hit this place (no photos because I was really sloppy that night).
We had a pumpkin carving contest at school. My group won second place. Well, THEY won second place. I didn't touch the pumpkin at all. I just put my origami skills into making the hat, the beard, and Zero.
Halloween. Nuc med got VERY sloppy. Free drinks from the school and $1 pizza slices. We ended up at Bar 244 again that night.
Henry, Rosa, and Anna's convocation. Kelvin picked us up and I got to ride shotgun in his Mini Cooper! We met up for some photos and then Eiko took me on a tour of UC photographed above. Reminds me of Hogwarts!
Then we went for wings. We demolished 8 pounds of wings plus sweet potato fries and salad between the 5 of us. Gross, I know.
My birthday at the Old Sphaghetti Factory. My WHOLE program showed up minus 5 people. It was a wonderful evening. Spumoni!
Games night 1 and 2 also happened around this time each ending up at Bar 244.
The week after was Alisha's birthday at the Crooked Cue. It was at a pool hall in Mississauga and I got to meet the brown version of Tiago.
The weekend after was Anny's birthday at a karaoke bar. They served us unlimited amounts of Soho with tea! I spent the night at Calvin's HUGE house and he drove us back in his Lexus. (I'm not jealous at all...)
The Asian Scale.
This takes us to the last weekend of the semester before exams.
Brian hosted a potluck for us and set up karaoke. That cake up photographed above is a cheesecake ice cream cake. It will bring you to tears. Mel and I ate about half of it and then serenaded our class with Careless Whisper.
Apparently the end of classes means that we can run along the window ledge and get drunk playing Monopoly in Schatz Hall. We ended up at Bar 244 once again.
After exams, we exchanged our presents for Secret Santa, ate at Fran's, and then partied one last time in Schatz Hall with the Rad techs. If that's not Interprofessional Collaboration, I don't know what is!
Food baby is really evident in the last photo. This is what I get for eating out once or twice a week for a whole semester.
Class photo.
I love that we're all super close and get along really well. Since the semester has ended, I've seen Black Swan with Mel, skated at Nathan Phillips Square, partied at some lounge 5 minutes from my place, and had several meals with the usual gang. We can't get enough of each other apparently.
I'm also going to start up another Project 365 for 2011. It's far easier updating that way.
Bonus:
My new boots. My average is over 90% (!!!) for the very first time in my life, so I decided to buy these for myself.
