Sunday 28 December 2014
Road To MCAT
She Believed She Can, So She Did!
Are
you scared of bombing the ENTRY TEST? Do you get nervous just at the
thought of MCAT? Is this the only specter that haunts your way? Let’s be
honest, right off the bat and admit that studying for the MCAT is not
fun, especially when the stakes are so high. Obviously, if you want to
get in, you’ll have to put in the time and effort to excel on the MCAT!
But still UHS offers no assurance!
Okay let me share My Journey to Medicine, My Road to MCAT! A short story… From Failure to Success! From Rejection to Selection! From a Pre-Medical Student to a Medical student! A walk worth remembering! I experienced rejection; I experienced failure; but I didn’t let it go. And today when I look back, a year (being a Repeater) looks so lame in comparison with what I’ve been blessed with. Yes! Alhamdulillah I’m a Medical student, a RAWALIAN.
“Road to Medical life… A walk to remember”
“Doctors are not made, they are chosen”
MY JOURNEY!!
Okay!! I, like
many of you, since I was 4 or 5, started dreaming of becoming a DOCTOR.
May be it was due to the environment of our home which was so
educational or my Ideal Doctors, “Aappi” and “Bhae”; the graduates of
KEMU and RMC. Whenever I encountered the question, “Beta baray ho k kya
ban’na hy appny?” there was always an impulsive reply, “Doctor”… It was a
kind of reflex action to me. So that idea got deeply rooted in my mind
since I was very young… When I didn’t even know the meaning of the word
“Doctor” and it sowed the seeds in my mind. Then as I grew some older,
these seeds started ripening and burgeoning rapidly, with its roots
adamantly adhering to my every single thought, dreams, ideas and plans
regarding my future.. !!
Being a PRE-MEDICAL Student!!
Life went
really smoothly and school era came to an end… Everyone used to say
that, “College life is fun time of one’s life” but being a PRE-MEDICAL
student, you ought to have another thought coming. Life showed me that
it’s not a bed of roses at all… The result of 1st year board left me in a
dark valley of despair. In- spite of whole year’s night awakenings,
securing highest grades in each college assessment and my best
performance in each Exam; I made it up to 447 only! Yes, 447… the score
that is enough to make you stand no-where!
It was for the
very first time I experienced, “Expectations hurt more than anything”
This time I started getting tensed. I never have been that much
depressed as in this span of time. This was the time I started doubting
my future. I started making many different dreadful scenarios and
assumptions regarding my future. And it was probably my First Mistake.
Well, when you start doubting your own future then you are inviting many
evils of fears, despair, and hopelessness to build a castle in your
nerves, mind and soul. And they mess up all the things together; your
diligence, zeal, passion everything and keep you entangled in your own
web of doubts.
Then even after
2nd year exams, I wasn’t finding myself in any race among the other
Pre-Medical students, who scored brilliantly in their 1st year (my 2nd
mistake), but still getting best prepared for the Entry Test for it can
change all the game. Okay, 3 months passed; June, July, August and at
the very end of August came out our result. I scored 936 and I thought
it to be a respectable total … I don’t memorize any single day during
these months, in which I slept without calculating the required
aggregate. One thing I had learnt from the past, “Dream a little low so
it won’t screw you up afterwards”… So this time, I just thought that I
should score 950+ to be in a safe zone!!
MCAT 2013
The thing about
MCAT is that you study until you get Mental Hemorrhoids. There are
about 220 MCQ’s in the test but literally hundreds and hundreds of
concepts you have read in your Pre-medical classes. Nothing quite
strikes fear in the heart of Pre-medical student as the prospect of
taking the MCAT. This fear is not completely unwarranted... The MCAT is
the monster of a test … And in most cases it is the last hurdle along
the long path to the medical college… For this reason, there is a common
fear that all the hard work put during last two years can be all or
none if you crash and burn on the test day!! A lifetime of work can
come down to how well you perform on one day! This is an irrational
fear. There is no reason to assume that if you have worked and studied
hard and performed well in FSC that all; that‘ll leave you on test day.
If u did reasonably well in FSC and prepared for the Test you should do
well but what “If?” ‘What if ‘If’s’ will drive you crazy?? Well there is
no remedy available!
Ok, then came
the DOOMS DAY… Yes, the Entry Test Day 22nd of September, 2013… I was in
the best of my spirits. Started with Biology! When I reached half of
the MCQ’s, I felt like I’m attempting all of the questions and not
leaving a single which is probably not a good thing. Negative Marking is
there so I need to be a little more cautious... So, I started skipping
the questions in which I was doubtful even a percent or less… And that
pattern proceeded in Physics and Chemistry as well… So, it resulted in
skipping of 20 questions altogether… I was left with a total of 1000
marks only...
I was extremely
tensed during test hours that I marked the easiest of the questions
incorrectly! Yes, I marked ‘C’ instead of ‘B’ and ‘B’ instead of ‘C’ on
my response form in almost 10 of the questions (the biggest blunder one
can ever make!) And when I came to know about this all, it was quite
late! So, the questions that I deemed to be correct were incorrect in
actual!
I also felt
badly the need for word to word RATTA (I would have made) for Biology as
even the simple things were mixing that time. There were hardly 3-4
questions incorrect in Physics and Chemistry’s Section. I performed well
in English as well but Biology; most of the questions I skipped from
this section and most of the incorrect ones also in the same section!
Result came as No Shocking News! 879/1100 with an aggregate % of
83.3052%... And I was left with no other option than to repeat and waste
a year because it was not possible for me to let go of my Dream I
dwelled in, for the lifetime! So, it was a requisite of time to give
Myself another chance!!
Year 2014!!! (Being a Repeater)
Medical + Stethoscope + White Overall = A Shattered Dream!
Well, I will
never ever forgive you 2013! For many of my tears :’( … This was the
time when I found myself in the middle of no-where… Friends getting
prepared for the New Era of Life; Medical life! Thrill, fun, excitement …
And *Le me with FSC books again in hand revising for the 47th time!
Well, it’s really heartrending when you find yourself lagging behind the
people that were there with you yesterday. They all took a leap and you
still creeping like a snail :@. When you are a REPEATER, you are not
sure about your new energy, but you know that you are in a risky
situation. There is a chance that you may even succeed in a venture
where others before you failed. Situations have an unfortunate tendency
to be difficult for you. I told myself daily that your OPTIMISM ought
not to be changed no matter what!! Just make sure that the battle you
fight today is yours. There may be a great deal of tension in the air
that might behoove you to stay detached from the war that’s apt to
ensue. One explanation could be rattled ‘Confidence’. Why you doubt
yourself right now?? You need to give yourself a long look in the
MIRROR! Remind yourself that you can’t stop moving forward just because
you haven’t made it last time!!
Well, I haven’t
found books hateful, as during this span of time. Yes, I hated them… I
used to look at them as if someone’s old love for which one has
surrendered everything and that love has ruined it completely!! During
the start of this year, for many a days, I didn’t find courage to face
these books again… I never have hated STUDYING but I was just sick of
these FSC BOOKS! What I wanted is some new start! Some new books! Some
new ME! But everything was OLD; monatomic, but NO I was change!!… I had
more the riches of tensions, worries, depressions, and fears ahead!
But wait!! I
had two options from there onward… 1st was, I let that DEFEAT define ME;
or the 2nd one, I let it STRENGHTHEN me… and I chose the 2nd one …
Well, I won’t say that I was a kind of OPTIMISTIC being. There were many
sleepless nights during this whole year… The persistent condition of my
eyes these day; swelled up, burning red and pearls sparkling all the
time (yes, the tears). I was of the view these days that I‘m the most
UNLUCKY being ever born on this planet. Honestly to tell you, I lost the
hope of a percent or even less that I, Yes I can get in to a Medical
college and Government!! Uff, no wake up DEAR!!
But someone
said to me, “Okay! If we suppose that you are UNLUCKY, as you say; so
why you are still relying on your luck… Stop leaning on the luck for
even a percent. Just raise your HARD WORK to 100% ... No space for the
LUCK to matter. Some people write down their FUTURE with their own
hands… So, let yourself be added among that queue of people, The
DETERMINED ones though unlucky!!
Okay, now the
1st question was! Should I need to improve my FSC score! This thing as
we all know that improvement of 10-15 marks can’t make a huge difference
to your Aggregate. What matters most is how well you perform in your
ENTRY TEST… Okay one thing to tell you, I was a Pre-MEDICAL student and I
used to dislike BIOLOGY more than any other subject (even Pak.
Studies). So, what I needed to do is to improve my Biology. (And today
Bio is LOVE) So, I decided to appear in BIO-2 again!!
Some days, I
got up and realized that I’m in the middle of NOWHERE… I have nothing to
do but STUDYING and go to bed with the same thing planned for next many
of the months. The only thing surrounding me these days was the
prevalent Darkness!! I just looked for the light at the end of the
tunnel, it’s there. And what I need to do is to surpass this tunnel
successfully. I deactivated Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook everything…
I started with
BIOLOGY first. I didn’t follow the UHS syllabus as I wasn’t in a
position to take the risk for even a single MCQ in this section
(Although I skipped some of the Topics from 1st year Bio that included
the Botany stuff (plants related portion)i.e. I skipped most of the
PLANTAE and also Ch-14’s starting part and the Kingdom Protoctista.
From Bio-2 one can skip Ch-19 and 26 as well!) ... I used to read each
line word to word again and again till these words got engraved to the
bottom of my mind (with special emphasis on the blue blocks and
diagram’s descriptions). For Biology, one needs to lick up the whole
book word to word and bits by bits! I revised the Biology for 3 months
and by the end of these months, Bio was on finger tips... I wasn’t
oblivious of other subjects as well.
I started
ENGLISH side by side. I estimated. Okay! If I revise 10 words of English
vocab daily then I will revise the whole vocabulary in almost 872/ 10 =
87.2 days, Ok let it be 90 days, means time span of 3 months. So, at
the very end of these 3 months I chewed up whole vocab thoroughly and
also done with Bio completely… (For Vocabulary I consulted KIPS English
book edition 2013, I think it’s best for vocabulary. No need to search
for the meanings yourself; there are many good books for this purpose,
consult them!)
Then I began
with PHYSICS. I followed the UHS prescribed syllabus for Physics (that
included all the topics both before and after the UHS Topics. And all
the stuff I found in relation with UHS topics including books of 9th and
10th as well)… What you need to do for ‘Physics’ is, make a register
and compile each and every thing you found in correspondence with a
topic (Unit Vise) with special emphasis on Formulas, Units, Graphs and
Definitions (you may take help from the books of 9th and 10th as well
for the topics like Centre of Gravity, Ultra-Sonics and its uses,
Audible frequency range, Defects of Vision i.e. Long/Short sightedness
etc). For once this register has been made; you can revise whole Physics
in just a couple of days (no restriction, you can take even more). No
need to overwork yourself with Exercise’s lengthy Numerical, just keep
revising the Chapter’s Examples and revise them too often that just by
seeing the statement you remind both the Formula and the Answer (but not
to rely on that answer as values may be changed this time). Okay, it
almost took two weeks in compiling all the physics stuff in a register
and revising it.
Last but not
the least!! Yes, CHEMISTRY .Well you can’t think of skipping even a
single topic from 1st year Chemistry because UHS is really shrewd in the
sense that they picked up the TOPICS for which you need to go through
the whole chapter thoroughly (May be u won’t find all the topics related
as everyone has a different perspective and I’m just telling mine! But I
think it’s good to be safe). Many of the topics from UHS syllabus may
seem to be not in our FSC books but actually they are except a few! So
it’s better to Google them instead of panicking yourself. Then CHEM -2, I
did only the UHS topics for INORGANIC Chemistry (feel free to prepare
only the specified topics and act as if no other topic other than them,
is there in your book) But for ORGANIC Chemistry, you need to go through
all the related topics as well (And that depends on you what you find
in relation with a topic e.g. for Electrophiles and Nucleophiles one
needs to go through all the reactions of the book related to
Electrophiles/ Nucleophiles substitution and elimination whether they
are individually included or not.
P.S that’s only what I think!). So I was done with all the subjects thoroughly in almost 5 months…
P.S that’s only what I think!). So I was done with all the subjects thoroughly in almost 5 months…
I also made it
my routine to revise English vocab side by side with every subject as
there was a chance of mixing up the MASSIVE VOCABULARY. I used to revise
50 words daily, after I had revised the vocab for the 1st time (10
words per day). Then when the whole vocab was revised for the 2nd time, I
used to revise 100 words per day. (And these words to be revised 3-4
times per day as well, it was like a routine diet for me that’s intake
is somewhat compulsory!) So when I was done with whole vocab for 3
times thoroughly then I used to revise whole vocab daily and marked the
words that still needed to be revised. And then revised these mixing
words for many a times And YES!! I was sure about these 872 words!!
For English
Grammar, I have gone through all the Parts of Speech thoroughly and the
whole grammar stuff (that I think every good grammar contain) from all
the Grammar books I had a collection of! (Long list=D) (I think a single
comprehensive reading (or twice) is just enough, if you are already
good in English; which I suppose I was not) But the major contribution
in this regard was of WREN & MARTIN. There is nothing like you need
to memorize anything, just make sure you are good in Tenses, the usage
of prepositions, relative pronoun; correct form of verb; sentence
completion and most importantly you are good in locating the faulty part
of a sentence (Mostly, when I read a sentence, my eyes sees only the
faulty portion of it just on one glance, even though I didn’t make out
the flaw sometimes but I was able to locate it and that’s what needed
for the Test)
Let me tell you
one other thing that might prove helpful for you… Each time, when I was
going to revise any chapter, I used to mention the respective DATE on
the very 1st page of that chapter, so it was a way of knowing; how many
times the chapter have got revised! … And I gained so much confidence
while during last revision of the books; I wasn’t finding any little
space to mention the corresponding date!!
One other
thing, try to memorize the things that mix up with the help of
MNEMONICS. It’ll be really helpful. I used to make my own key words,
little mnemonics (though silly =D) and by this I was able to memorize
the gigantic tables as well. I used to search for Mnemonics on Wikipedia
as well especially for Chemistry (like Electrochemical Series,
Electronegativity values, and M.P/B.P trends etc)… For electrochemical
series our Sir at KIPS told us a funny mnemonic and because of it whole
series is just on my finger tips even today. “Lt. (Lithium) Pervaiz
(Potassium) could (Calcium) still (Sodium) marry (Magnesium) a
(Aluminum) zoya (Zinc) in (Iron) the (Tin) lovely (Lead) house
(Hydrogen) causing (Copper) strangers (Silver) many (Mercury) gazes
(Gold) =D”
Okay!! By the
end of these 5 months, the HSSC-2 board exams were also about to finish…
So, next question arise! ‘Should I need to prepare at home’ OR ‘join
any academy??’ Last year, I joined ‘KIPS Academy’. The way KIPS taught
us to tackle the dreadful monster, Yes! TIME MANAGEMENT during test
hours is commendable. And most importantly, the way they revise the UHS
Syllabus as if there was nothing really difficult in it!! Were there
anything? So, the major reason to join any Academy this year was that I
needed to evaluate myself. So, I joined ‘THE SCHOLARS ACADEMY’. It’s the
Scholars Academy that is responsible for again building CONFIDENCE in
me. They made me believe again that Yes You Can Do It! You deserve it!
You’ll get it! They made me Dream again, think again, fly again, be
passionate again! Our Sir once said to me, ‘’beta you are born to be a
DOCTOR and we can see it while you doubt! Ups and Downs are the part of
one’s life but it’s no reason to stop moving ahead’’
New Soul, New Spirits and New Determination!
When you are a
Repeater, you are the most pessimists these days. What you need the
most, is someone that stand by your side, just assuring you each day
that ‘You Have To Do it because you CAN do it!! The one that believes
in you so much that you start to believe in yourself too!
New confidence, New Chapters of Hopes and Prayers!
When there
remained time span of 2 months for the Entry Test day, I revised the
Books by the following pattern… Okay I have 6 books to revise and 2
months!
A schedule to revise 6 books for 5 times, in 63 days with ease! (Two months aprox)
- 1st revision:- One-fourth book daily (1/4) = 24 days
- 2nd revision:- One-third book daily (1/3) = 18 days
- 3rd revision:- Half book daily = 12 days
- 4th revision:- One book daily = 6 days
- 5th revision:- One subject daily = 3 days
ENTRY TEST 2014!!
Okay then came
the ENTRY TEST DAY, 31st August 2014. I have never found myself so much
calm and relaxed as during this test. It was probably the 1st exam of my
life (except during childhood) in which I finally left my books at 9pm
(for many a times it may take till 4am to summon the courage). This was
the 1st time, I finally realized that it’s not the revision of the same
books over and over again that can give you satisfaction; as the
Prayers, the Dua’s, and the time spent with ALLAH Honestly to tell
you, I have always prayed in haste so that I may find a little time more
to revise the books once again but still unease, still anxiety, still
nervousness, still un-satisfaction apart of the revision of books for
many a times.
I had a strong
Belief on Allah and Myself! that YES, this is the Test that is in
between ME and MEDICAL Insha’Allah As I started with the test, it
seemed me like there is some Devine help with me that helped me in not
getting tensed or to panic myself. First I attempted the ENGLISH
synonyms, I knew them all and I felt really boastful because these were
the solid 50 marks I was sure about from the 872 vocabulary words I kept
revising days and nights. Then began with BIOLOGY, this was the portion
in which I couldn’t afford a single mistake as I have revised the
Biology more than any other subject! (Still I lost some of the marks
here) I was done with BIO till 9:40am. Then began with CHEMISTRY,
completed it till 10:20am. I was done with the two major portions of the
test and left with 44 questions of PHYSICS and 20 remaining from
ENGLISH and 70 minutes. I completed PHYSICS till 11:00am and ENGLISH in
next 10 minutes and I was left with 20 minutes even then! So, I just
looked at my response form as if how many left un-attempted, there were 3
of them. As I was strongly advised by my Teachers and siblings, not to
skip even a single MCQ this time, so I just made educated guesses (if u
can’t make a choice then just make an educated guess). Then I spent the
remaining time praying to ALLAH!
‘‘Allah
Almighty, the most merciful! I don’t know what’s best for me but YOU
know the best! I just find it difficult at my side to even imagine
myself not as a DOCTOR. I find it really hard to smash the Castle I
dwelled in with my own hands. But Insha’Allah I’ll be contended with
Your Decision for Me because it’ll be the best IA ’’ And yes, I was
finally satisfied with my performance!
Okay, one thing
I didn’t tell about yet!! Yes, My TARGET this year. Actually, I
happened to go through a document quite often this year, ‘ROAD TO MCAT
2012’. It was a Ray of Hope for me! So I used to assume myself in every
single line, each word, and every single thought of it. So I also used
to estimate… My EXPECTATION last year; emm 950... REALITY; 879… Means
difference of 71 marks… So if this year let my Target be 1100 and if
difference would remain the same i.e. 71 then I need to score 1100-71=
1029. What? ‘1-0-2-9’ Oh My…. So consciously or unconsciously I started
praying for a score of 1029 in Entry Test. Neither a single less; nor
more… just 1029! So my target was to score 1100 and Expectation; 1029!
(71 less…=D)
Well! Result
came within a week and I scored 986 ALHAMDULILAH with an aggregate
percentage of 88.5325%. So the difference between my expected score and
the Reality was 43 in fact .
What you need to do!!
There is no
need to feel regret or shame about the things that have happened in the
past. Turn negative experiences into lessons!! You have plenty of free
energy. Now is a good time to make plans and to get involved in your
commitments. Your vitality doesn’t have any boundaries. You’ll be amazed
at how much you can handle when there’s an end in sight. Your whole
attitude lightens, so take the bull by the horns and create your own
incentives. If you never go after what you want, you’ll never have it!!
Just remind
yourself that He is watching! Your efforts, your deeds, your patience!!
Remind yourself of how good it would feel to have it all one day. Don’t
let go. Don’t give up!!
“Some
childhood dreams are so intense that they penetrate deep down; in your
nerves, mind and soul! And build a Castle with solid concrete there…
Dreams are the wishes that heart makes! No matter how hard you try, you
can’t get rid of them! So you decide either to gain courage to demolish
it with your own hands or proving yourself capable of dwelling in that
castle” (My daily diary)
I began to
realize, how important it was to be Enthusiast in life. If you are
interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it with full speed
ahead! Embrace it with both arms, love it and above all; become
PASSIONATE about it!
Turn to the sun, and the shadow will fall behind you!!
Your engine is
oiled up and ready to go. Put yourself in high gear and don’t let
anything stand in your way. Never again are you going to walk out of an
exam saying, ‘’I studied forever and really felt that I knew the
material but this bad grade is not a reflection of my Efforts and my
Knowledge”
Today you may
satisfy yourself with options like D-pharmacy, DPT, DVM or BS in any
related field but one thing to tell you, there can be literally no
SUBSTITUTE for MBBS/ BDS and if you have got another chance as a
Repeater, Don’t Waste It! Very few people are lucky to have a second
chance. So, consider yourself LUCKY and if you are really passionate,
the STETHOSCOPE will be yours as a DOCTOR in near future Insha’Allah.
Allow your PASSION to become your PURPOSE and it’ll one day become your
PROFESSION!! IA
Few lines from my Diary, 2013!
“Dear
STETHOSCOPE! Don’t know whether you are made for me or not… But I’ll
make you MINE one day with the will of ALLAH IA, for you have been in
every single line and every thought of my Existence and I won’t give up
on you whether the sky gets rough!”
‘This road is thorny still I smell roses’
One Poem I have composed last year and I would like to share it with you fellows!!
May be it can
become a source for Someone, Somewhere; to keep going, keep struggling,
and reaching to his/her PASSION and DESTINY one day!! May be yours, Yes
you reading!
When Darkness seems the only Way,
Find your way in that way,
With flame of Diligence lightning your way!!
When Despondency seems the only refuge,
Don’t let yourself engulf in that deluge!!
Reside instead in the Castle of your Dreams,
Be a bird of HOPE, instead of DESPAIR!!
Life is GOOD if it’s still UNFAIR,
Believe you can, and you are halfway there!!
BEST OF LUCK!
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