I elected to not listen to the gypsum stone lecture today and consequently had a decision to make. Enrich my mind with some Pathology or sully your mind with an update. Unfortunately for you I don’t make good decisions.
School has been a possessive creature that has deprived me of what I love doing. Writing. In undergrad, it helped relieved stress and probably saved lives. In dental school, I’ve found running to be a great stress relief. That and crying. Nothing quite like purifying one’s soul by alleviating stress through tear ducts. Actually I have never cried in my life. I have seen puppies die, watched Bambi once or twice, unintentionally seen an old man naked at the gym and many other sad, sad things. Never once shed a tear.
One time an old, Asian man stopped me on the street to give me counsel. Typically known to be wise men, I humored him despite my surprise. He described the virtues of crying and how it is an excellent emotional release. He began citing statistical values of how crying is positively correlated with reduced rates of heart attacks, stroke and many other pernicious medical maladies. When he had finished, I mulled over his words as I watched his white beard dance in the wind. I weighed the value of his words for a minute longer then uppercutted him as hard as I could. Silly fool giving me unsolicited advice. Crying is for everyone else. I’m too manly and I won’t apologize.
Anyway, one year down and many thousands of dollars later I can say that I have learned a lot. I still don’t know crap about dentistry though. I’m excited for third year when we start working on live patients. I may cry then.