HOW I SURVIVED THE NOV-DEC 2018 DENTIST LICENSURE EXAM || PART 2: The Logistics of Review.
- Feb 2, 2019
- 5 min read
Every dentist's journey is beautiful. Yup, that's it. :) I'm a bit ashamed of actually talking about how extra my review logistics were. Now that I think about it, even the way I describe my review things-- as in, review logistics, is very extra in itself. THE PERFECT STUDY SPOT. I've always been quite particular about where I liked to study-- this is something I noticed as early as first year. This is quite comparable to Rory Gilmore's tree, or Sheldon Cooper's spot, but the difference between these fictional characters and me was that they knew exactly what made their spots perfect, while I simply relied on whether or not it felt right. Enter, the magical world of co-working spaces. Truth be told, I don't know how I should describe co-working spaces. Let's put it this way-- it's like a coffee shop in terms of tambay-potential, except that the coffee is free, and that the main product is your actual tambay space. Of course, I'm not talking about tambay as in chatting with your friends like you would at Starbucks-- the type of tambay you'd do at a co-working space is that of the productive kind, and if you're a board-bound student, this could only mean...
I've been following this Twitter account, @YourLawyerSays, and one day, he posted about studying somewhere, and tagging a place called PlugIt. I found out that it was close to where I was staying, and the next thing I knew, I was inside a tricycle on the way to Tolentino St., off to what had pretty much become my second home in Manila-- and no, second home is not an exaggeration. I had a pillow, a blanket, eating utensils, skin care stuff and a toothbrush inside my Plug-It locker. Whenever I wanted to study somewhere with near-absolute silence, PlugIt was easily my go-to place. Another co-working space I grew to love was 933 Co-Working. 933 has two branches-- the Main branch, and the Creatives branch. 933 Main has probably the most affordable rates ever, making it very attractive to younger students; while 933 Creatives has a slightly higher rate, so you're more likely to see Med students and Law students there, as opposed to the 933 Main. I don't know if there's any real correlation. That was just an observation. Oh, and 933 Creatives has in-house dogs you can play with.<3 I pretty much floated between PlugIt and 933. I can't say that I like one better than the other. It always depended on what I felt I needed on a certain day. Of course, PlugIt and 933 aren't the only co-working spaces around the area. My advice is to explore, until you find a place (or places) you love.
I have a mini-compilation of some of my Instagram stories from my study sessions at PlugIt and 933. Enjoy!
When I was in undergrad, I really liked going to the library to study. Had my university been closer to where I was reviewing, I probably would have done that. Studying at coffee shops (Starbucks!) wasn't that much of an option either, because it would get noisy at times due to their social nature, more so because of the location being U-belt. Cost was always a very big deciding factor. At a co-working space, I could spend as little as Php100 for 4 hours, and as much as Php300 for a whole day stay (this eventually turned into Php200 after having availed of Plug-It's discount for board exam takers), both with free coffee (and wifi); but at a busy coffee shop, I could easily spend Php260-280 in as little as 6 hours on beverages alone. While yes, studying out was of considerable financial strain, but I always made sure to maximize the return of investment (by studying well!). CREATING THE PERFECT STUDY SPACE-- AT "HOME"! I'm not gonna lie, there were times when my weekly budget would skew one way, and I didn't have enough to finance more study out sessions. I don't like studying in-- at all! I've always seen homes as resting environments where work simply does not belong, but when I had to, I had to be creative. I often had fresh flowers, I used pretty highlighters, I picked up cute sticky notes, I had an inspiring quote written in beautiful calligraphy, all among other things. I made sure I had a chair I liked (with back support!), and sometimes I even had essential oils burning somewhere. I was so extra, that even my coffee mugs and stirrer would be parallel to a specific esthetic-- and it was all because I was that adamant about creating a study space that I really liked.
I remember reading comments on Heart Evangelista's Instagram page. Somebody asked if her dining room set-up was always that elegant-looking, and she responded somewhere along the lines of how it would always look that way because of how much she likes making things pretty for her loved ones. I was heavily inspired to channel my love towards my studies. To the average reviewee, months would pass wherein your sole responsibility and your one and only job is to study, and it only follows that you should give it your all. Doing your best and making sacrifices is very daunting, but it's through love that things become worthwhile. By all means, love your studies, and make things pretty for what you love.
STUDY SUPPLIES. The things we prefer to study with can vary so much. Some people like to this, some people don't-- and that's perfectly okay! I once watched a YouTube video about how highlighting doesn't drastically improve information recall, but I still did it-- because it worked for me.
I loved using highlighters with thin nibs. I loved them so much that I even cut thick highlighters. My favorites were Sharpie and Titus highlighters, but I also made use of those by Zebra. NBSxJaninaVela mini highlighters were nice too, especially in times that I couldn't commit to a single highlighter color. Frixion highlighters were quite popular among my friends, especially for highlighting samplex questionnaires. I did a lot of textbook-based review for the board exams (literally the books used in undergrad). I started being really serious about the textbooks mid-September, and ended as soon as November rolled around. Since medical and dental books tend to be quite bulky, I knew that I had to use a book stand. There are so many book stands out there, that it's really difficult to recommend a certain brand, or even a certain type, but the one I used is wooden one I've had since first year (due to the influence of my then-roommates who were still Law students back then). There's no need to buy an expensive one, because as long as it can hold your books at a comfortable level, it'd be fine. I think if there's one thing I'd list as an essential, it would be a book stand. ROUTINES. I wanted to talk about my study scheduling and routines, but now that I think about it, my routines were so unorthodox (and might even come across as toxic to some), that it could easily take another 1000+ words to fully explain-- and now I've decided what PART 3 would be all about. ;)
Oh my goodness, I have so many feelings.
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