I am a 3rd year pre-med student and I think I am finally getting a handle on how to deal with college. From my experience as a pre-med student, albeit short, I’ve noticed that we have (debatably) the hardest workload amongst college students. You know, tons of high-level science courses, MCAT studying, work, volunteering and shadowing, and not to mention trying to fit in a social life and workout regimen. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed…

and I know that feeling all too well. My first year at university was rough. I felt overwhelmed all of the time and my grades suffered. By the middle of my second year I was getting a handle on it. Stress relief is very important, for me it was through running. The running allows my mind to be free while detoxifying the brain to let it function at a higher level (Medina, 2014, pg. 29).

It was always a dream for me to finish a marathon. To be able to run a distance that killed the first person to do it, sounds pretty insane, right? Well I figured that it would always be a dream until I made myself a plan. So I got the plan and my dream suddenly became attainable. The dream became a goal. Long story short over the summer I trained for it and 3 days after junior year started, I ran and completed the Bellingham Bay Marathon. My first great achievement was completed, now I look towards the next dream.

The MCAT is an intimidating test. 7 Hours for a number that may or may not get you into the school of your dreams. Hundreds of hours of studying are recommended and an incredible amount of material is tested. To me that sounds like the marathon of tests. We dream of a 528, or even a 510. How can a score like that be achieved? In the same way that I ran my first marathon. First, you need a plan of attack, and then you put the plan into play.
I’ve found that when you have a plan to follow, the stress diminishes. You no longer have to worry about what you’re going to do or how you’re going to do it, you just have to buckle down and do it. I parallel the marathon and MCAT for this reason. Running your first marathon without a training plan would make the task extremely difficult. Taking this test without a plan may also lead to unfortunate results. Whether it be through an in-person class, self-paced program, or online course, I believe that it is smart to participate in one of these. I plan to utilize these resources in order to put myself in the best position to succeed.
June 30th is my test date. I can already see that the road ahead of me is going to be tough and I know that running will help me get through.  Hope that my posts can be a source of motivation and a good resource for the awesome pre-med students out there.

-Nate Wilks, Western Washington University

Contact: [email protected]
Twitter: natewilks22

References
Medina, J. (2014). Brain Rules. Seattle, WA: Pear Press