Stethoscopes and Armbars: Finished CV and the In-House Tournament

I had quite the revelation last week at about hour 6 of day 3 into my study marathon … it becomes much easier to do something when you enjoy it! That seems obvious. However, all of a sudden I looked at my watch and I had been at the library for 6 hours without realizing it. I really poured myself into studying - I was happy, I was learning a lot, and I ended up doing well on the exam – but more importantly I actually really understood and could apply the material. That was sort of huge for me and I’m excited to continue my new-found study happiness throughout the respiratory and nervous systems!

My hard work during the week was rewarded with an in-house tournament on Saturday at our academy. It was run so smoothly and efficiently and I felt like it was over in the blink of an eye! The best thing about it was it was another chance to learn to control that adrenaline surge that comes with competing. I am no stranger to being “on stage” or competing – I was a dancer for 16 years, I played soccer and I ran track (I once even had a 100m hurdle run-off with one other girl at districts. Scary!) I am also plenty used to embarrassment – I have fallen in several different track meets, I knocked myself unconscious when I fell backwards during pole vault, I had my fair share of “whiffs” during soccer, and I almost fell off stage a couple of times. There’s just something entirely different about a BJJ competition though that scares me more than any of that. And anyone who witnessed my first BJJ tournament can attest to the nerves I fell prey to (let’s just say a dead bug probably moved more than I did – embarrassing, I know).

Anyways, this time went much better. I, of course, still had excess amounts of adrenaline pumping through my body (for my medschool friends, epinephrine or that adrenergic agonist!) but one of my teammates told me to take deep breaths. [Side rant here… I know I’ve said plenty of times how much I love my team but they really are AWESOME. Here’s this scared little whitebelt and they all calmed me down, cheered me on, and were so proud when I won. It’s because of them that I felt confident and was able to do what they’ve all worked with me on!] There’s something so magical about jiu jitsu that you learn at tournaments – that sweep that you can’t catch on your teammates – it actually does work! It’s quite cool. Plus I learned what I need to work on, which is really good.

So after a fun filled weekend of jiu jitsu and spending time with my family, we’re right back into it. This is going to be a very busy month! We have our next exam on March 8 on over 500 pages of notes (with 6 slides per page) and the very next day I will be competing in the Chicago open. So every day is going to be school, jiu jitsu, sleep, repeat. But I’m really excited for the challenge! And I’m hoping that between now and then I can figure out how to deal with all those adrenaline effects (maybe I should get a beta-blocker?).

AND… BONUS! My Hyperfly gi came in this weekend (: Can’t wait to wear it in Chicago! (for those of you keeping track, that is in fact 4 gis… yes. I have a problem.)

Mia Hamm (one of my favorite athletes) once said…

“If you don’t love what you do you won’t do it with much conviction or passion”.

It’s a really good thing I love medicine and I love BJJ!

OSS.