Physics state of mind!

So I took an MCAT Physics exam on Thursday and scored an "8". And given that I hadn't review anything before hand, that's not a bad score.

For my in depth review, I'm using the book Conceptual Physics along with the solutions manual that accompanies it, and I still believe this is the best physics book I've ever come across. And when you've taken physics at 3 different universities which includes an online review, it gives you a little background for making a judgment call about good physics text books. Now I should mention that this book is NOT heavily math based at all, but it's the theory that's proven more challenging for me, so this book works. And I have to admit that I’m really, really enjoying Physics this time around while giving ALL credit for this new attitude to the MCAT tutoring I do on the side.

Other rather surprising news is that after months of rarely getting leads about local positions, I’ve now got more than a few to consider AFTER we’ve made the decision to leave. URGH!! And I haven’t changed my mind about moving one bit, but I may consider adjusting the timeline. The biggest players in this decision to relocate after 13 years of living in metro DC is a combo of the fact that my kid can get her exact engineering major at this school (which is only offered at about 20 schools in the US), and I’ll have access to both allopathic and osteopathic medical schools. And the combo of osteopathic and allopathic schools is important because as I’m now in my late 40’s, I’m VERY concerned about my chances at an allopathic school. But what I’m not concerned about is getting accepted somewhere…………… eventually.

Other things going on in my life right now is that I’m still working on my business plan and website, though now I need to think about whether or not I want to wait to register it in my new home state or register it here then transfer which isn’t an inexpensive proposition. I can say that this is probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done because I’m sooooo far outside my comfort zone.

The last thing I really needed to do right now was place an “order” on my career/educational priorities and that was no easy task. As it stands now, the order is this:

1) Continue to review Physics for both MCAT and business reasons for the remainder of April and May 2013.
2) Take the certification exam for Histology in June 2013, which if I can secure a hospital based lab position, will make it easier for me to transition into a paid health informatics position.
3) MCAT subject area reviews will be one month on each of the remaining subjects after physics in May, including Bio, Orgo, and Chem. I’ll study Chemistry last since that’s my strongest area for an exam date in September.
4) Continue working on courses for Health/Bioinformatics certificate throughout the summer.

As for moving, that’s probably on hold until at least August 2013 because my kid was selected to be an engineering intern with a major local group. This means that she’ll miss an engineering honors program being offered in the new state (which I’m thrilled to say is strongly recruiting her to their undergrad program), but that’s okay, because I’ve learned the hard way that having a great plan ONLY works when it’s timed right!

At any rate, this post has me in an empire state of mind: