Paramedics Week 11: survived! & other things that happened this week

Week 11 felt like the calm before the storm. Exams are close, but we can't quite smell them yet. No major pieces of assessment were handed in or given back so the reality of grades was not thrust at us for a few moments. 

I'm trying to get my head around the amount of rote learning I will have to do to prepare for these exams. Rote learning and I have been enemies in the past. I find it boring. I don't like that it doesn't require any analysis and that basically anyone with the most basic level of intellect is capable of it.

At school that meant that I didn't bother to do it. Early on in high school I didn't do it because I didn't need to. I have decent memory and general knowledge and that was enough to do well without doing any work. Once things like languages came into the equation, I dropped them as soon as I could.

The only thing rote learning requires is the willingness and time to do it. I keep trying to remind myself that I will be really pissed off if someone with less raw intellect than me does better in the exam just because they were bothered to put in the work and I wasn't. I don't mean this to demean other people and the less intelligent people I refer to are entirely figurative. What I'm trying to do is use my ego and pride as motivation.

Probably the most enjoyable thing I did this week was watch the end of my brother's footy match. I was coming home from Frankston on Friday and I knew his team was playing against another team from his school at school on Friday afternoon. I also didn't know whether someone was going to pick him up or whether he'd just take the train home. I decided to exit the Monash Freeway one exit later and have a little look.

The boys in my brother's team, Alex in particular, had been talking up the clash all week and it drew quite a respectable crowd. I only saw the last quarter and a half, but Alex played well and his team won. There was a serious amount of 16-18 year old pubescent boy pride on the line, which was hilarious to watch. The victory celebration involved a chant that left Alex hoarse for a day and the boys chairing their coach off the ground.

Seeing my brother in his natural habitat without him knowing I was there was interesting too.  As it turned out Dad was there, so Alex got to chose his chauffeur (he chose me, not that that's important). It has been a little while since I was in an environment full of teenage boys and was reminded of the rowdy, smelly, energetic and vibrant creatures they are.

The other highlight of this week happened at work of all places. On Saturday I served one of the most aesthetically delectable guys I've laid eyes on in a long time. He was tall, tanned with sandy light brown hair and had mysterious dark blue eyes. His arms were very toned (good musculature, but not freakishly ham-like body builder big) and he had a very charming smile. Thankfully I managed to maintain control over my vocabulary throughout the transaction. I ought to be ashamed of my superficiality.

I have my "special needs" placement tomorrow at the Berendale School, a high school for intellectually disabled children. I had my induction a couple of months ago. I'm a little bit nervous but I think it'll be a really valuable experience.