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Another language entirely

This week is the second week of finals, and I have two more to go. Thursday's is my Herbs II final, and I expect it to be a bear. Friday is Public Health and Epidemiology, and I expect it to be full of facts but manageable.

The PH and Epi final has one thing over the Herbs II final in that it's all English, or mostly even though public health jargon is replete with acronyms, as one would expect from an area that deals with many government departments.

But this Herbs final is going to take some finessing to manage. See we learn herbs with both their Pin Yin name (ie Chen Xiang) and their Latin name (Aquilariae Lignum resinatum). And then we learn about 20 details about each, and then we learn to distinguish between herbs in categories, ie which one is best for which condition but still good for other conditions, and so on. This semester we've learned 121 herbs in 17 categories.

So far I've completed the study guide/take home quiz that our prof provided us. I feel good about things when they're in front of me, but sometimes when the exam is placed on my desk I go 'poof!' and everything I know disappears for a bit...until bits of it return, though I'm finding some it stays just out of reach until my drive home, or until my morning shower, or until some such moment where it's so not required but decides to percolate up and say, "hi there, just wanted you to know this data is secure in your brain..secure but not accessible when you need/desire it...ha!".....

I am now about to review the material since the midterm, along with all quizzes.

It's weird being so damned old and worrying about exam scores and strategizing effective study methods and toting around a backpack.

Weird is ok, but some days I do wonder if choosing the path more traveled, maybe amping up my old career with some attitude and renewed focus might not have been the most terrible choice.

Oh, wait, judging by the clench in my belly at the prospect of continuing along the high-pressure, endless moving target path of marketing and PR work for high-tech companies? That clench tells me I am definitely exactly where I need to be.

Now where is my highlighter?

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