“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” - Mark Twain

Did you know that no two snowflakes alike? Snowflakes are made up of so many molecules it's unlikely any two are even exactly the same size. Each snowflake is exposed to slightly different conditions, so that even if you started with two identical crystals they wouldn't be the same by the time they reached the surface.

Are you taking precautions? This season many people are getting sick. A few weeks ago, I felt like I was hit by a truck. Joint pain, coughs, fevers, alternating chills and fever, no appetite, lethargic. So, I made my way to a convenient care site and was swabbed positive with the flu.

Life is like a roller coaster of ups and downs. First, it goes up climb-by-climb, step-by-step and just at the peak of the ride, you can look at it two ways: we either free fall and enjoy the ride, or hang on for dear life!

As I walk on campus making footprints in the snow, I look around and notice that
it will be the last of my winters at National before spring trimester and graduation.
My prints will melt when the weather turns nice, but I know I made pretty good memories for myself, and many will remember who I am. I am still amazed that in three more months I will be graduating from National! It is a school that has grown to be my second home…with professors and peers alike who turned into love/hate relationships. (Come on, we can be honest that we do have that in our own household)! There are ups and there are downs, but coming to a school that you have become accustomed to--and one day won’t be coming back to--to sit in class or see patients anymore--is a stark realization.

Time marches on. In a week it will be the end of another trimester. In a few weeks, the end to another month, and shortly after to that, another whole year. The end of this year will be an end to a decade. While much in life does not depend on deadlines and specific dates, at the end of the spring 2020 trimester, I will be with the many students ending their journey at National with commencement.

សូមអរគុណ (Saum Arkoun) – Khmer

I will bet at least a few times in life you have been asked what you wanted to be when you grow up. I know that I have! The last couple of weeks have been filled with so many eye-openers—reassurances actually—that I am on the right path for me.

While taking a break from my acupuncture studies recently, it occurred to me that cleaning just seems to be the main event for me these past couple of weeks. The house has been neglected for almost a year. TCM books and notes seem to migrate out of the study room via mobs of secret ninjas on their missions for me to be the Silent Sensei Acupuncturist.

It’s already Week 5 of the fall trimester, and it's the preliminary challenge to see if everyone is going to be staying in the class or not. It feels like just yesterday I experienced this for the first time. I was freaking out about my first exam to see if I had a passing grade and would continue in the class.