Summer is over and it is time for this baker to spend less time in the kitchen and more time in the library. Even though school is starting, I will still be posting as frequently as possible! Before I get back into the groove of school though, lets recall all the things I did this summer.

The most important thing to happen was Goods By Gabi came to life!

Although this was near the end of the summer, it was still a big move for me to make. As I may have mentioned in previous posts, I have always like the idea of doing a food blog. I would always joke around with my boyfriend about how “maybe when I’m older and have more free time I can bake my life away and make a food blog”. Well, I decided that there is no reason to wait when I could do it now! No, I don’t have all the time in the world to dedicate to this blog, but that doesn’t mean I won’t put as much time in as possible. Hopefully, as time passes I will be able to grow this blog and, when I do have more time in the future, I will be able to post more frequently.

Shadowing

For those of you who may not know, I am a college student, but I am also a Pre-Med student meaning I am aspiring to one day go to medical school and become a doctor! That being said, an important thing that you must do before applying to medical school is shadow physicians of various specialties and get a feel of what it’s really like to be a doctor.

This summer I shadowed two Podiatrist, which if you don’t know, those are the feet doctors. Although it was interesting, I don’t think that is the move for me. I don’t think I want to be dealing with other peoples feet the rest of my life!

I also had the opportunity to shadow a general surgeon which was very interesting! I got to see cool procedure such a RF Closure of Spider Veins as well as Sclera Therapy and Phlebectomy! If you want to know what any of those procedure are, google them and you will find a video. I watched other procedures as well such as draining of cysts and removal of an abscess; lots of blood and bodily fluid. I will also be going into the OR to watch a surgery with the doctor in a few weeks which is exciting!

I plan to shadow a family practice physician and a pediatrician throughout this semester as well. I can tell you more about that in a future post!

Volunteering

When I wasn’t shadowing or baking or doing something else, I spent my days volunteering at Hartford Hospital. My official title was Mobility Volunteer. The physical therapists were my supervisors, though I was never required to report to them nor did I ever really see them! I would clock in and go to various floors/building in the hospital. Once there, I contacted the nurses on the floor and asked which patients they would like me to mobilize. I would then go to the rooms and ask patients if they’d like to walk and if so, I would take them for walks around the floor, being cautious to only walk as far as they felt comfortable and for as long as they felt comfortable.

Overall, it was a good experience. I met a lot of friendly patients and a few not so friendly ones, but what else do you expect! I wouldn’t be too happy if I were suck in a hospital bed for a few weeks either!

Studying

I know it sounds strange, why am I studying if summer is supposed to be my time off from school?? Well, I wasn’t studying for classes, I was (and still am) studying for the MCAT. If you don’t know, the MCAT is a standardized test that all aspiring medical students must take, It covers topics such as Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Math, Biochemistry, Phycology and Sociology! I know, it’s a lot of stuff! The only good part is that the pre-med course work that I take includes all of those subjects so while I am learning them throughout the semester they will help me on the test as well.

Had Fun!

The most important thing to do in the summer is have fun and although I was pretty busy, I tried to do things when I could. The most memorable night was probably when my boyfriend and I went out to dinner with 2 other couples and we had a huge fiasco at the restaurant! It was ridiculous, annoying and hilarious all at the same time. We ended up getting a free round of drinks out of it and 3 free desserts though so it worked out in our favor.

 

Like I said before, now that school is starting I am going to try and post as much as possible, but please also take into consideration that above all I am a student. My grades are more important that chocolate chip cookies (I’m sorry cookies!) and if I need to push a post back a few days to study for an exam, I will. Don’t get discouraged though because I have been making a bunch of recipes these past few weeks and saving them (sorry for hiding the goods!) so that I could ensure that I would have content to post during these first few weeks of school while I’m still getting settled into my classes.

That being said, look forward to some good recipes coming later this week!

 

Happy Baking!