We had the challenge session. And there were no challenges....
So, that meant I had to wait and see if they would round up my grade. But, I had already decided that they would. Why? Well because My God told me so:)
Finally! I got the confirmation from my professor. Just as simple as his response to my original email read "Call me may 20th. On vacay", he just as simply wrote me saying " You passed." LOL I love it!!! Thank God!
Then course director also sent me an email (I didn't even email him), saying that my grade had been rounded.
Halleluyah! And thank the Lord!!
Now I'm just going to need God to continue working His miracles because this boards prep is draining me :-/
Count down to San Francisco continues!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Single Stranded Knots
http://www.hairdressersus.com/micro/Image10b.jpg
Have you ever looked at a strand of your hair and noticed a dark dot on it? That, my friend, is a single strand knot. Single strand knots (ssk) occur most often on curly or kinky hair. This results from a single strand of hair wrapping around itself and forming a knot. The more curly the hair is, the more likely you are to get them. Likewise, fine hair is a little more prone to knotting as well.
While they are almost impossible to completely get rid of, there are ways that you can minimize ssk.
1) Keep your hair, especially your ends, very moisturized.
2) Consider sealing wet ends with oils like coconut oil or olive oil or butters like shea butter, to allow the hair stands to easily glide past each other.
3) Keep your ends in tip top shape. If you notice a lot of splits or a sudden increase in ssk, then it is time to trim. Splits encourage knotting.
4) Make sure your hair is thoroughly detangled from root to tip with a product that gives your hair good slip. Hair that is improperly detangled contains shed hair that wraps around other stands of hair (particularly those with splits or knots),to form double stranded knots. Also, pull hair up and out of tangles & knots, rather than tugging downwards on knots. This is something that I learned during my first year natural.
5)Limit wearing your hair in its completely shrunken state (ie: constant wash and gos). Shrunken hair is a play ground for the curls to play. Use braids and twists to stretch the hair before unraveling, to rock a larger and more stretched fro. Or do rollersets and the occasional straight hair style to keep knots at bay. Focus on stretching the ends above all else. #2 & 4 become especially important should you decide to wear your hair in its shrunken state (you may need to detangle more frequently).
6) Avoid playing in your hair too much. Knots are created when two pieces of the same strand are pulled in opposite direction. A lot of times, we create these knots on our own.
7) Be aware of how your hair reacts. Some people notice that combs actually encourage knots in their own hair and prefer finger combing. Take note if that applies to you.
8)Keep your ends protected (ie: buns) as much as possible.
9)Do the occasional search and destroy with a good pair of hair shears, to decrease the number of them if they become a problem. DO NOT PULL OR SNAP THEM OFF OF YOUR HAIR! This weakens the hair and leads to splits.
10) Consider washing your hair in sections, braids, or twists as it gets longer, to minimize tangling.
Realize that these knots come with the territory of having curly hair. Do not let it drive you crazy and give you OCD. If you spent everyday cutting them off, you'd loose a lot of your progress. Half of the time, they come right back so you'll just drive yourself crazy. They are pretty harmless for the most part. But, if you do notice that they are causing you problems, then beginning snipping them off and getting rid of them.
Happy Hair Growing,
Bee
Hair Journaling: 1
I trimmed my hair during the 2nd month retwist session last month. It took a long time because I initially was doing search & destroy. However, days later, I decided that I was just going to do an overall trim. Depending on the location, I took off anywhere from .5inches to 2 inches. I had a couple of single stranded knots that I wanted to get rid of and a lot of mid shaft splits, both of which were making my ends feel a little rough and encouraging tangling. Since trimming, there have been less tangles and my ends feel & look better. This will set me back about a month or so in reaching my goal but healthy hair comes first!
I am currently DCing with ORS replenishing (layered with coconut oil) after shampooing with organix coconut (trying to use it up). I will begin retwisting for the last month of the 1st cycle. I've decided to double up on the twists this time and go up a size.
This method has been working for me since it has reduced my need to manipulate my hair, thus resulting in less breakage. It is also time effective, considering my busy schedule. My hair has stayed very moisturized. For the most part I've been using my spray mix of wave nouveau, water, aussie moist, & giovanni direct leave in, and then sealing the ends with either shea butter or coconut oil. Co-washing has been done alternating between HE LTR and Giovanni 50:50.
I am currently DCing with ORS replenishing (layered with coconut oil) after shampooing with organix coconut (trying to use it up). I will begin retwisting for the last month of the 1st cycle. I've decided to double up on the twists this time and go up a size.
This method has been working for me since it has reduced my need to manipulate my hair, thus resulting in less breakage. It is also time effective, considering my busy schedule. My hair has stayed very moisturized. For the most part I've been using my spray mix of wave nouveau, water, aussie moist, & giovanni direct leave in, and then sealing the ends with either shea butter or coconut oil. Co-washing has been done alternating between HE LTR and Giovanni 50:50.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Hair Texture
Hair texture is often improperly described. Many people say that their hair is thick, when they really mean coarse. And some people say that their hair is fine, when they really mean thin. So, I'm going to clarify a little bit.
Fine, Medium, & Coarse
These terms refer to the diameter of each individual strand of hair. Comparing an individual strand of hair from someone with fine hair with a strand of coarse hair, would reveal that the fine hair is smaller in diameter. A quick test that would help you to determine the diameter of your hair is to separate a 2 ply piece of thread, so that you have only 1 ply. Compare a strand of hair to this. Is your hair about the same size? Then your hair has medium diameter. Larger? Then it is coarse. Smaller? Then it is fine. Alternatively, you can draw a line on a piece of paper with a fine ball point pen and compare that way.
Thin, Medium, & Thick
These terms refer to how much hair is on your head; the density. If you don't have a lot of hair on your head, then it is thin. On the opposite end, if your hair is very dense, then it is considered thick. The ponytail test requires you to measure the circumference around your ponytail with all haired pulled back (if your hair can't all fit in the ponytail because of Thin (less than 2 inches/5 centimeters)
Normal (between 2-4 inches or 5-10 centimeters)
Thick (more than 4 inches/10 centimeters)
Within all of this, you can have silky, cottony, wooley, or wirey texture and a straight, curly, or wavy shape.
It is helpful to understand these concepts because it makes a difference when considering what products and/or techniques may work for your hair. For example, fine hair (which many black people actually have) is more likely to be overprocessed & damaged by a relaxer or hair coloring faster and requires less heat when flat ironing. It snaps easily, may be easily weighed down by too many products, and may require weekly doses of light protein treatments to maintain its strength, but yet may easily suffer from protein overload when hard-core proteins are used. Coarse hair is usually stronger but takes longer to accept chemical processing. Also remember, you may have a thick head of fine hair, for example. Often times, people make the mistake that this type of combination can take aggressive brushing and treatment. However, it is requires a lot a delicacy, as the individual strands are still very fine.
I may delve a little deeper into these different textures and combinations later. But, hopefully this gives you a start that will enable you to search for more information about your hair and what it may need. Also, take note that, "ethnic hair" is not a hair classification, as many people may try to categorize it. They act like black people can't have varied hair textures. But, I digress.
Happy Hair Growing,
Bee
Fine, Medium, & Coarse
These terms refer to the diameter of each individual strand of hair. Comparing an individual strand of hair from someone with fine hair with a strand of coarse hair, would reveal that the fine hair is smaller in diameter. A quick test that would help you to determine the diameter of your hair is to separate a 2 ply piece of thread, so that you have only 1 ply. Compare a strand of hair to this. Is your hair about the same size? Then your hair has medium diameter. Larger? Then it is coarse. Smaller? Then it is fine. Alternatively, you can draw a line on a piece of paper with a fine ball point pen and compare that way.
Thin, Medium, & Thick
These terms refer to how much hair is on your head; the density. If you don't have a lot of hair on your head, then it is thin. On the opposite end, if your hair is very dense, then it is considered thick. The ponytail test requires you to measure the circumference around your ponytail with all haired pulled back (if your hair can't all fit in the ponytail because of Thin (less than 2 inches/5 centimeters)
Normal (between 2-4 inches or 5-10 centimeters)
Thick (more than 4 inches/10 centimeters)
Within all of this, you can have silky, cottony, wooley, or wirey texture and a straight, curly, or wavy shape.
It is helpful to understand these concepts because it makes a difference when considering what products and/or techniques may work for your hair. For example, fine hair (which many black people actually have) is more likely to be overprocessed & damaged by a relaxer or hair coloring faster and requires less heat when flat ironing. It snaps easily, may be easily weighed down by too many products, and may require weekly doses of light protein treatments to maintain its strength, but yet may easily suffer from protein overload when hard-core proteins are used. Coarse hair is usually stronger but takes longer to accept chemical processing. Also remember, you may have a thick head of fine hair, for example. Often times, people make the mistake that this type of combination can take aggressive brushing and treatment. However, it is requires a lot a delicacy, as the individual strands are still very fine.
I may delve a little deeper into these different textures and combinations later. But, hopefully this gives you a start that will enable you to search for more information about your hair and what it may need. Also, take note that, "ethnic hair" is not a hair classification, as many people may try to categorize it. They act like black people can't have varied hair textures. But, I digress.
Happy Hair Growing,
Bee
Friday, May 14, 2010
Co-Washing
What?
Co-washing is conditioner washing; washing your hair with conditioner.
Who?
Co washing has been tauted to help some naturals/curly/dry haired people to keep their hair constantly moisturized.
When?
How often it is done depends on the person, with some people doing it every day to others doing it only once a week or as needed (when their hair needs a boost of moisture or they require more curl definition/less frizz).
Why?
The reasons why people do it vary. Some of the common reasons include:
To get clean hair without the stripping, damaging effects of shampoo
To keep the hair soft and moisturized
To minimize frizz
To encourage the natural curl pattern
To be able to wash hair kinky hair daily
How do you do it? The steps for cowashing are pretty simple, though they may very slightly depending on the person. You simply rinse, apply a rinse out conditioner to your hair , let it sit for a couple of minutes,finger comb through and then rinse again. Wala! You've just cowashed. I personally can't do a wash and go at my current length, as my hair will tangle at the site of any shrinkage. So, I always keep my hair in a few chunky braids or twists (this is just in general when I'm washing my hair) to minimize this problem.
How does it work? Some people think the idea of only washing your hair with conditioner won't get your hair clean. Actually, there are many conditioners that are formulated with mild cleansing ingredients in addition to the typical moisturizing agents. That is why there are some people who use the No-Poo method and still have clean, moisturized hair since. This is because they are cleansing and moisturizing their hair with conditioner. Of course, to be on the No-poo regimen, one must not be using any products that require stronger cleaners to removed (ie: silicones, some quats, etc). But you don't have to be on the no-poo regimen to cowash.
What do I look for?
From thebeautybrains.com, here is a list of the cleansing agents that you should look for when looking for a good co-wash conditioner.
* Behentrimonium Methosulfate
* Dicetyldimonium Chloride
* Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine
* Cetrimonium Chloride
* Stearyalkonium Chloride
What to use:Don't spend an arm and a leg on expensive conditioners for this purpose. You may have success with using cheaper brands like V05 (ie: moisture milks line) & Suave(humectant, tropical coconut, etc), to slightly more expensive brands like Pantene, Herbal Essences (Hello Hydration, Long term Relationship, etc), Tresemme, Aussie Moist, etc. For the no cone person,the V05 and Suave formulations usually have minimal cones, while the more expensive Giovanni Direct 50:50 & Smooth as Silk are two products that have no cones & come to mind.
So give cowashing a try! Find a nice moisturizing conditioner that you like (I love the ones with nice scents; people love to comment on how good your hair smells). Try different variations (once a week between weekly DCs, daily for a couple of days, as a pre-treatment on dry hair before rinsing it out; whatever! Have fun with it. It just may be the moisture boost that your hair needs.
Co-washing is conditioner washing; washing your hair with conditioner.
Who?
Co washing has been tauted to help some naturals/curly/dry haired people to keep their hair constantly moisturized.
When?
How often it is done depends on the person, with some people doing it every day to others doing it only once a week or as needed (when their hair needs a boost of moisture or they require more curl definition/less frizz).
Why?
The reasons why people do it vary. Some of the common reasons include:
To get clean hair without the stripping, damaging effects of shampoo
To keep the hair soft and moisturized
To minimize frizz
To encourage the natural curl pattern
To be able to wash hair kinky hair daily
How do you do it? The steps for cowashing are pretty simple, though they may very slightly depending on the person. You simply rinse, apply a rinse out conditioner to your hair , let it sit for a couple of minutes,finger comb through and then rinse again. Wala! You've just cowashed. I personally can't do a wash and go at my current length, as my hair will tangle at the site of any shrinkage. So, I always keep my hair in a few chunky braids or twists (this is just in general when I'm washing my hair) to minimize this problem.
How does it work? Some people think the idea of only washing your hair with conditioner won't get your hair clean. Actually, there are many conditioners that are formulated with mild cleansing ingredients in addition to the typical moisturizing agents. That is why there are some people who use the No-Poo method and still have clean, moisturized hair since. This is because they are cleansing and moisturizing their hair with conditioner. Of course, to be on the No-poo regimen, one must not be using any products that require stronger cleaners to removed (ie: silicones, some quats, etc). But you don't have to be on the no-poo regimen to cowash.
What do I look for?
From thebeautybrains.com, here is a list of the cleansing agents that you should look for when looking for a good co-wash conditioner.
* Behentrimonium Methosulfate
* Dicetyldimonium Chloride
* Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine
* Cetrimonium Chloride
* Stearyalkonium Chloride
What to use:Don't spend an arm and a leg on expensive conditioners for this purpose. You may have success with using cheaper brands like V05 (ie: moisture milks line) & Suave(humectant, tropical coconut, etc), to slightly more expensive brands like Pantene, Herbal Essences (Hello Hydration, Long term Relationship, etc), Tresemme, Aussie Moist, etc. For the no cone person,the V05 and Suave formulations usually have minimal cones, while the more expensive Giovanni Direct 50:50 & Smooth as Silk are two products that have no cones & come to mind.
So give cowashing a try! Find a nice moisturizing conditioner that you like (I love the ones with nice scents; people love to comment on how good your hair smells). Try different variations (once a week between weekly DCs, daily for a couple of days, as a pre-treatment on dry hair before rinsing it out; whatever! Have fun with it. It just may be the moisture boost that your hair needs.
Done with 2nd Year?!?
On May 3rd, I had my last set of exams for my classroom career. It was the last time I would have to cram tons of information for 3 different classes (pathology, clinical medicine, and pharmacology)and regurgitate it within a back to back marathon 8am-3pm exam day. I woke up around 5am that morning, to begin my review for my first exam which would be Medicine. As I poured myself over the ways to distinguish between chronic anemia vs iron deficiency anemia, Rheumatoid arthritis vs osteoarthritis, CML vs ALL, and whatever other information that has since escaped my brain, it dawned on me that this day was it! This day represented the end of two of the hardest, most depressing, and frustrating years of my life. It was a day that marked the official 1/2 of my journey towards becoming Dr.O. It was a day of joy!!!
Yet, by the time 8am rolled around, and I began flipping through my Clinical Medicine exam, it quickly became a day of questionable happiness. Despite all of my studying, I was unsure about half of the questions to what the teacher had said would be a straight forward exam. Right. To who?
I completed that exam, with my happy balloon severely deflated. You see, our school has made a lot of things very hard on us. Why? We don't know. However, they decided to implement a new grading policy in the middle of our first semester of 2nd year. We were to never fail any of our Medicine exams. If we did, we would be required to retake the exam for that module and if that re-take exam was failed, then we would fail the course. Now, failing this course is not an option at our school, because you will not be allowed to go on to 3rd year. To take it even further, they made an even.....ummm.....yeah couldn't think of a nicer word....stupider......change to the policy during second semester, saying that if we failed one exam, no matter what our grade was in the class, our transcript would show LP-R (low pass-remediation; we have a Honors, high pass, pass, low pass, fail, system). So, to summarize: From failing one exam in one class, you could potentially have to repeat an entire year of medical school. Makes so much sense, right? (rolls eyes).
So, as you can now see, leaving such an exam feeling anything but comfortable can be downright depressing. However, I had no time to focus on that. I had finished with about 45min to spare before my next exam, so it was time to find a corner and try to cram/review as much as I could for Pharm. Took the exam. Once again, not entirely comfortable.
Repeated the find a corner, cram/review for the last exam which was Pathology, and ended up flipping through that exam wondering if I had even studied the right lectures. It was brutal. I quickly finished that exam simply because I realized that all I could do was guess. The questions weren't any that you could rationalize. You either knew it or didn't. So 30 min into the 60 question exam, I was done.
I walked out of the classroom feeling like I had just been to battle and lost. The excitement that had been in my heart that morning, was so far away now. I couldn't scream and celebrate the end of my second year. That had been stripped from me (typical of them). That burden that was supposed to be lifted wasn't. In fact, an additional 30 lbs had been added. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I couldn't bring myself to say "We're done!!!" Instead, I was left with questions about whether I was really done. Had I done well enough to pass all of my classes? What if I had failed the Medicine exam? Remediation would mean having to push back the date to take my boards and definitely not having any type of break before the start of 3rd year.
I ate at our 2nd year BBQ and watched all of the water balloon fights going on (our solution to the fact that they had decided to ban us from the traditional last day of second year fountain jump...sigh). Yet, these thoughts haunted me. I couldn't wait to get my grades. I prayed to God and prayed some more, that he would deliver me from 2nd year and allow me to move on with my life. I wanted to finally be able to breathe that sigh of relief and not be waiting to exhale.
Days later, to only prolong the torture, we received word that one of our classmates had yet to take the exam for Medicine and would not be taking it until the 18th. To them, this translated into us not finding out about where we stand in the class until after the 18th. You mean to tell me that you want me to live with the "what if" question for another 2 1/2 weeks?!?! I was livid. However, after discussion, the grades were released.
As I sat in Border's studying for my boards, I received the long awaited text from Grade Boy: Medicine grades were up. My heart sank. This was the moment of truth. Would I not be re-mediating Clinical Medicine? I couldn't bring myself to check at Border's, for fear that I might end up sobbing and looking like a fool. I completed my studying, saw Damon Waynes (I know this is random in my story, but he was there for a book signing), and made my way home. I shared the update with my mom, who was nervous right along with me (lol, gotta love moms!), and had her check. She read my overall course grade to me and from the amount that I dropped, I figured I couldn't have failed horribly. So, I decided to brave it and took a look. After praying to God that He just allow me to low pass, even if it was 65 on the dot, I look and see: 64.9%!!! I said, God, you are too good!!! Even though it's not 65, He knew that I would stand a chance with that grade. Despite how crazy my school can be, I know that God is greater than them and that He will touch someone's heart to make it so that they don't hold me for that .1%. Also, we have yet to do the challenge session for the exam, so all it will take is 1 exam question being challenged and accepted, and then I'll officially be done with them!
An even greater testimony of God's goodness: Today, we received an email about all of our classes and the status of grade releases and calculations. We were told that for our Pathology class,even though only one question was challenged and accepted for our exam (we get lazy with challenges at the end of the semester), our super-nice professor (God bless him!) challenged himself and because he didn't want to hurt us, decided that (probably because many people would have been failing due to this exam) he would allow us to keep our pre-exam overall class grades unless the exam actually helped us. Thank God for answered prayers!!!
I've finally begun to exhale after holding my breath for almost 2 weeks. It's not over until I get my transcript saying that I've passed everything. But, God has shown me that with Him on my side, I truly have nothing to fear :) So with that said, I bought my ticket, and I'll be off to San Francisco for a personal "Me Time" trip after the boards. I've always wanted to go to Cali. Definitely something to look forward to!
As for now: Hit the books and hit Step 1 out of the ball park!!
Yet, by the time 8am rolled around, and I began flipping through my Clinical Medicine exam, it quickly became a day of questionable happiness. Despite all of my studying, I was unsure about half of the questions to what the teacher had said would be a straight forward exam. Right. To who?
I completed that exam, with my happy balloon severely deflated. You see, our school has made a lot of things very hard on us. Why? We don't know. However, they decided to implement a new grading policy in the middle of our first semester of 2nd year. We were to never fail any of our Medicine exams. If we did, we would be required to retake the exam for that module and if that re-take exam was failed, then we would fail the course. Now, failing this course is not an option at our school, because you will not be allowed to go on to 3rd year. To take it even further, they made an even.....ummm.....yeah couldn't think of a nicer word....stupider......change to the policy during second semester, saying that if we failed one exam, no matter what our grade was in the class, our transcript would show LP-R (low pass-remediation; we have a Honors, high pass, pass, low pass, fail, system). So, to summarize: From failing one exam in one class, you could potentially have to repeat an entire year of medical school. Makes so much sense, right? (rolls eyes).
So, as you can now see, leaving such an exam feeling anything but comfortable can be downright depressing. However, I had no time to focus on that. I had finished with about 45min to spare before my next exam, so it was time to find a corner and try to cram/review as much as I could for Pharm. Took the exam. Once again, not entirely comfortable.
Repeated the find a corner, cram/review for the last exam which was Pathology, and ended up flipping through that exam wondering if I had even studied the right lectures. It was brutal. I quickly finished that exam simply because I realized that all I could do was guess. The questions weren't any that you could rationalize. You either knew it or didn't. So 30 min into the 60 question exam, I was done.
I walked out of the classroom feeling like I had just been to battle and lost. The excitement that had been in my heart that morning, was so far away now. I couldn't scream and celebrate the end of my second year. That had been stripped from me (typical of them). That burden that was supposed to be lifted wasn't. In fact, an additional 30 lbs had been added. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I couldn't bring myself to say "We're done!!!" Instead, I was left with questions about whether I was really done. Had I done well enough to pass all of my classes? What if I had failed the Medicine exam? Remediation would mean having to push back the date to take my boards and definitely not having any type of break before the start of 3rd year.
I ate at our 2nd year BBQ and watched all of the water balloon fights going on (our solution to the fact that they had decided to ban us from the traditional last day of second year fountain jump...sigh). Yet, these thoughts haunted me. I couldn't wait to get my grades. I prayed to God and prayed some more, that he would deliver me from 2nd year and allow me to move on with my life. I wanted to finally be able to breathe that sigh of relief and not be waiting to exhale.
Days later, to only prolong the torture, we received word that one of our classmates had yet to take the exam for Medicine and would not be taking it until the 18th. To them, this translated into us not finding out about where we stand in the class until after the 18th. You mean to tell me that you want me to live with the "what if" question for another 2 1/2 weeks?!?! I was livid. However, after discussion, the grades were released.
As I sat in Border's studying for my boards, I received the long awaited text from Grade Boy: Medicine grades were up. My heart sank. This was the moment of truth. Would I not be re-mediating Clinical Medicine? I couldn't bring myself to check at Border's, for fear that I might end up sobbing and looking like a fool. I completed my studying, saw Damon Waynes (I know this is random in my story, but he was there for a book signing), and made my way home. I shared the update with my mom, who was nervous right along with me (lol, gotta love moms!), and had her check. She read my overall course grade to me and from the amount that I dropped, I figured I couldn't have failed horribly. So, I decided to brave it and took a look. After praying to God that He just allow me to low pass, even if it was 65 on the dot, I look and see: 64.9%!!! I said, God, you are too good!!! Even though it's not 65, He knew that I would stand a chance with that grade. Despite how crazy my school can be, I know that God is greater than them and that He will touch someone's heart to make it so that they don't hold me for that .1%. Also, we have yet to do the challenge session for the exam, so all it will take is 1 exam question being challenged and accepted, and then I'll officially be done with them!
An even greater testimony of God's goodness: Today, we received an email about all of our classes and the status of grade releases and calculations. We were told that for our Pathology class,even though only one question was challenged and accepted for our exam (we get lazy with challenges at the end of the semester), our super-nice professor (God bless him!) challenged himself and because he didn't want to hurt us, decided that (probably because many people would have been failing due to this exam) he would allow us to keep our pre-exam overall class grades unless the exam actually helped us. Thank God for answered prayers!!!
I've finally begun to exhale after holding my breath for almost 2 weeks. It's not over until I get my transcript saying that I've passed everything. But, God has shown me that with Him on my side, I truly have nothing to fear :) So with that said, I bought my ticket, and I'll be off to San Francisco for a personal "Me Time" trip after the boards. I've always wanted to go to Cali. Definitely something to look forward to!
As for now: Hit the books and hit Step 1 out of the ball park!!
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