"Strength of mind is exercise, not rest." - Alexander Pope
Allow me to introduce the Fab Five of the CSUDH Prosthetic Program - Taylor, Erin, Dan, me, and Salim.
Let's start with Taylor - Taylor is the baby of the group, at just 22 years old he brings out the matronly side of me. Ha. Not really, I am actually jealous of the fact that he already knows what he wants to do with his life and is actively pursuing it. He is very confident in what he knows and has yet to learn to bite his tongue when it comes to arguing with professors. It is refreshing and cringe-worthy all at the same time :) Taylor looks a little like Dexter and reminds me of my little brother (both of these things probably stemming from the red hair on his head). He is from Las Vegas and is super into cars - all I know is that his windows are very tinted and we lovingly refer to him as 'Fast and the Furious.' He is a hard worker, great at explaining things (my turning the corner in the world of grinding can be mostly attributed to him) and I think he is going to be wildly successful long before he reaches my age.
Erin - the native California girl. She left behind her farmer fiance to come to school for a few months. She was definitely the quiet and reserved one of the group at first, but we are getting her to come out of her shell...she did not have much choice after about the 7th hour of sitting in a tiny conference room together. She either secretly studies way more than the rest of us or has an incredible knack for acquiring knowledge quickly. I believe it is the latter - which makes her the one you want to partner up with in class. Although she is only 23, she seems much more mature and I am sometimes surprised when I remember her age. She is what I think of when I picture a California girl - naturally beautiful, blonde hair and light eyes, tanned skin, and an easy manner about her. She is focused and funny and I am thankful to have her in the group - I needed help bringing up the estrogen level!
Dan is from New York. I mean, really from New York. He is one of those people who refer to it as "the city." He is a prosthetic legend - meaning he has been working inside an O&P clinic long before I had ever even heard of one. It is a family business for him (as is for Taylor), but he is not going into it because he has to...which I love. He is the most animated of the group - and by animated, I mean, loudest/grouchiest/happiest/cockiest. It makes study groups far more entertaining when someone is celebrating every right answer the way he does. Dan gets into school-mode and it is hard to get him out of it. When he sets his mind to a project, you can usually hear him talking himself through it in the corner behind you. He shines when it comes to patient care and it is hard not to respect his work ethic when it comes to learning the material and putting it into practice.
And last but not least is Salim. Salim might give Dan a run for his money in the entertainment category. Salim comes from Arizona and as hard as this might be to believe, I think he actually talks more than I do. Salim is the sleeper cell of the group, he skateboards around and is always on Facebook, yet the man knows every single answer to every single question - it is amazing. We sometimes have to ask him to not speak up because he can give you the answer before you have even finished asking the question. He makes jokes and is quirky enough to record podcasts of himself talking aloud the material we are supposed to be memorizing (think slow speaking with Enya playing in the background). I will look over and see him working on a project with headphones in and just laugh because I know he is only listening to his own voice. I joke, but this is clearly a method that works for him because he knows it all. We have yet to convince him to send us the podcasts, but I have a feeling by the end of the semester, we will all be learning by listening to Salim as we are driving to school or running on the beach.
There have been pizzas devoured, far too much sugar consumed, 5 minute breaks that last for half an hour and endless quizzing and fighting over answers, but without these four people I would have lost my mind the past couple of weeks and gotten far less studying done. They say there is no rest for the weary, but after three back to back finals, this weary soul is planning on resting as much as possible before getting back to it on Monday morning.
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