The 3-hole punch is the water cooler of medical school

This semester, we were plagued by the new paperless format of immunity and infection. We were doomed to a life of waiting in the computer lab behind the other 150 members of our class printing out notes. Now, because of the unrelenting force of nature that is a medical student, we forced the administration to provide us with notes. We took this issue straight to the dean, and we would have gone to the governor if necessary. Never mind that the paperless format was saving trees and that we're in a new age of technology, I need to highlight my paper notes in many different colors aggressively during class! (on a serious note, I wouldn't mind the paperless format, if my computer were up to the task of daily transport to class. I don't mind saving trees and evolving, but sadly my computer is as loud as a jet engine with a mere 15 minute battery life. boo.)

One good thing did come out of the fiasco of paperless format. All the notes printed out in the computer lab were not 3-hole punched, and thus, the medical school equivalent of the office water cooler was born. On our breaks, we crowd around the 3-hole punch in the back of the classroom. We mingle with the people that sit next to it. They might give you a riddle, or ask for a password to use it, and then laugh and say in office-like lingo, "I'm just joshin' you man, go right ahead. But don't forget the password next time, haha!"
We can discuss the weekly case studies with the more professional student telling the slackers, "Yeah, um, about this Friday and Saturday night, I'm going to need you to go over the immunology cases with the group. Right... and actually, it looks like you'll have to go ahead and come into the library on Sunday too to get those microbiology cases done."
We can also discuss the crazy things that happen on The Hills last week, like when Heidi totally stole the nameless chick's promotion. (by discuss here, I mean I can bring it up, but others will give me blank stares because some people actually study every night instead of watching reality tv... weird!)

Since some members of our class have taken to wearing professional office attire to school on a daily basis and since we all have name tags, it just perpetuates this scene in my head. Now that our notes are provided for us already 3-hole punched, I hope we don't lose the magic of our new socializing location. When I start to think more about the metaphor of the water cooler, I can't help but relate more and more of our class room to the office scene. First year was like high school, but second year is clearly more like the office. Just think of when it's somebody's birthday. In an office, you might have a mini-party in that person's cube... well, only if they are well liked. In medical school, you have a mini-party in that person's row, but again only if they are well liked. Others have to care about you enough to break away from their studies and make baked goods. I'm wondering who in our class misses out on the cake every time. Next time there's a birthday, I'm going to find the guy with a red stapler and hand him a piece of cake.

--By Farrah, who's trying out foxy tunes so you can see what she's listening to while writing blogs, and see how her taste in music makes her endlessly hip and pretentious
----------------
Now playing: Spoon - The Underdog
via FoxyTunes