Monday, July 26, 2010

Semester One is coming to an end!


Luke and his buddies at DeChamps hangout.

Luke continues to study from 8:00 a.m. to midnight everyday (yes, that includes weekends.) I asked if he could send some pictures since my blog was looking dreary. He sent these along from a night out with fellow med students and a visiting girlfriend and sister of one of the guys.

He's really enjoying the anatomy labs he has each week. Because of his sports background and all of his injuries, he understands and can relate to his cadaver. He just had a patient lab test today, a gross anatomy test on Thursday, histology test next Friday, his Mini III the following Monday, then his finals a week later. Hooray, all done with semester one on August 16th. Please keep the prayers coming for his continued success. (And I can breathe a little easier each day for about three weeks knowing he's on break!!)

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Mini Exam II Is Over- Straight AAAAAA's!


Luke worked from sun up to midnight each day to learn the material so he could get an edge on this test and he did great - all A's! He had a big smile when we Skyped him and seemed ready to relax a bit and finish up the semester in the next month. After the exam, he ran into Kyle's family and had a fun picture taken with Kyle and Russ, Kyle's dad. He then received his box in the mail and was thrilled to stock back up again on all of the goodies we try to send. It continues to be hot and rainy which makes everything "sticky." Keep up the great work Luke, only five weeks until semester one is over!!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Missing Rex


One of Luke's best buddies is our dog Rex. From day one, it was a boy and his dog. When Luke left for Notre Dame, he said the thing he would miss most would be Rex. We asked why and he said Rex couldn't talk to him like we could. (Good point!) Now that Luke is able to Skype, we put Rex up to the camera and Luke whistles and talks to him. In this picture, Rex is doing a favorite activity, sunbathing out in the hot Arizona sun. Rex is waiting patiently for you at the front door, Luke:)

Friday, June 18, 2010

A Walk To School Through Luke's Eyes






I asked Luke to send pictures so we could see what he sees each day. At this point his life is very simple, get up, eat, go to class or "The Barn" to study, eat, go to class or Barn, eat, study, then Skype us at the end of the day. He took pictures to show what his daily walk looks like.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Study, study.....great results!




The first picture is of Luke with Kyle (his Arizona buddy) and other right after Exam I. The university puts on a time for the students to eat, drink, and relax for the evening before heading back to class in the morning. He actually called and said, "This place is a cool place if you are not under so much pressure."

We are so lucky to Skype Luke each evening and follow in his steps each day. His life is very simple at this point... Go to class, eat lunch, study, study, study, eat dinner, study, study, study. He did well on his first Mini Exam and took a Histology Lab Exam last Friday and made an A!!! His next big exam is on July 5th, so off he goes with trying to get all of the info into his brain for another big test. He's really enjoying working on his "dead guy" and learning a lot about his own body as he goes along. Anatomy has turned out to be his favorite subject. He hasn't sent any pictures recently, so I'm going to post some he sent when he first arrived in Dominica and had some time to enjoy the island. On Sunday night he shared he might be able to come home over his August break. I was so excited that I did not sleep at all that night. Hope, pray, hope, pray he can come home so we can spoil him for awhile.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Mini Exam 1 is over!!

We talked to Luke tonight and after massive amounts of studying and stressing out, he completed his first mini test today. It is amazing that they can give you one test over five subjects in 2 1/2 hours. He felt he did OK and will only know after the results. The school threw a big party on the beach after the test. He commented, "This is a pretty cool place if you weren't stressed out all of the time." It was nice to see some relief on his face and know he had gone out to have some fun.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Mini Exam 1 - One week away!


Luke continues to Skype with us each evening and has truly found his pace in studying. He's putting in enormous hours of studying per day in the "Barn" with his ear phones and computer rolling. He feels it is paying off as he reviews with his buddies and 2nd semester friends (many thanks to Kyle and Wincie for the encouragement.) His first big test is Monday, June 7th, so please keep praying. I know he will do well and has started seeing a connection between what he is studying and what they are doing in lab.
The third box sent has arrived at Ross! Luke is going to pick it up on Monday and we are starting a new box to send now that we have faith in the mailing system. I told Luke tonight it is too bad someone hasn't come up with a "errand runner for hire" business for single students. He is continually trying to find his laundry, has no time to go to market or buy bread when they are open, and everything takes enormous amounts of time to do since the locals move on "island time."
As we were talking to him tonight he started laughing. One of his buddies took this picture when they were on one of their tours the first week. It was pouring down rain and he looked a bit bored. I guess the picture says it all.