Author: Benji Ho

How Do You Start A Blog?

Posted on January 28, 2010April 9, 2012 by Benji Ho

Hello everyone! Here is an email (edited for confidentiality) I received from a reader last semester that I’d like to share with you all. At the time he had just been accepted to AUC and was interested in starting a blog too. This semester, I finally got to meet him… he’s a nice, jolly fellow! Hi Benji, I was visiting… Continue reading

Wave

Posted on January 25, 2010February 19, 2011 by Benji Ho

By 12 noon, I turned in my third and last exam of the day and walked out of the cold classroom into the warm Caribbean sun, thinking to myself how time flew by so fast this first block of the semester, much faster than last semester! Today was a big day, the first block exams of the semester, but even… Continue reading

Why did you choose AUC as opposed to St. George’s?

Posted on January 25, 2010October 1, 2011 by Benji Ho

Last semester, I received an email from a reader and prospective applicant to AUC. Here, I’d like to share the letter (which I’ve heavily edited for confidentiality reasons) and my responses. Hi Benji! I did a google search on AUC and stumbled across this great blog! I’ll keep it short – I am a senior in college and started out… Continue reading

Addiction

Posted on January 21, 2010February 19, 2011 by Benji Ho

I absolutely love TA-ing! There’s just something about it — dropping by from table to table, talking to students and fellow TAs, explaining things, and helping people out — that’s so fun and intellectually rewarding. There’s also something very satisfying about reviewing all that material that I learned last semester — brachial plexus nerves and the muscles they innervate, clinical… Continue reading

Brachial Plexus and Muscle Innervations

Posted on January 19, 2010February 19, 2011 by Benji Ho

Today was my assigned day as a TA for Anatomy Lab. For those of you who missed it, this is a diagram of the Brachial Plexus nerves and the muscles that they innervate that I drew on the board today! Learn this well! Want to know what AbOF stands for in the diagram? Please visit my study resources!… Continue reading

AMSA Phi Chi Barbecue

Posted on January 18, 2010November 8, 2011 by Benji Ho

Every semester on the Saturday after White Coat Ceremony, AMSA and Phi Chi jointly host a BBQ at Mullet Bay Beach, just right outside campus. Everything’s free: free food, free beach volleyball, free sun… you get the idea, and open to everyone part of the AUC Family. Because I spent most of my own White Coat weekend last September with… Continue reading

White Coat January 2010

Posted on January 17, 2010September 22, 2011 by Benji Ho

Last semester around this time, I walked across the stage with 198 of my fellow classmates, struggled clumsily to get my two arms in as I received my first white coat. This semester, I had the privilege to see the White Coat Ceremony from a completely new perspective. Yesterday, I volunteered as an usher for the ceremony. As the students… Continue reading

White Coat Ceremony, Webcasted Live!

Posted on January 14, 2010March 25, 2011 by Benji Ho

Tomorrow (Friday, January 15, 2010) will be an important day for many new students here at AUC. As first semester students scramble to finish their first full week in med school in preparation for their induction into the world of medicine at their White Coat Ceremony, I will be scrambling as well. Tomorrow is going to be a very busy… Continue reading

Haiti Earthquake Relief

Posted on January 13, 2010March 5, 2014 by Benji Ho

As we all heard, an estimated 100,000 individuals* lost their lives and another 3 million people were affected yesterday on our sister island of Haiti after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit 10 miles off-shore of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. As Haitians around the world and others residing on the island struggle to find their loved ones among the ruins and… Continue reading

My First Day As Class Rep

Posted on January 12, 2010February 19, 2011 by Benji Ho

Today we elected for new SGA class representatives, but given that there were only three candidates to fill three positions, my inauguration as class rep was more like an assignment. Nevertheless, I am glad that I sought this position, and happy to receive the opportunity. I had been thinking about running for class rep only within the last few days.… Continue reading

Student Organizations at AUC

Posted on January 10, 2010June 2, 2012 by Benji Ho

There are 18 official and unofficial student organizations on campus. In order to renew their official status, student organizations must maintain 20 members every semester. At the beginning of every semester, the Student Activities Fair is a great place to do just that, as well as for new students to learn how to get involved at AUC... Continue reading

Anatomy TA Program

Posted on January 10, 2010February 19, 2011 by Benji Ho

In a crowded room with students constantly moving around, talking, and working on cadavers, the anatomy lab seems to be a busy place where nobody in particular gets noticed. Little did we know as first semesters, however, that the TAs and professors have long been watching us. They took note of our behaviors around the lab, our dedication, our dissection… Continue reading

A Night of Italian Opera

Posted on January 10, 2010March 25, 2011 by Benji Ho

Being on an island as Caribbean as St. Maarten, we often don’t think about a “night out” as anything more than going with some buddies to a club by the beach or a party on a yacht blasting reggae music. Although to the average tourist this island seems to be just a big playground for adults, with casinos, clubs, bars,… Continue reading

One Amazing Week

Posted on January 7, 2010March 5, 2014 by Benji Ho

Along with the 93 first-semester students who are about to embark on the start of their medical careers, it has been one amazing first week for me since I came back to AUC to start on my second semester. First, it was wonderful meeting a lot of new faces and names, passionate, driven individuals who are about to embark on… Continue reading

Second Semester Begins!

Posted on January 4, 2010March 6, 2011 by Benji Ho

It has been a pretty fun, exciting, yet relaxing past two weeks of winter break. I’m really happy to have seen my family in Georgia and to have gone on an awesome adventure with Irene to Puerto Rico. Today is my last day of break and it is time to start school again tomorrow. Since moving back to St. Maarten… Continue reading

Common Questions About AUC Classes

Posted on January 4, 2010July 10, 2016 by Benji Ho

First semester flew by really fast for me. It somehow didn’t really hit me that I am now actually considered an “upperclassmen,” until I met many first-semester students here these past few days. Coming back, I am suddenly being asked for advice and to answer questions people may have. It’s quite a change in mentality for me, but I love… Continue reading

Study Tips for First Semester

Posted on January 3, 2010September 15, 2011 by Benji Ho

I recently received a message from a blog reader asking about study tips for first semester classes. Here, I’d like to share my response to him. Hi Benji,
I wanted to ask you if you had ANY study tips at all for me as they will be greatly appreciated. Also if you could tell me the best study method/s for… Continue reading

Holidays in Puerto Rico

Posted on January 2, 2010December 9, 2015 by Benji Ho

About: Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the United States and it is only 30 minutes away from St. Maarten by airplane. As it is one of the largest islands in the Caribbean, there are tons to see and you can easily spend weeks here and still not see everything. Highlights: Old San Juan, El Morro, Vieques, Bioluminescent Bay, Arecibo Observatory, Heladeria de Lares, Plaza Las Americas, El Yunque Rainforest, Bacardi Rum Factory. Continue reading

Three Ways to Sleep in the San Juan Airport

Posted on December 26, 2009March 25, 2011 by Benji Ho

As you all know, Irene and I are in sunny Puerto Rico spending the holidays. As Irene and I arrived at the San Juan Airport at 2:50am on Christmas Eve, we decided to save on getting a hotel for only a few hours and instead sleep in the airport. Little did we expect all the seats at the airport were… Continue reading

Christmas at Home

Posted on December 23, 2009March 25, 2011 by Benji Ho

Hello everyone! Happy Holidays! It feels wonderful to be home, especially with my brothers and Irene home for the holidays, and it feels great to touch the keys of a piano again, run into old friends at the bookstore, and go out for dinner to a warm place on a dark, chilly night. With only three full days at home,… Continue reading