stationery used in my first two years of medical school

In the past, I've had a number of questions enquiring about the stationery I've used during the first two years of medical school. Just to clarify - the first two years for me include a non-clinical year and one of the three clinical years because I'm on a four-year 'accelerated' programme here in the UK.

Pens

The main ones used during my first two years were:

- Zebra Mildliners (used as highlighters)

- Pentel Energel 

- Muji gels 

- Lamy Safari 

- Pilot Juice
- Pilot Coleto - multi-barrelled pens are amazing during lectures!

- Faber-Castell pencils

Most of these can be bought in your local stationery shop or online. I've recently shifted over to using fountain pens whenever possible so whilst these gels provide some colour, most of my note-taking is now joined up (no more printing, sob) and written using fountain pen. More on this in the coming months!

Another thing I do is use Muji gel refills in other barrels - they fit perfectly in my Pilot Juice barrels which are much more comfortable when it comes to writing for long periods of time.

Notebooks

The main ones in use were:

- Muji notebooks

- Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks

- Oxford A4 notebooks

- Oxford A4 paper

Oxford paper is amazing: it is a bright white in colour and the quality is super high - fountain pens, gel pens, ballpoints and rollerballs all get on well with it so I can't recommend it enough. Quite often here in the UK, it is on offer in your local supermarket/stationery store too so it is great value for students. I am unsure if it is available overseas but good alternatives are Rhodia and Clairefontaine. My only gripe with Oxford paper is that I wish it also came in a narrow-rule. These loose A4 sheets were filed away in a folder specific for whichever module the notes belonged to.

The notebooks used varied in size and thickness depending on what module/purpose they were used for. My advice is to try and not be rigid about the size and thickness of your notebooks and be open to try a layout/size out of your comfort zone (squared paper is a great alternative to ruled paper sometimes!).

Post-it notes

In terms of post-it notes, I used the bog-standard square ones and also page flags to keep tabs on pages within textbooks/my own revision notes so that I could come back to them easily. I try and stick to the Post-It brand though I've also come across sticky notes from Tesco (a UK supermarket) that are super sticky and are also purse-friendly. 

Lecture Note Taking

In terms of taking notes in lectures, the best thing to do is to find your own style but getting ideas from others on the internet is a good starting point if you're completely stuck. Not saying my way will be the best way for you but I've done posts on note-taking during and after lectures:

Term One's Lecture Notes Turned Into Revision Notes

University Lecture Notes

Term One's 'Rough' Lecture Notes

Revising My Lecture Notes

How I Re-Wrote My Lecture Notes in Year One, Term Three

Term Two Lecture Notes

How I Take Notes in Lectures

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Good luck to those of you going back to/starting school this autumn! It'll be an amazing period of your life so make the most of it and don't forget to have fun too - you can excel academically and have a social life too. 

my week #177

Even though I only had a four day week, I feel shattered this weekend. Possibly because for three out of those four days, I didn't make it home until 8pm or later. Not complaining as I caught up with a few friends this week.

Some of you might have noticed that I've had 'no spend' written at the top of each week for a while now. This is because I'm on a spending ban until the second week of November (just in time for Christmas shopping) which includes: stationery (unless absolutely necessary, such as ink for a pen), books, clothes and shoes. It doesn't include eating out and food but even so, I've already saved a fair bit of money to purchase those Christmas gifts.

How has your week been?

introducing: faber-castell aqua opart ambition fountain pen with a medium nib

Faber-Castell is a brand synonymous with luxury and quality. Their pencils are a staple in my pen pot and add a bit of sophistication to an otherwise more playful selection of pens that form the basis of my day-to-day use. The lovely Megan at Launch PR gave me the opportunity to branch out and try another Faber-Castell offering so today, I have the pleasure of introducing the Faber-Castell Aqua Ambition Fountain Pen with a medium nib.

PACKAGING

The pen arrived in a lovely gift box that pulls out with the tab you can see on the right. Inside, there is an instruction manual which include instructions for other Faber-Castell pens too.

DESIGN

First Impression - When I first saw this pen and held it, what struck me was the quality and how beautiful the colour was. The pen is also quite heavy (28g according to Goulet Pens) which adds to that luxurious first impression. The aqua colour definitely has that wow factor and from what I gather, this colour is a limited edition version of the Ambition fountain pen range. 

Aesthetic Appeal - The design is great when you first look at it - the barrel isn't too thick, nor is it too thin. It is definitely one of the prettier pens in my collection at the moment with the aqua completing the silver steel cap very well.

Fingerprint Hoarder - The metal cap hoards my fingerprints like there's no tomorrow. It doesn't really bother me but if this is the sort of thing that gets to you, this may not be the pen for you.

Length - The pen is 14cm in length when closed, the body is 12cm, the cap at 4.5cm and 15.7cm with the cap posted. It's not as long as a Lamy Safari when posted and the barrel isn't as thick either.

Cap - The majority of weight on this pen belongs to the cap. When posted, the pen is very top heavy so I prefer to use it unposted. However, the one great thing that I love is that the cap clicks when you post it and when you close the pen. It's such a satisfying sound to hear.

Plastic Barrel - Although the barrel is made of plastic, it does seem quite sturdy. I like the design which adds enough texture to make the pen interesting but not so much that it feels uncomfortable to hold. 

NIB

Medium Nib - As you can see in the picture below, the nib has a pretty dotted pattern to it with the Faber-Castell logo under the letter 'M'. I try and go as fine as possible when it comes to nibs but unfortunately, this limited edition only comes with a medium nib. This worried me as my handwriting can often get 'drowned out' by thicker nibs. More on this later!

Grip - There is very little space between the plastic barrel and the nib itself. This makes it hard to grip the pen lower down and also means that it makes changing ink cartridges without getting ink on your fingers a bit of a mission. If you hold your pens quite low down, this probably isn't the pen for you. For me, this is fine as I alter my grip depending on what pen I'm using so this is a non-issue.

WRITING and EXPERIENCE

Control - When unposted, I find the pen easier to control as the weight is more evenly distributed.

Writing for Extended Periods - When using fountain pen, I like my handwriting to be joined up as I feel that's the only way to do the pen justice and this means I don't have to grip the pen as tightly. As a result, using this pen for an extended period of time doesn't become a chore and I experienced no cramping - something I often get with gel pens due to my want to print everything!

The writing samples you'll see below were part of a one hour note-making session and there isn't much of a difference between my handwriting at the beginning and at the end. Therefore, I can take this to mean that using the pen didn't tire out my hand excessively.

Nib Worries - Earlier, I voiced my concerns about the medium nib being a bit too thick for my handwriting but this was mostly unfounded. There are a few words that don't look right (look for 'of' in the photos below as an obvious example) but that might just be me nit-picking!

Ink Flow - The one great thing about this fountain pen is that it started writing as soon as I put the ink cartridge in. It came with a standard short international ink cartridge (yay) and that's what you'll see in the photos below. There was a little bit of skipping which happened four times in total (I wrote four sides of A4 in this time) but that may be due to the paper used/me writing a bit too fast.

Overall 

To conclude, the Faber-Castell OpArt Ambition fountain pen is a pleasure to write with and its design is beautiful, even if I had to change my grip ever so slightly in order to use it.

If you want to read other reviews of this pen, Azizah over at Gourmet Pens has reviewed the Pearwood version, as have Pen Habit, Pen Paper Pencil and Inkoholic Anonymous.

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Thank you to Megan from Launch PR for sending me this sample. Although I was supplied this sample free of charge, I have reviewed it as if I had paid for it and have tried to be as impartial as possible. The links in this post are not affiliate-linked.

july and august book reviews: the dish, the orange girl, the olive branch & dream a little dream

My aim this year was to read a book a week but I've fallen behind slightly. At the halfway mark of the year, I was up to 22 instead of 26 so at this rate, I'll probably get to 45 for the whole year rather than 52. Anyway, this month's book reviews...

The Dish by Stella Newman

"Love is on the menu. With a side order of lies.

When Laura Parker first crosses forks with Adam Bayley, she's only after one thing: his custard doughnut. But when she takes a closer look, she sees a talented, handsome man who outshines the string of jokers she's been dating.

There's just one problem. Adam's job means Laura has to keep her job as restaurant critic for The Dish a secret. Tricky for someone who prides herself on honesty.

Can the truth be put on ice long enough for love to flourish?

And how can you expect your boyfriend to be honest if you're not quite telling the truth yourself?"

The blurb and cover had me interested - the girl dresses similar to me (floaty tops and high waisted skirts!) but as I said the last time I posted some book reviews, never judge a book by its cover. Nevertheless, I was excited to read this book and I was right to be: it's a cracker.

From the beginning, the characters were warm and relatable and I found myself wanting to work at The Voice! Stella Newman has a way of telling the story in a funny way that has you hooked and I found myself racing through this book at an rapid pace.

The book tackles many real life issues that most of us will be familiar with: honesty within relationships (both romantic and family), work relationships and how to deal with tricky co-workers and bereavements and illnesses. And the way they are tackled are realistic and not over the top.

This is one of the better books I've read in the last few months: the plot goes at a decent pace and the characters are all multidimensional. Plus, the many mentions of food just sounded amazing - it made me think that if medicine doesn't work out, maybe this'll be a career I could consider! (Joking of course.) This book gets a solid 8/10 from me.


The Orange Girl by Jostein Gaarder

Ever since I read Sophie's World when I was 16, I became a huge Jostein Gaarder fan. That book was the reason why I chose Philosophy and Ethics as an AS Level when I was 17 and now, at the grand old (!) age of 24, I decided to check out some of his other books. I bought a few of them on Amazon (they were all under £2 including postage and I wanted physical versions as opposed to the Kindle version) and the first one I attempted was The Orange Girl. Firstly because the cover was amazing (it's a shiny blue) and because orange is one of my favourite colours.

"'My father died eleven years ago. I was only four then. I never thought I'd hear from him again, but now we're writing a book together'

 To Georg Røed, his father is no more than a shadow, a distant memory. But then one day his grandmother discovers some pages stuffed into the lining of an old red pushchair. The pages are a letter to Georg, written just before his father died, and a story, 'The Orange Girl'.

 But 'The Orange Girl' is no ordinary story - it is a riddle from the past and centres around an incident in his father's youth. One day he boarded a tram and was captivated by a beautiful girl standing in the aisle, clutching a huge paper bag of luscious-looking oranges. Suddenly the tram gave a jolt and he stumbled forward, sending the oranges flying in all directions. The girl simply hopped off the tram leaving Georg's father with arms full of oranges. Now, from beyond the grave, he is asking his son to help him finally solve the puzzle of her identity."

It's a relatively short book compared to the other novels I've read this year: it rings in at just over 150 pages. And I think this is the perfect length for it and I would even recommend it over Sophie's World if you've never come across Jostein Gaarder before.

Honestly, I really liked this book. At first, I wasn't sure if it would draw me in but it did! The book is a sad-happy type of book and the meaning behind it all is just so beautiful. It's not a book that is too complex and though I had a theory or two about who I thought The Orange Girl was, the reality is just ridiculously cute and romantic. With it only being 151 pages long, you really have nothing to lose! I'm rating this a 8/10 and would say it was suitable to anyone over the age of 12.


The Olive Branch by Jo Thomas

Back in November, I reviewed The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas and I really loved it. As a result, I had high hopes for The Olive Branch and I'll let you into a slight spoiler: it didn't disappoint.

"You can buy almost anything online these days. For Ruthie Collins, it was an Italian farmhouse.

Yet as she battles with a territorial goat and torrential rain just to get through the door of her new Italian home, the words of Ed, her ex, are ringing in her ears. She is daft, impetuous and irresponsible.

But Ruthie is determined to turn things around and live the dream.

First, though, she must win over her fiery neighbour, Marco Bellanouvo, and his tempestuous family... and then there's the small matter of running an olive farm. As the seasons change and new roots are put down, olives and romance might just flourish in the warmth of the Mediterranean sun."

Jo Thomas is a brilliant author and The Olive Branch only reinforces this. Ruthie is likeable, warm and down-to-earth. Her ex sounded like an idiot from the get-go and I can't help but feel no sympathy for characters who stay with someone out of comfort rather than because of love (talking about books in general here!). From the first mention of Marco, he sounded quite dreamy (educated, rugged and handsome? Where can I get me one of those?).

The plot itself was interesting: it's quite similar to The Oyster Catcher but the way the story is told definitely makes imagining each scene that bit easier. It moves at a decent pace: not too fast and not too slow; and the characters are introduced brilliantly. I could smell from a mile off who was good and who wasn't but I can definitely relate to Ruthie's situation where she's a complete stranger in a new environment. So maybe that'll explain why her douchebag radar was a bit off!

Overall, a little bit of a predictable read but it's perfect for those summer evenings with a glass of something chilled. It gets a solid 7.5/10 from me - I read it quickly (5 days!) and enjoyed it as a light summer read.


Dream A Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher

Having read each and every one of Giovanna Fletcher's books in the past, Dream A Little Dream would inevitably suffer the same fate.

"Sarah is doing just fine. Sure she's been single for the last five years, and has to spend an uncomfortable amount of time around her ex-boyfriend, his perfect new girlfriend and all their mutual friends. And yes, her job as a PA to one of the most disgusting men in London is mind-numbingly tedious and her career is a constant disappointment to her mother. But it's really okay. She's happy (ish).

So it's not surprising that when Sarah starts dreaming about a handsome stranger, she begins to look forward to falling asleep every night. Reality isn't nearly as exciting. That is until her dream-stranger makes an unexpected real-life appearance, leaving Sarah questioning everything she thought she wanted.

Because no one ever really finds the person of their dreams... do they?"

Image Credit: Goodreads

In short, I really enjoyed this book. It was a perfect summer read and all of the characters were likeable (apart from Dan...!). The plot moved at a good pace though I did find some of the dreams a bit strange! However, I'm definitely not judging - some of the dreams I have are questionable too! If you're looking for a book that is a light and romantic read, this is a decent offering. This is definitely Giovanna Fletcher's best offering thus far. Dream A Little Dream scores a solid 7.5/10.