STEP and finishing M2 year

Ok, so I dont think anyone reads this, but I've decided to try to keep up with this thing!  I've had a lot of anxiety lately about the year ending and moving on to the next STEP in my life.  And my mom suggested I keep a journal to help me sort thru all my emotions!  So I guess I'll just do it here.

So yes, as the title suggests, we have finished M2 year!  Thank you Jesus!!! Although, we cannot officially be called Third years until we take STEP.  More on that later.  So we are kind of in this Purgatory.  And yes, I do think that Purgatory is a fitting description.  Why? Because we are stuck in this 5 weeks cram session trying to relearn everything from the past 2 years.  Our days consist of waking up at 6 am and studying like a mad person until we go to bed.  Its gonna be a LOOOONNNNGGGG 5 weeks.  Why are we doing this you ask?  STEP

What is STEP:
Ok, so basically in order to become a doctor, we have to take a few tests to prove we actually know what we are talking about.  There are 3 of them and they are called STEP 1, STEP 2, and STEP 3.  STEP 1 consists of all the knowledge we should have learned over the past 2 years.  The problem is that our school (along with all other med schools) taught us what they wanted to teach us.  But some panel of MDs somewhere all got together to make a test over stuff they feel we should know. And sometimes that material doesnt quite match up. 

**Somehow the rest of this post got deleted?? and I dont remember what I wrote last time, so I'll just summarize:

STEP 2 - we take during our 3rd or 4th year.  It is broken up into 2 parts: Clinical Skills and Clinical Knowledge.  The skills part is an acting test where we are graded on our interaction with pretend patients. 
STEP 3- I dont remember when we take it.  Maybe during residency.

So why am I so stressed out about this test.  Well, it kind of determines what we will do with the rest of our lives.  Its kind of like if the ACT not only determined if you got into college, but also determined what degree program you qualified for!!
 
So thats it.  For the next 5 weeks we are locked away in our house, reading for 12 hours a day (including saturdays!)  Trying to relearn everything we should know, and teach ourselves everything we dont know or didn't learn already.  June 11th is the big day!

So if you are the praying kind, please say some for Hunter and I -- We'll need them!