sometimes i breathe respiratory therapy blog

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AARC Times vs Respiratory Care Journal
2007-11-27 22:16:00
As a student, it is mandatory for me to join the AARC. I receive two magazines; the AARC Times and the Respiratory Care Journal . It?s $50 a year for students and a lot more for others. The AARC Times is the Reader?s Digest for respiratory therapists. It?s filled with inspirational stories, short articles about RT, and a lot of ads. The Respiratory Care Journal is a medical journal that is very intimidating. I?m honestly not much of an avid reader. I?ll read a book a month?max. The RCJ is limited in images and contains a lot of words. Simply put; it?s not something I could read leisurely on the toilet. Most of the articles look like they were published by professors for grants. It was very uninteresting. I personally find the AARC Times a much easier read and more entertaining. It?s nice to have some prestigious magazines laying around instead of my other subscriptions to videogame magazines, Seventeen(don?t ask), Popular Mechanics and PC Magazine. Hey?they were free. But...

My Thanksgiving break
2007-11-25 18:36:00
Tuesday: I went to see Streetlight Manifesto with some friends. It was a fun and tiring experience. I moshed, I crowed surfed, I fell. I had this theory that all people with Mohawks were jerks, but this one gigantic angry looking guy helped me up roughly five times. Appearances can be misleading sometimes. Studied. Wednesday: Had pot luck dinner party with some Asians. I met some interesting people and participated in a Wii tennis/boxing tournament. Studied.Thursday: Ate dinner with classmate and her family since my family doesn?t really celebrate Thanksgiving ?or anything really. The food was excellent. Studied.Friday: Went to another concert: Greasy G. Decent band but all their songs where either about alcohol or sex. I am a fan of both but I need more substance in my music. Then I ate at IHOP with some friends. Studied.Saturday: Asian dinner party. The parents sing karaoke upstairs while the rest of us play ping pong downstairs. Conversed with old friends then drank to good health...
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Competition within the program
2007-11-21 20:05:00
My fellow classmates and I get along great. We?ll have lunch and joke about our personal lives. Granted, we don?t exactly ?hang out? on the weekends. We see each other everyday during the weekday so we thought we were compelled to be friendly towards one another. I am a junior in the program. I know some of the seniors in the program and was told that none of them really get along. Too much ?competition? was the term I distinctly remember hearing. Competition can turn people ugly. But my father is a firm believer that friends are useless. They make you weak. Obviously, he doesn?t have any friends. He said I would understand once I get older. I hate it when older people look down on me because of my age. So are RT jobs out there really that competitive? I hear getting into the nursing program is very competitive but getting a job afterwards is easy because of the shortage and high demand of nurses. What about RTs? Will my companion/classmate/competitor receive a higher salary...
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Failure is not a option
2007-11-20 03:00:00
I have been in a bad mood most of the day. I "failed" my test today. You are dropped out of the RT program for receiving a final grade of less than 75. Today?s test was abysmal. I never put so much effort into studying and see so little in return. I?m not alone. I studied extra hard for this exam because my previous three test scores averaged a 92 and I was hoping to make it even higher before finals. Now my average is an 86. My fellow classmates are also in anguish. We all believed that we would do well do to the effort we put into our study groups. I feel sorry for the ones that have a borderline 75 average hoping that they would do well on this test. Too much time and money has been wasted if you are going to drop out of school now. There are ~44 people in the class. I don?t think they will all be there next semester. Hopefully, there is some form of extra credit when I get back from break but that is wishful thinking. I have no contempt for the professor. I'm not one to blam...
More About: Failure

My first race
2007-11-17 19:00:00
I ran a 5k (3.1mi race) today with my fellow RT running club members that consists of four girls, our professor, and me. My goal was to catch up to this seemingly innocent 12-year-old kid. I refused to let him beat me so I charged in front of my classmates. He was one fast little punk. After conquering him, I took a steady pace. I lacked motivation once the hills starting coming and somehow, my professor catches up to me. We jog the next mile and finish. My final time was 27:19, which I think is not bad for my first race. Unfortunately, as I placed my time card into my age group box, I noticed that I was 5th or 6th place. By comparison, first place overall finished in 16 minutes. I was never motivated to join a race because most of my friends live a sedentary life. Numerous tennis sessions would transpire during the summer but jogging was out of the question. It?s too hot. I?m glad I did this today. I feel great donating $20 for a cause and working out at the same time. We also g...
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Clinical day 4
2007-11-15 20:17:00
What I learned from Patch Adams: Getting too attached to a patient will only be the cause of your downfall.Some of my classmates disagree. Attachments are what make you human, right? During clinical today, we had to perform inspection and auscultation on patient. All we had to do was observe the patient and check her breath sounds with our stethoscope. According to the charts, she was a Gomer. Mid way through, the son of the patient comes in during visiting hours. The class feels generally nervous since the son is standing there and watching us. Our instructor pulls him to the side and asks if we are allowed to finish observing. He agrees although his posture seems otherwise. One of my classmates strongly disagrees that we should even be in the room. He felt that if his significant other was lying in bed, he wouldn?t want all these useless students looming over the patient. Somehow we managed to go into the topic of getting too attached to patients. I believe that we are in a...

Random thoughts
2007-11-14 22:26:00
Legality issues; We had a whole lecture about charting. Charting is so important because "if you didn't chart it, it never happened." My professor says that the hospital would rather fire someone on the team then to have the whole hospital publicly humiliated. It makes sense. I was looking forward to the job stability but it seems like half the class will be fired/sued. My professor says we shouldn't worry about it. Bad things don't happen to good people. Right?---My Cultural diversity group project is finally over. Our topic was on weddings and funerals in Bangladesh. I felt we did an extraordinary job and I'm glad that it is finished. We dressed up and everything. I'll be surprised if we receive anything less than an "A."---Last day of clinical tomorrow! We only go four times(four hours each) this semester. Next semester, it's twice a week from 7 P.M. to 3 P.M. That's 16 hours a week. Yet, we only get four credit hours for it. I hope I'm not going to crack under the press...
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Grade report
2007-11-12 19:05:00
I have a test nearly every week now. My last test was on Friday. I received my grade today and it was a 93 (It was actually a 92.5 but I round up). The highest was a 95. I'm proud to announce that I have a low "A" (91-93) in every class in the RT program. I'd like for it to be higher since finals are usually more difficult and a higher grade before finals would create a "safe" zone.I think I'm doing well considering that my high school and most of my college career classified me as a "B" student. I remember graduating high school with a 86 average, rank 356/728 (Just a smidgen above average).My parents compare me to a lot of other Chinese families. It's annoying since I seem to be the only one that will not be making six figures when I'm working in the real world (except for Tim, who smokes too much marijuana and dropped out of school. Though he is Korean so he doesn't count). My parents are still proud considering my high amounts of procrastination and Team Fortress 2 marath...
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Cultural diversity book review
2007-11-10 22:10:00
An Introduction to Intercultural Communication : Identities in a Global Community, 5th EditionPurchase Price: $43Rating: 0.5 / 5Pros: Some interesting stories, decent pictures.Cons: Makes Caucasians seem like the devil, alienates Asians, no end of chapter review questions.One thing I can not stand about this book is that it makes Chinese people seem like another species. Since I am Chinese, I am not content with this book. Don?t get me wrong, I enjoy this class very much due to the humorous professor, but this book is trash. I have read 14 chapters and the only real thing I learned from this book was something I already learned from elementary school: respect all races no matter how different they are. This book is more similar to a history book. It provides copious amounts of examples of stereotypes and cultural influences yet they are all something I have already learned in my previous sociology class.Berger and Gese provide a theory that when two strangers meet, their primary ...
More About: Book Review , Review , Book , Diversity , Cultural

Clinical day 3
2007-11-08 20:05:00
Today was an interesting day. Our instructions were to only to record the patient’s oxygenation and type of mask they are using. Each student was assigned a different floor. I got the ICU. Most of the other students were assigned to the floors. I saw some interesting things. Most wore a nasal cannula. There were a couple ET tubes, a dialysis machine, and some venturi masks. The doctors were very friendly. Some ignored me while others wanted to indulge me with information. One room had a family member crying silently. I had to get the job done so I walked in and introduced my self. It was very uncomfortable and I wanted to say something to comfort her, but the patient had a full body cast. I had no idea what to say. I felt bad for not at least asking, “Do you need anything?” Yet somehow when I left the hospital, I almost completely forgot about her. I need to work on my patient assessment and communication skills.

Health care and money
2007-11-05 15:41:00
I saw an old friend the other day at a dinner party. His major is patent law. My lack of knowledge about the subject is astonishing so he explained it to me. It sounded very uninteresting to me but the pay is amazing; at least $100k a year. He told me that even if he received half of the normal amount, he would still do it since his life would still be very manageable. Patent law is very interesting to him and he is not doing it for the money. I am proud of him. Unfortunately, too many people go into health care for the money. Many just want the ?Dr.? in their title because it is associated with power and wealth. I know so many people that have defaulted into nursing because they don?t know any better; nurses get paid well and it is easier than med school. Our jobs are not like most jobs. We have direct control over someone?s life. I?ll admit that I had my doubts whether I?d like this future by selecting RT as a major. After two months, I have decided that changing my major from...
More About: Health , Money , Health Care , Care , Heal

sometimes i breathe?
2007-11-03 22:58:00
This entry is about my nickname since some of my fellow classmates are curious. I got it off a song during middle school. It sounds ridiculous. I needed a name that would strike fear and be memorable during my nightly Quake online gaming sessions. sometimes i breathe was meant to be funny and memorable. The name is not emo or has any special meaning behind it. It?s simply stating that sometimes?I breathe. Now I use this name for everything. The only problem with a lot of programs today is that they allow a max of 16 characters. By some strange twist of fate, I am now studying to be a respiratory therapist.I also added Respiratory Therapist Student Blog and Respiratory Therapy Driven to the blogroll. Respiratory Therapist Student Blog is another blog that's similar to mine. Respiratory Therapy Driven is written by a blogger who received training from the U.S. Army.
More About: Breathe , Some

Clinical day 2
2007-11-01 21:04:00
Clinical today was not very interesting today. We had to interpret a patient?s chart. It?s not like most television shows where there is a tiny clipboard for every patient. These patient charts are huge. If you combine all my notes from my college career, my binder would still be smaller. Granted, my note taking skills are lacking. It was very difficult writing down all the stats because the physician has horrible hand writing. Seriously, I think efficiency of hospitals would increase dramatically if people learned how to write clearly. Our instructor told us that we would get use to it. Why don?t hospitals just computerize all the information? It?ll be easy to access and I?m sure it is not that expensive. Is privacy an issue? Implication of password protection would be a straightforward solution. I see computers near every room anyways. I?m sure that creating effective hospital patient chart software would make health care better. But what do I know? I?m just a student.

RT running club
2007-10-31 21:52:00
I joined the RT running club this week. It is an unofficial club that some RT students and one of the professors created to improve our general health and to run. I think we have seven members. I?m the first male in the club. I like to run two miles, three times a week. I usually do this in the afternoon, after classes and lunch. The problem with running after lunch is that cramps will come if I don?t wait long enough. Our club meets three times a week, 7:15 am in the morning. It takes me about 50 minutes to get to school. I need to buy some more coffee. I know classes may take up a lot of time and it seems like you are always busy, especially if you live an hour away from campus. College is the best time to be active in school. I just found out we had free aerobic classes and $20 a semester classes from Capoiera to ballet dancing. I know I don?t have the time to join all the clubs I want, but at least you should run every once in a while; it?s healthy.
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Public Health Service: Commissioned Corps
2007-10-29 20:59:00
After a long talk with my dad, I decided to apply for the PHS (Public Heal th Service : Commissioned Corps). It?s one of the seven uniformed services which include the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Public Health Service. Ever since September this year, the PHS started hiring RTs! They have 6,000 members and most are nurses. The best way to describe the job would be that I enlisted into the army and instead of fighting; I?ll be a RT for them. I can be shipped off into a VA hospital in Texas or respond to emergency situations/disaster crisis. Free room and board, full healthcare, retire after 20 years; amazing benefits. The pay is poor though; roughly $2,500 a month. There are two programs for students. The juniors are allowed partial benefits and the lowest rank salary. There are no obligations to work for the government after graduation.Seniors receive reimbursement for school, but for every month that th...

My (nonexistent) love life
2007-10-29 00:42:00
My quest so far for a 23-year-old single female has been unsuccessful. Maybe I wasn?t trying hard enough. I?m looking for a 23-year-old because that?s a good age when people become mature in my opinion. No high school drama and none of that ?find a husband? mentality. I was just joking. I?m not really picky about age or ethnicity. Dating a skin color is just stupid. They?re all pink on the inside (No further explanation is needed). My minimum system requirements are straightforward: no drugs, go somewhere in life, no big girls. No big girls may seem kind of shallow but my mentality is this: If you can?t treat your own body well, how are you going to be good to someone else? But I tire of the uncertainty, dishonesty, games, expectations, arguments, empty promises, mood swings, break ups and the worse feeling in the world that only another person can provide. I was told that ?if you are looking for love, you?ll never find it. Let it come to you.?That?s why I?m giving up my *...
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Divided we fall
2007-10-26 23:02:00
I mentioned that I had an AARC seminar last night. It was AARP; my mistake. The AARC is for respiratory therapists. The AARP is club for people over the age of 50 that focuses on healthcare. The J. Rhodes Haverty Lecture seemed boring to many students but I paid attention even though it may not seem like it since I was chewing on my tie (bad habit). The CEO of AARP talked about our healthcare problems and some viable solutions. I did not agree to everything he said but I did concur that the US should put more focus on preventing problems with a balance of food and adequate exercise. He emphasized on how everybody can make a difference by standing together; divided we fall. I think the problems with our health care are people who take advantage of the system. I don?t blame people with chronic illnesses. I?m saying that if a drug addict comes into the ER for the fifth time for overdosing, then that person should not be resuscitated. It sounds harsh but there are more people who ...
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Clinical day 1
2007-10-25 20:21:00
Our instructions for clinical told us to watch a video about the hospital policies and take a simple tour. Our clinical instructor was actually part of the program that we are in now. She graduated two years prior. She was very well educated and allowed us to examine some patients. I did feel clueless about some of the questions she asked and I knew I wasn?t alone. I was chastised for asking what gas the black cylinder contained. Even though I did not have any other clinical instructors for comparison, but I felt that she did a pretty good job.The most memorable moments include a post-op cardiothoracic surgery patient, a brain dead patient waiting for her organs to be harvested, and another patient with 60-pack years (smoker). This is why I want to go into pediatrics. I think I?ll have a hard time with people that self inflict damage to their bodies. We saw more than our requirement and I am happy for that. Now I have to head back to school for an AARC seminar and free dinner.

Respiratory care week
2007-10-24 23:28:00
October 21-27: A time where all RTs rejoice, hold hands, and sing songs.Or we study. The AARC provides a list of 100 ideas/things to do for respiratory care week. Our school's idea is to steal a classroom and hold a pizza party after class. Being a average college student, passing up free food is one of the seven deadly sins. I do not care to elaborate on the other six because passing up free food is clearly the most important.There was a RT trivia/Jeopardy game among the students. The highest scored team would face off against the professors. I don't know who won because some of us had another class to attend to, including me. The pizza was excellent. I could provide a more in-depth review on the free pizza but I'm too lazy.On another note: My clinical starts tomorrow!Note to self: Learn proper grammar.To everybody else: Never pass free food unless the consequences are dire.
More About: Care , Week

Waiting to exhale
2007-10-22 22:26:00
I am patient when it comes to a lot of things but I don?t like sitting still. I wouldn?t be able to handle my daily commute on the train to school without an mp3 player and my Nintendo DS. I know; I?m spoiled. I had my second hepatitis B vaccine today. It took an hour even with my called in appointment. I didn?t bring my DS or the book I was reading (Speaker of the Dead by Orson Scott Card) because I rushed to make my appointment on time. I then made an appointment at the health department to take my antibiotics for tuberculosis. The next available appointment is in December; wow. I figured that I could just walk in and grab the pills like at a pharmacy. Are they going to explain the instructions to me in depth? ?Take these pills twice a day before a meal but not with milk. Drink exactly four ounces of water with each pill. If you forget to take a pill at the allotted time then you?ll have to stab yourself in the neck with this pencil. Also, don?t feed yourself after midnight...
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Birthday dinner
2007-10-22 01:37:00
There is nothing exciting about being 22; no tax deduction or new privileges. I?ve already voted, bought cigarettes, alcohol, visited a gentlemen?s club and played the lottery (all at the same place). The next thing I?m looking forwards to is a car insurance deduction at the age of 25. Provino?s Italian restaurantPurchase Price: $15-20Rating: 4.5 / 5Pros: Excellent salad and dinner rolls, friendly services.Cons: Limited alcohol selection, kind of loud, small tables, not exactly healthy. I had dinner at Provino's Italian restaurant last night with some friends. Their alcohol variety is very limited to costly wine, but their food selection is excellent. We wanted pitchers of beer but they were unavailable. It?s a good ideal to bring a date?once I find one. The servers first brought out salads and dinner rolls, which are also common in Olive Garden (overpriced). The house salad dressing is perfect. It did not have the familiar taste of Italian dressing because it was more s...
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Respiratory therapy volleyball tournament
2007-10-20 07:24:00
Not everything is just study and stress in RT. Our class had a RT volleyball tournament VS other schools in the state. We lost. I think we got third or fourth place; I?m not really sure. I was way too intoxicated thanks to my professors and colleagues. What made Friday night sweeter was the fact that our professors enjoyed/purchased alcohol with us (the students). It made them seem that much more human. I made some new friends and formed stronger bonds with current colleagues. And then I puked. This was the best night I?ve had since RT classes started. We?re sorry to disappoint due to the loss in the tourney, but we will practice for next year. What made it weird is that we have a test on Monday. Since I turn 22 soon, I?m planning on getting smashed Saturday night. It looks like my Sunday is limited to reading and more reading.
More About: Volleyball , Therapy , Tournament , Amen , Thera

Dell Axim x50
2007-10-18 22:50:00
We received our hand held computers today. It?s a rental that is part of our RT program; the Dell Axim x50. Being a gadget nerd and all I had to look up the specs and reviews. It?s a fine piece of gadgetry that performs well at a decent price. The only negative points were really about the weak battery life. There are a couple programs that we will be using including Taber?s encyclopedic dictionary and a program that provides detailed outlines about various diseases. Now I get something to show off to my friends. What bothered me was that we had to sign a waiver saying that we had to pay $500 if we lose or break our PDA. The retail price was $299?back in 2004; outrageous. Here are the reviews if anyone cares:Geek.comMobileTechReview

Pay in pediatrics is bad
2007-10-18 03:48:00
Workers in pediatric hospitals are notoriously paid less than a normal one. My question is, how much less? I would like to work at a pediatric hospital once I am older, but I would also like to move out of the house eventually. Since my annual income is -$5000, I need to make some money quick. It?s not my strong dislike of senior citizens that makes me want to work at a pediatric hospital, but my profound platonic love for kids. Why are pediatric hospital workers paid less? It makes more sense to me that they would be paid more. You know; children are our future or some crap. Is the pay really that much of a difference?---I'd also like to talk about the blogrolls a little bit.Day to Day Random Awesomeness is created by a friend on mine. There is no rhyme or reason about his weekly rants.Respiratory Therapy 101: Just Keep Breathing is an interesting blog about the life of a real RT.
More About: Pediatrics , Pediatric

Here's to alcohol
2007-10-16 21:53:00
Paranoia sucks whether it?s suspicion about some girl avoiding you or if you think you?ll die from tuberculosis. So I was being a little paranoid yesterday. I received some professional opinion about this drug that I should take (INH), and the only problem I have to watch out for is liver complications. What makes me kind of nuts is that just purchased a new bottle of scotch. Everybody knows that alcohol and the liver are do not really get along. A small amount of alcohol soothes the nerves and drops anxiety.By no means that I?m tossing this scotch out. I?ll just have to nurse the liquor slowly, or I could drink it all this weekend since I?m turning 22.*raises glass of scotchA wise man once said (Homer Simpson):?Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.?
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What?s worse: tuberculosis or skin rash?
2007-10-15 23:01:00
There is a problem with my clinical health form. I received the BCG shot when I was young but new articles these days suggest that the BCG will only protect you for a decade. Since I am 21 years old, my professor suggested that I take this medication to protect myself from tuberculosis. My chest x-ray portrays a perfectly healthy young individual but the PPD test says otherwise, probably due to the BCG. My professor suggested that I should take the prophylaxis although there may be side effects. He didn?t really specify on the side effects but if I don?t take it?there is a chance of me acquiring an active form of TB. The drug is not mandatory and I could sign a form stating that I refused the free drug. B6 prophylaxis; I couldn?t really find anything about it on the internet except this. It says 13% develop a rash and 1.5% develops severe or life-threatening skin conditions. My professor said I have a 10% chance of acquiring TB if I don?t take the medicine. It?s really up to m...
More About: Skin , Tuberculosis , Tuber

iSnore
2007-10-14 18:35:00
Like many overweight middle aged Americans, I snore sometimes (except I?m a 21 year-old ?fit? Asian). It?s not something I?m exactly proud of but I digress. It doesn?t happen when I sleep on my side. Maybe I have a big tongue.Symptoms of sleep apnea and me:restless sleep (not really)loud snoring (check)morning headaches (none at all)trouble concentrating (probably not)irritability (no)forgetfulness (nope)decreased sex drive (I think my sex drive actually increases)increased heart rate (I have a resting HR of ~90 which is on the high end of the spectrum)anxiety (nah)depression (only when I get rejected by the ladies)increased frequency of urination (only because I drink a lot of water)nocturia (I?m pretty proud of my bladder capacity)esophageal reflux (nope)heavy sweating at night (not really)My snores always comes in waves around 4:00 AM. I wake up and fall asleep again. This happens roughly twice a week. It doesn?t really bother me but it did bother my ex.My genes suck. My dad neve...

You get what you paid for
2007-10-13 18:10:00
I just paid $216 for all the clinical equipment. That?s a big chunk from my junk food wallet. -two sets of scrubs-a lab coat-Littmann Master Classic II stethoscope-I forgot the rest of the stuff I decided to purchase it in a bulk from the nice representative instead of buying them all separately. I think I saved only a little amount. I?m most proud of the Littmann stethoscope that cost $65. I remember going to Scrubs and Things at the mall with my friend for a?costume party. The stethoscopes ranged from $6.99 to $180. I specifically remember the Master Classic II costing $112. There are some things in life that you can be frugal with but when it comes to stethoscopes, you get what you paid for.
More About: Paid

Car accident last week
2007-10-11 02:50:00
A GSU student was hit when jay walking Tuesday morning last week. Christ. I?m always behind on the news. I was wondering why there was a news crew on that street last week. I was told that this student died yesterday. The thing is?this is a one-way street to the Marta station. Nobody looks when they are crossing the street. Thousands of students pass this street everyday going to or leaving class. I?m one of many students that keep our heads down and listen to my mp3 player while walking. I keep my head down because the sun is my worst enemy, not because I?m depressed. I?m never going to look at that street the same way again, and I?ll wear my sunglasses instead of squinting at the ground.Since I can't directly link to the AJC article you'll have to Google search: GSU student hit by state-owned truck dies
More About: Accident , Week

ABG tutorial I
2007-10-10 02:05:00
Interpretation of blood gases should be second nature to any nurse and RT, but we are just starting. I barely know the difference between acids and bases. One is sour and the other is bitter? We have to take this arterial blood gas tutorial for our patient evaluation class. At the end of the tutorial, there is a mandatory 30 question quiz that pulls random questions from the tutorial. The tutorial takes a couple hours and the questions are really difficult. Since there are unlimited retries until a satisfied score is printed, there is no excuse not to get a 100, unless you are really lazy (like me). After the fourth attempt, I received a 93. I?m so tired.
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