To Premedical Students

You’re sitting in the library basement with $5 Popeyes chicken boxes and
Jupioca’s mango green bubble tea
Buried under papers of chemical reactions and equations
In which spontaneity is measured with delta G
And free fall isn’t really free;
9.81 m/s^2 is gravity, then you’ll need to take into account
Initial and final velocities
You’ve been through operant conditioning
Salivating like Pavlov’s dogs
When graded tests become treats

Once more you’re on
The floor of Ingersoll hall, full of three expresso shots caffeine
Tear-stained printed slides of formulas and definitions
Of enzymes like hydrolases that need water to cleave
And 2, 3 BPG that has to save the hemoglobin
Shifting to R state from T.
When everyone in your year wants to compete
And not really learn what any of this means
You’ll have to make sure that your ADH and aldosterone are working right –
The two hormones will keep you glued to your seat

This all should come back to you naturally
Four years of your life compressed
Into 8 hours behind a computer screen
Since 1 test score can determine
Your medical eligibility

-Raisa Alexis Santos