What does it take to be "hardcore"? Is street fighter considered a "hardcore game" or not? Cause this all seems to be very subjective. It seems like in the mind of a lot of people the difference between hardcore and non-hardcore is what platform the game can be played on.

As a fellow med student, I can tell you that the way you are feeling is normal. I'm just assuming you are in the US and planning on taking the USMLE. If so, everyone is stressed about that, I know I was. It's a sacrifice you have to make for the job you want. Yes, its stressful and time consuming, and in most cases, it leaves you zero time for socializing. If you are studying for step 1, its even worse cause you have to know a lot of theoretical knowledge you will probably never use as a doctor, and the exam is just so damn scary. I would like to say that it gets easier, but it really doesnt. I mean for me personally, I'm in clinical sciences so I enjoy it a lot more. Sure the hours are insane and I have pretty much no social life, but at least you are seeing patients and real cases. And the moment you finally see someone with one of those conditions that the USMLE loves to ask you about but you will probably never see in your life, it makes everything all worth it. I saw a guy with Redman Syndrome and another guy with Carcinoid Syndrome all in one day and I was like "OH SNAP!!!!".

That being said, just because it's supposed to be hard and time consuming doesnt mean you should be depressed. You need to find an outlet, force yourself to meet new people and to go out, or you will go crazy, I know I almost did. And don't be afraid to see a shrink. You, as a future doctor, should know that there is no shame in asking for help if you need it. My advice, pick a single day of the week were you just go out and have fun. My day was friday. After classes, I would meet up with my friends and we would go out and have fun. They Saturday and Sunday were study days. As for your confidence and all that stuff, you need to build it up, no one can help you with that. You just need to say to yourself "once a week, I'm gonna put myself out there and do something I would never normally do" and over time you will get used to it and build confidence.

P.S. Kaplan videos + First Aid + USMLE World = awesome Step 1 score!

Lol. Took me a second to get the reference to The Fugitive :P

Perhaps the US should go to war with ISIS, but I think in the long run, the US needs to take a long hard look at it's foreign policy. I'm not saying I could do better, in fact, I don't know all the facts associated with US foreign policy, all I'm saying is the ever increasing negativity towards the US makes me believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with US foreign policy. Sure, you can keep fighting wars, but that's just putting a band-aid on a larger problem.

And on the flip side, recent studies have shown that marijuana smokers have a higher HDL:LDL ratio, have less insulin resistance, and to top it off, they paradoxically have smaller waist-lines than non smokers. Yeah, I know, marijuana almost always leads to hyperphagia but there is a theory that it some how helps your body metabolize fats better. Sure, if you go on an eating binge eating nothing but McDonalds, you're gonna get fat, but think about all the stoners from your school...most were average weight or below weight.

The EU is gonna have a tough time imposing sanctions on Russia, cause...well...Russia is a major part of the European economy. Its easy for the US to talk tough, cause they have a lot less to lose. Someone here was saying that China should support the EU in denouncing Russia, but that will never happen. China is like the flip side of the US. The US uses its military, political and economic power to try and force weaker nations to conform to it's values. China on the other hand doesn't really care about your political or ideological values. As long as there is money to be made and you arent threatening the motherland, their open for business.

You know I gotta sort of agree with Renevent42. Rather than create their own brand new super heroine and build her from scratch, they are pretty much admitting that female heroes don't sell, so in order to get one to sell, you need to get a hero with an established fan base, and then just gender change them.

The whole problem is that people are looking for an antagonist and a protagonist. There are no good guys in this conflict. You have 2 governments that would rather kill each other than make peace...which one is the worse evil is just a matter of personal opinion; both sides are wrong in this conflict. Unlike in the movies and in novels, sometimes in real life, everyone is just an asshole and there are no good guys.

I just feel like in the Israeli Palestine conflict, the only people who want peace are the civilians....the respective governments of both nations want absolutely nothing to do with peace. Israeli government continues to support illegal settlements thus blocking any chance at peace, and HAMAS...well they just keep shooting at Israeli civilians, once again destroying any hope of peace. One could claim that since, the governments are democratically elected, they are a reflection of the people's will, but who knows? All I know is that neither government in the conflict is interested in peace, they want to wipe the other one out, the only thing stopping them is that genocide is frowned upon by the world.

Lol I know what you mean, I just turned 27 and sometimes I wonder if I'm fucking up, cause everyone I know is getting married. All my exes are married with children. I feel like I'm missing something they have like...they figured out life and Im still just lost. Oh well, all things happen in their own good time.