In over my head?

Well...I had heard the word circulating for some time that PA school would be hard, but I guess I never wrapped my head around just how hard they meant. I had a bit of a nervous breakdown after the first week of classes/orientation after realizing just how difficult this program would be. I am in class 8+ hours a day on some days, balancing 6 classes, 4 labs, an online course, mandatory community service, and studying as soon as I come home. I allow myself maybe a half hour of free time a day. My classes are as follows: Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, Clinical Pathology, Diagnostic Methods, Principles of Medical Interviewing, and Electrocardiography. Diagnostic Methods and Cadaver Lab for anatomy will probably be my favorite of these. In DM, we learned how to read urinalysis tests (our first homework assignment was to pee into a cup and study the contents of our own pee...although they had to be refrigerated for the day so you can just imagine a bunch of innocent, brand new grad students walking down the hall, cups of pee in hand following a sign to a lab room saying "PA PPs this way --->"). Next week we are already jumping into venipunctures. My poor partner will probably walk away very bruised as I have never had experience with needle sticks. The other redeeming lab is Cadaver Lab. I had my first one yesterday and for 6 hours straight at Yale, 6 other classmates and I dissected a man's back and performed a laminectomy (removal of his spinal column to study his spinal cord/nerves). I have a lot of respect for these people who donate their bodies to science like this. It was in this lab where I felt I was actively learning something and not having information thrown at me as I often feel like this is happening in other classes. Although, I have to say, I won't be able to eat scrambled eggs again for quite some time. I don't know if you know what fat looks like, but it's gross. Won't go into details I promise.

So, basically this is going to be the hardest 2 1/2 years of my life. I may make it, I may not, but I'm giving it an honest shot. While anxiety and a feeling of homesickness make it harder for me, a good friend of mine reminded me that this is very much outside my comfort zone and a challenge. If I can make it through this, I can make it through anything.