— whollyKao

how to kick the boards

For some med school students, this time of year marks the frenzied time of studying for the Boards. My friend Ashley (nicknamed Ashmo) is taking hers soon, and I thought I’d make her something to cheer her on. I decided to make her this tutorial on how to “kick” the boards. The back side has a step-by-step pictoral guide on how to do just that.

Ashley thought this board was a riot. Hopefully it’s got some magic in it to help her ace the boards! And if you’ve got a friend who’s taking their exam soon, you should make them one too!

Materials needed:
-wooden board (mine was a 12″ x 12″ piece of plywood birch), sanded down
-’kick the boards’ template (see below for download)
-pencil
-acrylic paint
-paint brushes
-acrylic sealer
-masking tape

step 1
Download and print the ‘kick the boards’ template.

Color the back side of the template paper with your pencil. Make sure to color really hard (I mean it!). This will help you transfer the letters on to the board, and shows up best when the pencil markings are really dark. So yes, color hard.

step two
Flip your paper over, center the text on the board, and tape it in place. Now you’re ready to transfer the template onto the board!

Trace over all the letters on the page, making sure to press down hard. Just be aware that if you press too hard, you’ll mark the board up. To save time, I only traced the outlines of the letters.

step three
It’s time to paint! Because this is so detailed, I used really small brushes and painted really slowly. Take breaks if you need it. It’s okay to put it down so you can catch up on Glee (or maybe that was just me). I did the black first, then painted the word ‘kick’ in blue to make it pop.

step four: the back
Paint a dotted line down the center of the board first. Then it’s time to add the instructional guide. I sketched up some awesome stick figures for this before painting, then penciled them on to the board (I just eye-balled this part).
For step 5 on the step-by-step guide, I had to check with my sis (who’s a doc) on what the top score for the D.O. Boards is (800, for anyone who’s wondering)…because it’s apparently different for MDs and DOs. Wikipedia didn’t tell me that.

step five
Using any color, paint the sides of the board (where the plywood texture is). I wanted my board to pop, so I painted mine neon orange. Two coats.

step six
To protect it, spray the board with two coats of acrylic sealer, let it dry…and then you’re done!

I’m glad Ashley got a kick out of this. To her, and all you other med school champs taking the Boards this month: good luck!