Well Helloooo! It's no surprise that I haven't written in a long time. A lot has happened in the past year. I started my first year of medical school. I finished my first year of medical school. I met amazing and inspirational people and made best friends. I faced a lot of challenges. I had many ups and downs. Tonight I sit in my new apartment in the Washington, D.C. area on summer vacation! :) I can't write everything that went on this year, but wanted to catch you up. So here you go: part 1 of my year in pictures.
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July 5th, 2013- My "holy crap, it's happening" moment.
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July 15th, 2013- White Coat Ceremony: We had gone through orientation and had our first set of classes (8-noon) that morning. My mom and stepdad flew out to Arizona for the event. I was so excited, motivated, and ready. I had waited and worked so hard for this moment.
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| Mid-late August: My 1st year roommate (Tracy) and I. I'm pretty sure we were at Esther's (?) birthday celebration. |
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August 29th, 2013- Rommies (Esther and Pauline)! First course of med school complete and my pre-birthday celebration before everyone headed home for the long weekend.
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Jon and Lana :)
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August 31st, 2014- Celebrating my 27th birthday with these wonderful faces in Arizona! I remember being so nervous I wouldn't have any friends to celebrate my birthday with and I felt so blessed that they came out!
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September 5th, 2013- One week into NMSK A (worst course of my entire life) and a backstreet boys concert. Having fun or what I called it at the time, "balancing my life," was my priority. Little did I know I would later feel like I was drowning.
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Mid-september: I was missing home, my family, and friends sooooo much, that my beautiful best friends Amanda and Ala bought me a surprise ticket home for Fall Break. I'm pretty sure I cried for an entire day because I couldn't understand how I could possibly be so blessed.
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Early October- Road-tripped to San Diego. SO much fun!! Once again, my priorities were not straight...I later learned this was probably not the brightest decision (though it's one I don't regret), considering I had an anatomy practical that Monday and NMSK A final that Friday- I failed. :( More on this to come.
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October 31st, 2013- Since I knew I wouldn't be going out for halloween, I decided to be spirited in my dress! Don't let my smile here fool you, I was pretty stressed out. I had just failed a course and was terrified I wouldn't make it through med school. <--- This was much easier for me to type now. It was something I kept secret (only my mom knew) for a LONG time. I feared judgement from my family, friends, classmates, etc.... But, I realized that I can't let one failure define me or what I am capable of. I had to own up to it, tackle it straight on, and be sure that it never happened again. I will definitely dedicate an entire post to this.
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Early November- Post-test shenanigans! I'm pretty sure we were waiting on a couple people so we could go watch a movie.
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Mid-November: My amazing friend and artist, Pauline drew this when we were in the thick of Neuro (NMSK-B). It's a pretty accurate presentation of how my brain felt and it was during this course it finally hit me, med school is no place for laziness and procrastination. If I wanted to succeed, I would need to learn how to study and not be afraid to sway away from my old study ways, stick to it, and work my ass off. So I did. :)
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Mid-November: AND THIS...this is the night I realized that my new group of friends would be my biggest support and one of the reasons I made it through this year happy, smiling, and alive. We picked one random night, after an exam I'm sure, and built a blanket fort like we were middle school girls, except we drank wine and enjoyed each other's conversation and company....and sung some Mulan songs!
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My first year of medical school was challenging to say the least. I learned A LOT, about medicine, but even more about myself. Most importantly, I realized how blessed (pretty sure I've used this word a few times already) I am to have the opportunity to pursue my dreams of becoming a family physician. Hopefully, the couple weeks I have left this summer, I can take the time to share and unfold that with you all.
Happy Monday ya'll! Thank for reading.
xoxo
