Part I: Year One In Pictures

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.

July 5th, 2013- My "holy crap, it's happening" moment.

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.

Mid-late August: My 1st year roommate (Tracy) and I. I'm pretty sure we were at Esther's (?) birthday celebration. 

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.

Jon and Lana :)

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Early November- Post-test shenanigans! I'm pretty sure we were waiting on a couple people so we could go watch a movie.

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. :)

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!

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