I've known where I am going to med school for almost nine months. It's seemed like such an abstract idea for such a long time, and now it is only a few weeks away. I received my orientation packet in the mail on Tuesday, detailing the first couple days of med school as well as other logistics like immunizations (!!) and health insurance. I am mostly excited... ready to get the show on the road, but also slightly anxious and nervous... which is to be expected, right? I know I will be busy and stressed at times, but I hope to be happy and fulfilled with my choice to pursue this career. This new chapter in my life has not only made me ponder the future but also reflect on my year off since graduation and how I've spent it. Even though I've only been in Chicago since mid-May, St. Louis feels like ages ago... to summarize '07-'08:
- It's really felt like a year off from life. Not in a bad way, but in the recharge your battery kind of way. The summer after graduation nearly did me in (MCAT + messy break-up = lots of emotional baggage). Had I even been given the chance to start med school or some sort of grad school right after that, it would've been a mistake. I really do think this year off allowed me the time and space to mentally regroup and feel like myself again.
- Living in the Central West End was a good change of pace. I was ridiculously tired of being in the Wash U. undergrad immediate vicinity for four years and although sometimes I think I should've just left St. Louis altogether, the CWE provided a nice change of scenery and a more adult feel to the city I will always associate with college. Beth and I signed on as roomies for the third consecutive year, and acquired two more roomies in the process (Jack & Jazzy!).
- Applying to med schools was a painstakingly arduous process, one that I am not sad to be done with. I was a little overzealous at first and wanted to apply everywhere, but that enthusiasm came to a sudden halt as soon as I saw the essays some schools required on their secondaries. Staying in St. Louis was not an option for me at that point - I needed to get out. I mostly focused on the Chicago area (gotta love that Illinois residency), a few East coast schools, and some Southern schools. Obviously I happily ended up back in my home state and really couldn't ask for a better location.
- Nannying to Margaret (2 1/2), Herman (made in China) and occasionally Lukie (2), Lucy (3), & Edie (9 mos.). I now know how to change up to three diapers in an assembly-line fashion, how to make Annie's organic bunny macaroni, peanut butter and jelly, and turkey sandwiches for three different pairs of grabby hands, how to develop radar for the lost stuffed lamb and/or pig, and how to parlay Elmo into every day life for the purpose of naptime/sanitation/discipline. I feel completely adept for motherhood (...in like 10 years).
- Short stint at the Wash U. Neurosurgery Dept with Dr. Woo (looking at craniofacial surgeries on babies and kiddies) ... completely unpaid and 9-5. I don't even really count this as something I actually did because I quit before I could get started.
- Wash U. Psychology Dept research assistant to this PhD candidate named Mackenzie. He was strange, and his audio-visual experiments were annoying. Our lab was the kind you went to for extra credit in psych classes.
- Medical trip to Trinidad-Tobago was my second mission trip (first one was to Costa Rica & Nicaragua in 2005). I worked in free clinics with my group and hopefully made some difference, however small or insignificant, to the people we treated. As soon as my flight landed in the Miami airport on the way home, I found out I was accepted into Rush (three days before Christmas).
- Hostessing at ARAKA! The pinnacle of my success this past year (just kidding). First time ever working in a restaurant ... I was probably one of the only employees who had never been arrested or wasn't constantly on drugs (the so-called 'innocent one.') Learned a little about how restaurants are run (it's a sketchy business) and gained a lot of motivation to go to med school....
- The Windy City, the Second City, the City of Big Shoulders... CHICAGO. My new home for the next .... ? years. New apartment, new city, new school, new start.
Summer is almost over though. A few weekends left, filled with visits from old friends (near and far) and some QT with the boy. La dolce vita :-)
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