L'Oreal...Because It Was Worth It.
(Don't worry, this has nothing to do with make-up.)
I know, I know...that's not how the L'Oreal slogan goes...but it works for the purposes of my post...and my segue. Though, I'm sure I'd be lynched by every English professor I've ever had because, according to them, the first rule about segues - much like Fight Club - is to not talk about the segue. That being said, this is now - officially - the worst segue ever.
So. Today was the start of a new elective. I was told before the rotation that it would be a whole lot of reading - and after a more serious perusing of the required book...I concur. The book itself is about 1,000 pages of information-dense chapters with scant sprinkling of figures - replete with problem sets at the back of most chapters. All in black-and-white. Thanks to the snowpocalypse, however, we were dismissed for the day almost as soon as we got there - though not without a reading assignment, of course. Side note (but actually relevant): we just got an e-mail with a list of questions/additional problems to do for this reading assignment. I feel like I'm in high school again...and despite what you may think...I don't hate it.
Anyway, on my way home today...I was in a hot-drank sorta mood. Coffee-drank, that is. So, naturally, I blasted and sang along to beats from my mp3 player (thank goodness for auxiliary cables) and stopped at a Starbucks along the way.
Bee-tee-dubs: you're welcome, I-78, for my irrefutably wondrous rendition of "No Diggity". Don't tell me it didn't brighten your afternoon in bumper-to-bumper traffic just a teensy bit.
Anywho. I thought, for some reason, everyone would be holed up in their homes, hiding from Snowmageddon. Color me surprised, then, when there was a super long line at the Starbucks. But who am I kidding? I had nowhere to be.
So as I waited in line for my grande-soy-cinnamon-dolce-latte-sans-whip (which was awesome), I did some world-class eavesdropping. And by world-class...I mean this particular horde of teenagers happened to congregate right next to the line. And I could only amuse myself on Instagram for so long...
As I dropped some eaves (?), I heard them all talking about college acceptances and their burgeoning desires to go to medical school. One of them, at first, seemed super excited about his future career in life-saving but soon enough there was this resounding negativity among the group of kids.
"Loans!"they clamored. "Debt!"
"Sleepless nights!" they chimed.
"7-8 years away!" one of them groaned. "That's my main deterrent."
I found it both amusing and sad listening to all this. C'mon! You're 17 (probs)! Where is the passion? Where is the verve?! I wanted to jump into their conversation so badly - to tell them, now at the end of my medical school career, how worthwhile it was. Alas, I didn't - due in large part to my own fears of just butting into strangers' conversations. Had I, though...
I would've said what they're feeling is probably totally reasonable. I would've said - that if they cared about medicine as passionately as they seemed to - eventually, their opinions would change. It's a scary thing to walk into the real world of residency equipped with a medical degree you feel unqualified for and some gnarly bags under your eyes...and still remain optimistic that everything's gonna be okay. But it will be!
Medical school is this exhausting adventure of meeting new (and wonderful) people, all-you-can-drink pots of coffee, and faking-it-'til-you-make it. But at the end-ish of my 4th year of medical school, I can confidently say it was totally worth it and I would do it again in an irregular heartbeat.
I know, I know...that's not how the L'Oreal slogan goes...but it works for the purposes of my post...and my segue. Though, I'm sure I'd be lynched by every English professor I've ever had because, according to them, the first rule about segues - much like Fight Club - is to not talk about the segue. That being said, this is now - officially - the worst segue ever.
So. Today was the start of a new elective. I was told before the rotation that it would be a whole lot of reading - and after a more serious perusing of the required book...I concur. The book itself is about 1,000 pages of information-dense chapters with scant sprinkling of figures - replete with problem sets at the back of most chapters. All in black-and-white. Thanks to the snowpocalypse, however, we were dismissed for the day almost as soon as we got there - though not without a reading assignment, of course. Side note (but actually relevant): we just got an e-mail with a list of questions/additional problems to do for this reading assignment. I feel like I'm in high school again...and despite what you may think...I don't hate it.
Anyway, on my way home today...I was in a hot-drank sorta mood. Coffee-drank, that is. So, naturally, I blasted and sang along to beats from my mp3 player (thank goodness for auxiliary cables) and stopped at a Starbucks along the way.
Bee-tee-dubs: you're welcome, I-78, for my irrefutably wondrous rendition of "No Diggity". Don't tell me it didn't brighten your afternoon in bumper-to-bumper traffic just a teensy bit.
Anywho. I thought, for some reason, everyone would be holed up in their homes, hiding from Snowmageddon. Color me surprised, then, when there was a super long line at the Starbucks. But who am I kidding? I had nowhere to be.
So as I waited in line for my grande-soy-cinnamon-dolce-latte-sans-whip (which was awesome), I did some world-class eavesdropping. And by world-class...I mean this particular horde of teenagers happened to congregate right next to the line. And I could only amuse myself on Instagram for so long...
As I dropped some eaves (?), I heard them all talking about college acceptances and their burgeoning desires to go to medical school. One of them, at first, seemed super excited about his future career in life-saving but soon enough there was this resounding negativity among the group of kids.
"Loans!"they clamored. "Debt!"
"Sleepless nights!" they chimed.
"7-8 years away!" one of them groaned. "That's my main deterrent."
I found it both amusing and sad listening to all this. C'mon! You're 17 (probs)! Where is the passion? Where is the verve?! I wanted to jump into their conversation so badly - to tell them, now at the end of my medical school career, how worthwhile it was. Alas, I didn't - due in large part to my own fears of just butting into strangers' conversations. Had I, though...
I would've said what they're feeling is probably totally reasonable. I would've said - that if they cared about medicine as passionately as they seemed to - eventually, their opinions would change. It's a scary thing to walk into the real world of residency equipped with a medical degree you feel unqualified for and some gnarly bags under your eyes...and still remain optimistic that everything's gonna be okay. But it will be!
Medical school is this exhausting adventure of meeting new (and wonderful) people, all-you-can-drink pots of coffee, and faking-it-'til-you-make it. But at the end-ish of my 4th year of medical school, I can confidently say it was totally worth it and I would do it again in an irregular heartbeat.
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