Day 1
Today was the day that we were all waiting for. The day where we could walk through those doors and receive a welcome package saying " Congratulations, welcome to med school". The day where all of our fears that we were let in via a clerical error can be forever subdued. We made it.
Piled into the auditorium, we listened to speeches about how we are great but not to let it get to our heads, and many other pro tips to being a good doctor and overall a good human being. I look around at the faces that will be my peers (and future colleagues) for the next 4 years. I think the people in my med class, and any med class really, can be summed up in one word: intense. From the several dozen students I've spoken to already, they are all extremely friendly, highly motivated and driven, bright, accomplished, and above all, fiercely competitive.
I was once all of those things, but have calmed down over time thanks to a bit of a travel and life outside of school. It really gives you perspective. I honestly worry about fitting in because I'm so different from everyone else. I'm 25 with life experience and life after school. I'm not up to date with pop culture and current TV shows, I'm not a beauty guru, I'm not a genius with a 4.0. I'm me: a really weird, cynical woman who enjoys being in nature and doesn't appreciate pub culture. Today I dressed in a way that I thought would mask my weirdness, but no matter how cute I looked in my little white dress and backpack my weirdness still came out and that was okay. People actually liked it; an experience I didn't have during past orientations.
So for tomorrow, I say screw it. I'm dressing to the full extent of my personality (within the limitations of my laundry basket). We had an aboriginal elder give a very inspirational talk after lunch (unfortunately much of it was lost give that no coffee was provided since 8 am and the room began nodding off). He said that we need to heal ourselves of the heaviness we carry, especially due to fear, and he really emphasized the importance of self care and preservation. So step one on the path to emotional weight loss is to stop caring about the things that don't matter and slowly let go of fear. Once you stop caring, the more you start enjoying.
Today was the day that we were all waiting for. The day where we could walk through those doors and receive a welcome package saying " Congratulations, welcome to med school". The day where all of our fears that we were let in via a clerical error can be forever subdued. We made it.
Piled into the auditorium, we listened to speeches about how we are great but not to let it get to our heads, and many other pro tips to being a good doctor and overall a good human being. I look around at the faces that will be my peers (and future colleagues) for the next 4 years. I think the people in my med class, and any med class really, can be summed up in one word: intense. From the several dozen students I've spoken to already, they are all extremely friendly, highly motivated and driven, bright, accomplished, and above all, fiercely competitive.
I was once all of those things, but have calmed down over time thanks to a bit of a travel and life outside of school. It really gives you perspective. I honestly worry about fitting in because I'm so different from everyone else. I'm 25 with life experience and life after school. I'm not up to date with pop culture and current TV shows, I'm not a beauty guru, I'm not a genius with a 4.0. I'm me: a really weird, cynical woman who enjoys being in nature and doesn't appreciate pub culture. Today I dressed in a way that I thought would mask my weirdness, but no matter how cute I looked in my little white dress and backpack my weirdness still came out and that was okay. People actually liked it; an experience I didn't have during past orientations.
So for tomorrow, I say screw it. I'm dressing to the full extent of my personality (within the limitations of my laundry basket). We had an aboriginal elder give a very inspirational talk after lunch (unfortunately much of it was lost give that no coffee was provided since 8 am and the room began nodding off). He said that we need to heal ourselves of the heaviness we carry, especially due to fear, and he really emphasized the importance of self care and preservation. So step one on the path to emotional weight loss is to stop caring about the things that don't matter and slowly let go of fear. Once you stop caring, the more you start enjoying.
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