The End of the Beginning

So, today marked the end of my second year as a medical student. Or the end of my basic science training and going to lecture halls all the time (or really, the lack of going to lecture halls 'cause I stayed at home to watch lecture videos 80-90% of the time by the end).

I kinda miss all that and seeing all of my classmates most of the time. Not that everyone went to class anyway, and even when people did, I don't think I really hung out with all that many people either. So it was like high school, but it wasn't really like high school either.

It was like high school because everyone basically knew what everyone else was doing. There were cliques, groups of people hanging out with exclusively each other, then those changed over the year, too. Think of it as an accelerated high school.

Honestly, these two years have gone by so quickly that I wish I had gone to class more often instead of sleeping in all the time. I've made some good friends and live with great housemates and gone out with college friends and their friends. People have come to visit me out in this cold and bitter weather. For all that, I'm very thankful for. Thanks everyone.

Having said all that, I worry a bit about the upcoming years of schooling. It's mostly because you hear about all of these things about backstabbing, people fighting to be the top dog in the group, pimping, getting passed over by attendings and residents. All of these horror stories of studying all the time and having no life and losing friendships, etc. But I'm also excited about all the new things I'll be learning about and all the cool things that I'll be able to see and maybe do. It won't just be looking at slides or reading books. It'll be....looking at people and reading research articles instead.... Yah, I realized that it doesn't ACTUALLY change that much, but at least I'll see things in action and participate in the whole process.

I still need to explore Ann Arbor some more. It's a nice little college town. Maybe I'll do more of that in my 4th year. At least, that's what we've all been telling ourselves. I'm hoping that I actually will. Because, honestly, I don't think I'll be coming back to this town after I get out of here. I need my big city and urban lifestyle with my group of people. So...that'll either be SUPER big city like NYC or my two favorite places in the country, LA and SF. This town's got its gems and Michigan has its beauties and charm. And how many of us from California ever actually come out to the Midwest and appreciate what it means to live in a Midwestern state? Especially a place like Michigan where we've got super huge unemployment rates, sub-freezing temperatures, 7 months of winter, apple picking, cider donuts, actual foilage, corn mazes, nice people, lack of fear of crime in small towns, and a generally different culture.

I even wanna head out to Canada once in a while to take advantage of my super close distance to the border. And, little known fact, Detroit is the only city that faces South on Canada. Now, that's gotta count for something. Yah, I need more people to visit me so I can find excuses to cross the border and show them the wonderful city of Toronto. I've likened Toronto to LA, but on a lake instead of an ocean and a million times cleaner. Hell, Toronto is probably more tolerant than LA. It would be an ideal city for me if it didn't have evil winters like Michigan. Vancouver's another city on my list, but I think I'll end up in either the Bay Area of California or the Greater Los Angeles area. That'll be another topic for another day when I decide to reminiscent about my traveling days. Now I just sound old, huh?

Until next time. =o)