LIFE UPDATE: TL;DR I’m in Medical School
It’s been an estimated three years since I was actively blogging about my life. Obviously, a lot can happen in more than 1000 days.
So here’s what happened:
I always wanted to be a doctor. However, my course in college directed me into the field of economics and politics. I thought that my course, Development Studies, studied the developmental milestones of a human being and the human life cycle. Little did I know that the development that I was going to study stands for economic justice and growth.
My course was multidisciplinary and we got to look into all the sectors involved in creating a better world. One of these is health. In my third year in college, just before the second semester ended, I got assigned to do a paper on “Dermatology for the Filipino Masses”. That homework was a turning point in my life that made me decide to pursue my lifelong dream, to be a doctor.
Of course, it wasn’t an easy journey. There were a lot of things to be considered: money, subjects, medical schools, etc.
In the summer of 2014, I took an internship at the senate. I wanted to put something that would contribute to my social scientist career just in case “doctor” doesn’t work out.
In third year and fourth year, I focused a lot on my studies and aimed for cum laude to get a discount on my prospective medical school. It’s now a blur when I come to think of it. What I remember is I became inactive in my org life, especially in 4th year. I also took NMAT review classes on Sundays and did my thesis on weekdays. It was tiring but it was all worth it.
I learned that I got into medical school in March 2016 and I graduated in June in the same year.
I didn’t graduate with honors so I didn’t get the discount I aimed for. It was frustrating, yes but I had a new path ahead of me and it was thrilling!
In August, I started Medicine.
You know how doctors tell us it was going to be difficult? They weren’t kidding. In my first three days, I got burned out. I was able to cope by buying a diary and pouring my heart into it. Additionally, I had a big maturation phase during my senior year and I have the best support system anyone can have.
I’m now six months in and I feel that I’ve officially considered myself a med student. So I’m going to list down the biggest adjustments I’ve made and a little something about it.
1. Living away from my family
In college, I went home everyday. I didn’t have to think about what I was going to eat because everything was given. Living away, I learned how to scrub toilets and iron my uniform. But when you live 2 hours away, going home everyday is impossible. For me, it was the biggest change that I’m still getting sad about from time to time.
2. Living with other people aka roommates
In Cavite, I had my own room. I can cry anytime, I am left alone, I could put all my stuff anywhere, etc. I have to say that I’m really lucky to have 4 supportive girls in my condo. Although, I’m a people person, this was also a new thing to me. People are different when they just woke up, or when they’re stressed out. I couldn’t have my tantrums for I might get kicked out. Living away and living with other people really makes you stronger and a lot nicer because you learn a lot about people.
I could never forget how my roommates encouraged me when I failed my first Physiology exam. They studied pre-med so they had study tips and mindsets that are very useful until now.
3. THE STUDY LOAD.
I entered med school without a single prerequisite subject. I swear, even the cell organelles were all new to me. During my first month, I wasn’t the girl who spoke up, I was the girl who was listening and taking note of everything my professors and even my classmates have to say. Every single thing was new to me and I felt really really small and insignificant.
However, I was always resilient. I had to work double. Medical school isn’t all about the brains. It is passion, courage and determination. It is finding what works for you and what doesn’t. It’s a lot of things. But I know it’s what I always wanted.
There are a lot of things I would like to talk about regarding med school which is why I’m reviving this blog. I had a lot of things that I had in mind when I visualized this blog post but I guess this would suffice for now. I’ll just end this with some pictures and advice for people that would like to go into med school too:
Med school is part of your life, not you’re whole life. Once you’ve adjusted, try to go out, find new places, learn a new skill, anything!
The picture above is me hiking in one of the first weekends of 2017.
Never forget your passion or the things you love doing. For me it’s photography. I’m taking pictures again so I’ll be posting some of my favorite portraits here (here’s a picture of my brother).
You’ll be meeting a lot people and you’ll have lots of different relationships. Choose to have meaningful ones. Choose people who would help you grow and those who you’d feel good about.
Lastly, never forget God the people who truly matter.
