Today marks the transition as I begin my journey to becoming a physician. Though I guess you could say that my journey really began years ago when I was fascinated by the surgical operations I saw on TLC. Or maybe it was when I did my first ever major school project on the brain and nervous system. But I guess if we’re being realistic, my journey really began when I decided to actually put my interest onto paper and apply last year. Regardless, the journey doesn’t really become a reality until you make your first step as a medical student, and that’s what I will be doing tomorrow.

To be honest, I love and hate change at the same time. I really felt comfortable at York University, and now I will be starting all over. New peers, new classrooms, new teachers, new campus. Things are so easy once you get into a routine, but I have always found transitions challenging. I think it’s partly because I like to keep a wall up, and there’s no need to hold up that wall when you’re in a daily routine and everything is familiar. I’m not sure why (my guess is a combination of genetics and childhood obviously, but nothing specific) but I feel like I am very cautious around new people, but can be pretty outgoing once I know people really well. For example, I feel like I’m pretty shy when I meet people for the first time at say a summer program (and remain shy-ish throughout), but I become much more talkative the very next time I see them a few months later. And this is all kind of funny because my close friends think I am pretty outgoing and have no problems meeting new people, but from my shoes, the reality is that they only see the more sociable, relaxed side of me because I am comfortable with them. The interesting thing is that I was talking to my brother about this a few days ago, and he says he experiences the same type of wall.

So in a way change makes me uncomfortable, yet at the same time, I feel like I thirst for change, though more so in terms of when it comes to being productive. I have sort of an obsessive personality. When I get really into something, I can go at it tirelessly for days or months on end, but at some point I lose interest and want to move onto something else. For instance, when I first started MedHopeful, I was obsessive about it and tried to post several times a week. I had so many ideas and articles just flowed from my finger tips. Now, even this past summer where I had a lot of free time, I lost motivation and my obsessive personality wanted to find a new obsession. I think this new project that I’m working on that MedHopeful is going to become a part of has brought the obsession back to me, but it’s going to be interesting to see how long that lasts.

Which is why going into medicine kind of worried me. I was worried that I was going to spend the next six to ten years of my life learning about something very focused, only to eventually lose interest and want to move on to something else because of my obsessive personality. But the more I thought about it, there was no other career I could see myself happy doing day in and day out for the next 40 years, or whatever it ends up being. And the neat thing about medicine is that there are so many avenues to explore. Besides the obvious act as being a practicing physician, you can dive into research, teaching, administration, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up pursing a route that involved teaching and working with the university in some capacity.

In a way my journey to get into medicine is over, but now is where the journey really begins.

I’d like to share this journey with you beginning tomorrow – hopefully I will feel up to writing for a bit when I get home, but not sure how likely that will be. Thanks again to everyone for their support throughout the admissions process, and continued support as I begin a new chapter in my life.

Oh, and of course, I could not end this blog entry without a plug for Inglourious Basterds. I saw this movie last night and it is insanely good – best movie I have seen all summer. This was my first time watching a Quentin Tarantino film in its entirety and I was super impressed. I would usually show the movie trailer here, but after watching the trailers today, the trailers do not do the movie any justice, and one of the trailers actually reveals a bit too much in my opinion. In any case, as long as you’re not sensitive about stuff like war, blood, and gore, go and watch this awesome movie.