Blog Post #5: Grateful

From the Class

I came into this class with a very good idea of my values, what I wanted in life, and the pathway I had to follow in order to reach those goals. Because of this, every discovery activity reassured me (instead of helping me uncover a hidden facet of myself) that I already understood my strengths, weaknesses, passions, and personality. As another example: the financial lessons proved to me even more that I was an impulsive person who became a little too lenient with money when there were good sales or a very high rated product. While this was already known, because that this was pushed to the forefront of my mind I have began to decrease my spending tendencies. I must say that I was especially grateful for the blog groups. Even though the posts are/were quite tedious and something that just had to get done, it is nice to read about other’s medical aspirations and see the passion that everyone holds towards their desired fields of radiology, electrophysiology, surgery, and physical therapy to name a few. These posts, and the many comments, gave me confidence to keep pushing for a seat at a medical school where acceptance rates can be as low as 1.6%. There will be hardships (most of all the bloody cost of education in the United States), but I have been inspired by my fellow classmates to keep on powering through.

From the Internship

I once wrote about how my internship has resulted in a complete alteration to my sense of style, a bonus that my mom has claimed to be one of the “best things to have ever happened to me”. But to say that is all that I am grateful for would be to cheapen the experience. Under Pete and Ellen I was introduced to an aspect of the hospital that I was never informed of - the grueling hours spent in front of a computer screen wondering whether or not carpal tunnel is the explanation for the strange tingling in my fingers. In these few weeks I was allowed to sit in with an administrator as she planned three events simultaneously over email, interviewed a prospective MGH physician over the phone, plan a future meeting, and get more things done in half a day than I get done in a week. I learned the appropriate way to conduct myself in front of high profile clients, the self-discipline needed to complete monotonous and never ending assignments, the honesty needed to own up to mistakes that accidentally occur, and the fact that it will always be okay to ask questions and communicate misunderstandings. Overall, this experience gave me the skills to achieve in the future and I am very glad that I was given this opportunity.