Sunday, December 31, 2006
Chi town
Another day another medical school interviewing weekend. This time in the city best know for it's pizza, hot dogs, da bearssssh, and brutal gang killings. I'm talking about a little place called Chicago. I'm here for an interview with one of my top choice schools which was also a school that I thought I had no chance of getting into whatsoever.
I managed to leave my home airport just before a major snowstorm arrived, so I got lucky on that one, but I have been snowed in here in Chicago for the weekend, which isn't really such a bad thing because my cousin lives here and I have been hanging out with her and her husband for the last few days. I was actually kind of hoping this would happen so I would have the chance to hang out in Chicago and see some of the city.
The interview went well. This one actually felt like an interview. The first one was kind of interesting in that the person I was interviewing with was of Indian descent, had a very strong accent and had the oddest mannerism I've ever seen. Whenever he would talk, his face was straight, his eyes were focused on me and he was engaged. Whenever I would answer him, he would settle into his chair and pull his hand down his face and over his eyes constantly. It was very disconcerting to see the whites of someones eyeballs as you're talking to them.
The medical school tour was great. Everyone I met was super nice and very excited to be at the school. This school seems like a great fit for me. It will be a hard decision if I get accepted to here and to my home state school.
The second interview was interesting because it was with one of the top neonatologists in the country who also happened to be the chair of the admissions committee. This interview was much easier and I feel like I really connected with him. He showed me around the NICU and what he does. It was fascinating. The interview was jovial and easy, and the best part was at the end. He told me he thought I was going to get accepted to many med schools and was going to have difficult time choosing the one I wanted to go to.
Overall, I got a very good impression of the school, and I think I would like it there. Just have to withstand the winters.
I managed to leave my home airport just before a major snowstorm arrived, so I got lucky on that one, but I have been snowed in here in Chicago for the weekend, which isn't really such a bad thing because my cousin lives here and I have been hanging out with her and her husband for the last few days. I was actually kind of hoping this would happen so I would have the chance to hang out in Chicago and see some of the city.
The interview went well. This one actually felt like an interview. The first one was kind of interesting in that the person I was interviewing with was of Indian descent, had a very strong accent and had the oddest mannerism I've ever seen. Whenever he would talk, his face was straight, his eyes were focused on me and he was engaged. Whenever I would answer him, he would settle into his chair and pull his hand down his face and over his eyes constantly. It was very disconcerting to see the whites of someones eyeballs as you're talking to them.
The medical school tour was great. Everyone I met was super nice and very excited to be at the school. This school seems like a great fit for me. It will be a hard decision if I get accepted to here and to my home state school.
The second interview was interesting because it was with one of the top neonatologists in the country who also happened to be the chair of the admissions committee. This interview was much easier and I feel like I really connected with him. He showed me around the NICU and what he does. It was fascinating. The interview was jovial and easy, and the best part was at the end. He told me he thought I was going to get accepted to many med schools and was going to have difficult time choosing the one I wanted to go to.
Overall, I got a very good impression of the school, and I think I would like it there. Just have to withstand the winters.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
To Infinity....and beyond!!!
The Space Shuttle Discovery
Space. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It's continuing mission.....
Wow, I can't believe I still remember that. I used to come home every day after school and watch Star Trek. I loved it and just like some kids wish Harry Potter is real, I always wanted Star Trek to be real. Imagine being able to explore the endless worlds that must exist out there. There is no doubt in my mind that we are not alone in this universe. As soon as life was possible on Earth, it was there. It's amazing and complex, and there are trillions upon trillions of other planets out there and some of them must support life, even intelligent life. There might even be life in our own solar system. The really difficult task is figuring out a way to travel faster than light so we can reach those other worlds.
I have often thought about being an astronaut. I love science, I love flying, I love exploring and adventure. I just don't know if I have the drive, the dedication, or ass-kissing skills necessary. The first small step is getting into med school. After that, it's whatever I want to make it.
Rocky Balboa
It was a day filled with movie memorabilia for a movie that I have never even seen. I’ve seen parts of it on TV, but I have either changed the channel or fallen asleep. I guess the “Rocky” movies just never really did it for me. But they obviously did it for some people. There is a mate in my hostel who traveled all the way from Germany to see the premier of the new Rocky movie. And today he got his wish.
I started the day by waking up late after a rousing night of karaoke where I got to show off my singing skills. Pictures to follow later. I was heading to the art museum. This is the part of town where we see Rocky running up the now famous steps and cheering at the top. I’ll admit the steps are pretty awesome and I’d like to say the museum was equally as stunning, but for some ungodly reason, it was closed on Mondays. So I had to content myself with reading on top of the steps until who should show up, but my hostelmate. He had come back to the museum for a few more pictures. We proceeded to race up and down the steps. It was actually a really close race until I got off balance at the top and had to slow down. Breathing hard and feeling a little triumphant, my friend came over and patted me on the back. We took some pictures of the Rocky statue and then headed to find some water.
We wandered by a theater where my friend had heard there was a premier for the new Rocky movie tonight. Sure enough, they were rolling out the red carpet for us as we strolled up. We walked along the red carpet, took a few pictures and talked to the head honcho of the whole premier operation. She was utterly unimpressed that my friend had traveled all the way from Germany to see the new Rocky movie. I mean, you’re never going to see a bigger fan than that. It was interesting seeing people’s reactions to this pronouncement. I was making judgements about every single one of them. Since the head honcho was utterly nonplussed, she was obviously a cold-hearted bitch. There were several people who reacted warmly and those are people I would want to surround myself with. One celebrity seemed a little surprised, but he was plastering on fake smiles for the audience. It’s odd to me how people can’t get involved with a crowd. I would be out there trying to shake every hand, hear every person’s story, hear all the corny jokes and some of the good ones, just trying to make people feel like they were welcomed there.
My friend was obviously excited at the prospect of meeting Sylvester Stallone. I guess it’s just my cynical nature, but I don’t put too much stake in celebrity. I admire celebrities who have done something for the world. People who are famous, but for having done something for someone else. Movie stars, sports figures, and other celebrities don’t really fit in this category, so I am not nearly as excited at the prospect of meeting them. But my friend was so ecstatic he nearly had a seizure on the spot. He got in line two hours before the celebrities showed up and I got in line with him. We had front row billets when Sly showed up for his movie. He walked down the street two feet from me holding the hands of his daughters. He didn’t stop and sign autographs like my friend hoped he would. I actually admired this about him. He seemed to be in a rush to get in the theater as fast as possible and I can only guess he was doing this for his daughters. They were all under the age of 9 and one seemed to be very frightened with all the flashing lights and yelling people. I admired the fact that he didn’t want to expose his daughters to more of that than necessary. It spoke volumes about him to me. I guess those are the kinds of things I notice about a person whether they are famous or a bum on the street.
The night ended well with lots of pictures, some Rocky swag and one very excited German man. I love that we’re all just a little crazy.
I started the day by waking up late after a rousing night of karaoke where I got to show off my singing skills. Pictures to follow later. I was heading to the art museum. This is the part of town where we see Rocky running up the now famous steps and cheering at the top. I’ll admit the steps are pretty awesome and I’d like to say the museum was equally as stunning, but for some ungodly reason, it was closed on Mondays. So I had to content myself with reading on top of the steps until who should show up, but my hostelmate. He had come back to the museum for a few more pictures. We proceeded to race up and down the steps. It was actually a really close race until I got off balance at the top and had to slow down. Breathing hard and feeling a little triumphant, my friend came over and patted me on the back. We took some pictures of the Rocky statue and then headed to find some water.
We wandered by a theater where my friend had heard there was a premier for the new Rocky movie tonight. Sure enough, they were rolling out the red carpet for us as we strolled up. We walked along the red carpet, took a few pictures and talked to the head honcho of the whole premier operation. She was utterly unimpressed that my friend had traveled all the way from Germany to see the new Rocky movie. I mean, you’re never going to see a bigger fan than that. It was interesting seeing people’s reactions to this pronouncement. I was making judgements about every single one of them. Since the head honcho was utterly nonplussed, she was obviously a cold-hearted bitch. There were several people who reacted warmly and those are people I would want to surround myself with. One celebrity seemed a little surprised, but he was plastering on fake smiles for the audience. It’s odd to me how people can’t get involved with a crowd. I would be out there trying to shake every hand, hear every person’s story, hear all the corny jokes and some of the good ones, just trying to make people feel like they were welcomed there.
My friend was obviously excited at the prospect of meeting Sylvester Stallone. I guess it’s just my cynical nature, but I don’t put too much stake in celebrity. I admire celebrities who have done something for the world. People who are famous, but for having done something for someone else. Movie stars, sports figures, and other celebrities don’t really fit in this category, so I am not nearly as excited at the prospect of meeting them. But my friend was so ecstatic he nearly had a seizure on the spot. He got in line two hours before the celebrities showed up and I got in line with him. We had front row billets when Sly showed up for his movie. He walked down the street two feet from me holding the hands of his daughters. He didn’t stop and sign autographs like my friend hoped he would. I actually admired this about him. He seemed to be in a rush to get in the theater as fast as possible and I can only guess he was doing this for his daughters. They were all under the age of 9 and one seemed to be very frightened with all the flashing lights and yelling people. I admired the fact that he didn’t want to expose his daughters to more of that than necessary. It spoke volumes about him to me. I guess those are the kinds of things I notice about a person whether they are famous or a bum on the street.
The night ended well with lots of pictures, some Rocky swag and one very excited German man. I love that we’re all just a little crazy.
Monday, December 18, 2006
The City of Brotherly Love
I arrived in Philadelphia yesterday for my second medical school interview. I like this city already. I think the word that describes it best is “gritty.” It is a gritty, tough city that oozes industrial pain. I don’t even know what that means but it describes what I felt when I stepped off the airplane.
The first thing that struck me was the diversity. I’m from a very white-washed area and I’m not a racist or anything, but I’ve never really been to a place where I was the minority. I guess that’s not really true. I did live in Guatemala for a period of time, but I’ve never lived in a place in the US where I am the minority. I got onto the train going to Central City and I was one of two white people on the entire train. I’m sitting here now in a little diner and the family across from me is speaking some kind of Slavic language. There are so many black people here it’s amazing. I love it.
After walking 25 blocks with all my luggage to the hostel, I settled in and took off to find some food and some internet. I found out the Philadelphia is trying this really cool new experiment where they are going to blanket the entire city with free wireless internet paid for by the taxpayers. I think it’s a really cool idea and could do wonders to providing internet access to people who are too poor to afford access. I think there are a lot of people here like that. I logged onto that yesterday and surfed to craigslist to find some new friends. Since I am the only person I know here, I have been posting on craigslist to find people to hang out with and to see if anyone wants to go the museums or hiking or anything else. Stuff is always more fun with other people. I’ve had a few responses that I’ve followed up with, but nothing substantial so far.
So I had to take it on myself to go meet people. I noticed a girl sitting by herself at the internet café and I worked up the courage to walk over and talk to her. Turned out she was a locals local and she had a few hours to kill, so she walked me around downtown and showed me the sights. There are some really cool things here: a gigantic floating restaurant, a gritty downtown shopping district, amazing historic monuments dating back to the revolutionary war, and again I really like the people. After that tour, I went back to the hostel to take a nap, met some other travelers there (Hostels are great for meeting people in the same boat), and went to a local bar to drink and play pool.
I think my companions were the greatest part of my night. There was one guy who was in almost the exact same boat as me. He was heading to medical school interview at Albert Einstein, but for residency. The other guy was interesting. Everywhere I’ve ever traveled, I’ve met Germans and now I understand why. My German friend traveled all the way to Philadelphia, took a week of vacation, and paid for an international plane ticket….to see the new Rocky movie. Germans are crazy. We met the local women’s rugby team at the bar and had a good time trying to drink them under the table. Now I’m sitting at a little dive diner and I think I’m going to go see the art and science museums today.
The first thing that struck me was the diversity. I’m from a very white-washed area and I’m not a racist or anything, but I’ve never really been to a place where I was the minority. I guess that’s not really true. I did live in Guatemala for a period of time, but I’ve never lived in a place in the US where I am the minority. I got onto the train going to Central City and I was one of two white people on the entire train. I’m sitting here now in a little diner and the family across from me is speaking some kind of Slavic language. There are so many black people here it’s amazing. I love it.
After walking 25 blocks with all my luggage to the hostel, I settled in and took off to find some food and some internet. I found out the Philadelphia is trying this really cool new experiment where they are going to blanket the entire city with free wireless internet paid for by the taxpayers. I think it’s a really cool idea and could do wonders to providing internet access to people who are too poor to afford access. I think there are a lot of people here like that. I logged onto that yesterday and surfed to craigslist to find some new friends. Since I am the only person I know here, I have been posting on craigslist to find people to hang out with and to see if anyone wants to go the museums or hiking or anything else. Stuff is always more fun with other people. I’ve had a few responses that I’ve followed up with, but nothing substantial so far.
So I had to take it on myself to go meet people. I noticed a girl sitting by herself at the internet café and I worked up the courage to walk over and talk to her. Turned out she was a locals local and she had a few hours to kill, so she walked me around downtown and showed me the sights. There are some really cool things here: a gigantic floating restaurant, a gritty downtown shopping district, amazing historic monuments dating back to the revolutionary war, and again I really like the people. After that tour, I went back to the hostel to take a nap, met some other travelers there (Hostels are great for meeting people in the same boat), and went to a local bar to drink and play pool.
I think my companions were the greatest part of my night. There was one guy who was in almost the exact same boat as me. He was heading to medical school interview at Albert Einstein, but for residency. The other guy was interesting. Everywhere I’ve ever traveled, I’ve met Germans and now I understand why. My German friend traveled all the way to Philadelphia, took a week of vacation, and paid for an international plane ticket….to see the new Rocky movie. Germans are crazy. We met the local women’s rugby team at the bar and had a good time trying to drink them under the table. Now I’m sitting at a little dive diner and I think I’m going to go see the art and science museums today.
