One year ago

I wore sunglasses to watch July 4th fireworks in Washington DC from the Jefferson Memorial and was blanketed by a layer of ash.

I came home from Summer Medical and Dental Education Program at University of Virginia, one of the best experiences I've ever had.

I was at least five pounds lighter (haha).

I was told by a Australian that I have a Californian accent.

I attended a funeral for the first time.

I didn't know what role I wanted to play in IV-CCF.

I ate peanut butter sandwiches every single day (read my FB notes about UVA SMDEP).

I came to Berkeley for fun, not for class.

I hadn't moved into Haste yet.

I finished one book every few days--mostly novels involving medicine.

I didn't know you yet, probably.

Leaving UVA

Hello.

It has been 6 weeks since I've come to University of Virginia. I am leaving for San Francisco tomorrow morning, and it is bittersweet. It's about time I go home and spend time with my family and friends, but I will miss my new friends a lot. I know this type of feeling fades after a while, but hopefully our friendships don't.

I have lots of pictures. 3,197 pictures, actually. And that's not including the ones from today, that I haven't transferred yet. I'll post some soon.

Hope my flight doesn't get too delayed or anything tomorrow! Whooo 4 hour layover in Washington Dulles Airport!

Rainy days

Today our program took us to an amusement park. It was pouring rain the entire time. I just wanted to go home.

I've slept 15 hours, collectively, in the last four nights.

Last night some friends from the program and I drove back from Washington DC. It was crazy. July 4 celebrations at the nation's capital = spectacular. Foot traffic and subway congestion = unfathomably insane.

I kid you not, an entire city block of people were waiting to get into the Metro Center subway station. We walked a mile from the Jefferson Memorial, where we were watching the fireworks, to the first subway station we could physically walk into without waiting an hour.

One mile. We were on our feet for 11 hours on Friday, and 17 hours on Saturday. We calculated that we walked between 20 and 30 miles.

We saw everything. Holocaust Museum, Museum of American History, Air and Space Museum, all the monuments and memorials, changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery, Chinatown (we ate dinner there on both days), the Old Post Office building, and ending with fireworks from the Jefferson Memorial waterfront.

Last night we came back at 2:45 am. I slept at 4:15 am. I woke up at 7:30 am. We went to the King's Dominion amusement park at 8:30am. We got back just now.

I am physically soaking wet, cold, hungry, my head hurts, I haven't slept decently in days, and am mentally unwell.

But, I have it good. So good. Better than I know.

I LIKE IT HERE

But I do miss home a little bit. When I think of all the things I'm going to do when I get home, a big smile spreads across my face and I get really excited for what's in store. Being away really does make you appreciate little things a lot more.

I've been learning so much about my new friends here in this program. A bunch of us just click, and we hang out all the time. It's so interesting learning about what their schools are like, what their hometowns are like, what they listen to, what they like to eat. We need to get out of our California bubbles, duuuude. ;) There is life beyond the In-n-Outs, Jamba Juices, sunny beaches, not-so-sunny beaches, and Hollywood. I really hope that I'll meet these guys and girls in the future again, maybe in med school. That would be the most awesome thing, besides getting into med school. =)

We just had an extended pancake breakfast in one of the guy's suites. I went to University Baptist this morning, and it was a musical worship service without a sermon. I really enjoyed it, though. I can't believe that this was my last week attending church here. Next week, our program is going to King's Dominion for an all day trip. It's an amusement park, much like Six Flags or Great America. The week after, I am going home to California.

Crazy, right? These 6 weeks are coming to a close, fast.

I remember applying to this program last December, scrambling during finals weeks to write two essays and obtain three letters of recommendations. Those were rough times, and I didn't tell anyone I was applying because I didn't think I'd get in. I remember stressing in Taiwan during winter vacation because I didn't have internet, and you have a 5-day period once notified to accept or reject your site offers. I remember taking the High Speed Rail back to my cousin's place in KaoHsiong on January 9 to check my email at 4am, and getting accepted by University of Virginia and University of Texas. I knew I wanted to come here. I remember waiting all through this spring semester, itching to leave all of the familiarity and comforts and expectations people had for me at Berkeley for another campus. I knew that once I was here, it would go by faster than I imagined.

And now that I'm here, I've enjoyed it so much. I only wish that I knew about this program last year, and maybe I'd be more prepared than I am right now. But God has already given me so much, I am so grateful for this opportunity.

YUMMY!

I just made a pasta alfredo with skim milk, broccoli, spiral pasta, and salt. It sounds nasty and almost too simple, but was really good. The key is boiling the milk for like, 45 minutes.

Tomorrow night: a recipe combining bread, lettuce, carrots, and turkey into something more than a lettuce-carrot-turkey sandwich*.

*May or may not include leftovers from today's dinner

I should write a cook book for the Health-Conscious, Out-of-State, Unimaginative, Starving College Student Who Only Has One Saucepan.

Look for me at Border's soon.

Break Time!

Independent Study Break right now! If I don't go back to the building to eat the lunch they're providing us, I am free until 1pm! YESSS. This never happens.

So I've been blogging a lot about general happenstances here, and not so much about more important things. I know that having a fellowship and being around Christians all the time shouldn't be a catalyst for faith, but it's easy to fall away from reading scripture and listening to God here. I think that is where I currently am. Sort of fighting my head to find peace in my heart.

I went to two services yesterday. One in the morning, at University Baptist, where I've gone for the last three Sundays. One in the afternoon, at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Having never been to a Catholic mass before, I felt like a newb. No wonder people go through catechism and such--everything was so structured, everyone in tuned with the call-and-response nature of the service. "Up-down-right-left!" my friend whispered to me as I made the sign of the cross in the wrong order, and with my left hand instead of my right. At times I wondered if there was something inherently wrong about me attending mass, since I'm not Catholic. I tried focusing on the message the priest delivered instead. After all, we are worshipping the same God. Like at University Baptist, the structure and unfamiliarity tripped me up at first. In both churches, I got lost and felt silly when my hymn book wasn't opened right after the litany or I didn't kneel before sitting down at the pew.

But...then I wonder, are we really called to master the art of church-going to experience God? This has never been a question of mine before. But then again, I've never gone to church anywhere except for the Bay Area before.

Despite the initial awkwardness, I think that going to a church in a different place (and I don't mean going to Living Water if you've always gone to Regen) is one of the greatest things, ever. God isn't limited to working in one place. And while IV/Regen/my home church are fun, welcoming, and full of some of my favorite people in the world, Christianity is not always this way. Really trying to listen to God amidst all the distractions, protocols, Sunday attire, and unfamiliar people has been such a wonderful challenge.

Okay. That took a long time to get out. Thanks for reading this far.

I keep telling myself that if God wants me to be a doctor, then my path is already paved and I just need to find it amongst the overgrown shrubbery of my life. Or do I have it backwards? That, instead of weeding through the things I perceive as extraneous, I should be stepping back to look at the whole forest? I hope the path isn't made of breadcrumbs or white pebbles.

TGIF

A long week, over. Whooooo.

Highlights of this week:

1. Getting my personal statement critiqued

2. Radiology Clinic

3. Finishing before 4pm 3 of the 5 days

4. Getting letters and postcards =)

So I wanted to elaborate more on the radiology clinic. It's part of the series, "Where Doctors Work," and is the clinical exposure part of the program. Three times a week, we get about a two-hour chunk of time where we visit and learn about different clinical specialties. I thought radiology would be boring. I thought we'd look at x-ray films and try to figure out anomalies and pretend to diagnose people. While we did that for a good half hour, my group of about 20 students also got to go into the radiology ward of the hospital. You know, through the "ACCESS RESTRICTED/AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" double doors.

Our doctor guide, Dr. Sabri , was really cool. He was a little late because he was busy operating on a patient with an aneurysm, but we forgave him for his sheer awesomeness. Did you know that most radiologists perform operations? I didn't.

But anyways, we toured some facilities with CT scanning machinery, poked in some lab rooms with cutting-edge technology, and the doctor did an ultrasound on one of the girl's arm (not pelvic region, haha--there could be some potentially unwanted information). Pretty nifty.

We also got to go into two rooms where radiologists were assisting with operations! We weren't in the sterile room, but we were only separated by a door--in both cases the door was open and Dr. Sabri had to close them so the patients under the knife wouldn't hear us discussing their cases. Does that mean the operating room wasn't sterile? I don't know. Most of the surgeries radiologists perform are noninvasive anyway. Maybe it is okay for a pack of 20 students to roam into such a room without dire consequences. But anyways, we observed their x-rays and blood vessel blockages and stuff--so cool. Almost makes me wanted to specialize in radiology (a profession that makes $400,000+ a year, by the way), but the only problem is that I am tech-illiterate. Oh yeah, and because I'm not really interested in radiology or making more money than primary care physicians, which bear the brunt of patient interactions.

mMm so yeah. Today there was a medical school recruitment fair. There weren't many attending schools, but we got lots of pens and brochures and flashlights and calculators. Kinda like Calapalooza, only not as fun.

So anyways, I only have 3 weeks left here. I want to make the most of my time by getting off the computer and going somewhere. I thought about Amtrak-ing to Washington DC to visit Josiah, Jen, and Lily. But, I don't have any free weekends after this one, and a one-way ticket was like $100 or something. I also thought about flying to New Jersey to visit my uncle, aunt, and grandparents. But, the same thing (plane tickets were $157 for one-way, which is surprisingly better than Amtrak)--and also I just found out that my grandparents and aunt are in Taiwan. haha. Oops. Guess I'll just be here lounging around with the floormates tonight.

Toodles!

UVA SMDEP

People ask me why I am going to Virgina this summer for six weeks. I'm going to attend a summer medical program at the University of Virginia. Virginia is so far away.

Now that I've accepted the offer (okay that was a while back, when I was still in Taiwan), filled out all the forms, confirmed my housing offer, bought my plane ticket, read the survival guide, received my suitemate assignments (six girls to a 3-room suite), I AM SCARED.

I'll be flying there myself on May 30, arriving at 7pm and probably taking a cab to the campus. My dad offered to come with me, to help me move in and buy things. I think I will be okay. I hope I will be okay. I foresee a lot of praying on that day. A lot of anxious, nervous praying.

Need to bring: pots and pans, bedding, text books, clothing. All in two suitcases that United Airlines is charging $20 a piece. Six weeks. How many changes of clothing is that?

I probably won't be able to go to Chapter Camp, or if I do, I might leave one or two days early. Which is, of course, after I move out of my apartment after the 21st. I'm looking sort of far ahead, but it's already March!