My Goals for 2016!

     Wow, I honestly can't believe how fast 2015 has gone by. I still remember celebrating last New Year's eve with my besties and here we are again! One of my favorite parts of celebrating last year was the car ride back. Amidst our sleep deprived car conversation, I remember my best friend, Megan, asking me and our friend Chandler what our goals for the year were. I typically make my own resolutions each year, but to share them with my best friends made the moment feel special and allowed me to see what other people are hoping to get out of the new year. With that in mind, I want to share a couple of my goals for the year, and maybe when I look back at the end of 2016 I can see how many of them actually held true!

1.) Mind, Body, and Spirit Balance.
     Every year, I aim to get in shape or to be healthier. While that still holds for this year, I want to incorporate health for myself as a whole in addition to trying to make my body healthy. I think one of the most important things I've learned this year is how these three areas influence our overall person and this year I would like to continually do things every day to benefit each category.

2.) Strive To Be More Daring.
     I think this has been something that I have been pretty good at this year as I feel that I've definitely done more to step out of my own comfort zone. So, this year I want to continue working on that. I want to do things without being afraid of what other people think and just aim to live life to the fullest.

3.) Don't Settle for Less.
     This goal is aimed at both personal and external situations. Of course, I want to aim to be the best version of myself, but also to not settle for less in the people around me, particularly how others treat me. 

4.) Face Life With Positivity.
     This is another goal that I had made for myself last year that I have been doing pretty well with. I've noticed that being positive really makes a difference. Of course, I'm not going to say life is all peaches and cream every day, but when you try to look at life in a positive manner you can usually make the best of any situation. 

5.) Love More. 
     In high school, I was a leader for a retreat called Kairos. The talk that I had to give on the retreat was titled "Love in Action" and aimed to speak to how we can show our "love" to others in our everyday lives. I want to be able to do more of that myself this year and focus on doing more to make the world a better place. 

6.) Eliminate Clutter.
     Oh my, is this one necessary. I have so much stuff that I need to get rid of and I am hoping that this will be the year that I finally get rid of all the unnecessary junk that has been lurking around my living spaces.

7.) Dress Like a Big Girl.
          This goal has a lot to do with the goal above as I still have a lot of clothes from high school and my early college years. Now that I am a post-grad soon-to-be medical student, I hope to shift my wardrobe to better fit my medical student profile. I am hoping to get dressier items in my closet as those will be the pieces that I will be wearing under my white coat to go see patients:)


Well, these are my main goals for 2016. I do have smaller or more personal goals that I want to work on, but I thought that the ones above would be good to share. 2015 was a really great year for me, so I am hoping that 2016 will be just as amazing! I will be spending the last night of 2015 dancing the night away with some friends, and I hope you guys have just as much fun as I am planning on having! Have a great holiday, and I'll talk to you guys next year;)

~Genesis<3

Accepted Part 2!

     Well, I know where I left off last Tuesday was with my anticipation of news from my most recent medical school interview. If the title didn't already give it away to you, I am happy to announce that what came in the mail was a big packet of good news! Coincidently, the day the post about waiting for news went up, I received my acceptance letter in the mail.

     For me, this is absolutely incredible. My entire pre-med career I knew that I wanted to stay in Chicago for medical school, so now that my chance is here, I am so thrilled! Now, I am most definitely celebrating this, but there are two things that I do want to explain about my acceptance. One, this medical school does have multiple campuses, so there is a possibility I might be sent somewhere other than Chicago, but on our interview day, the dean said that our session was still early in the application process ( I believe they are interviewing candidates through March) and that it is very likely we will be placed at our preferred campus.  Two, for this school I do have to do a pre-matriculation program before starting medical school. I wasn't exactly thrilled to read this in my letter but upon doing more research, it is something that the school apparently emphasizes for underrepresented minorities in medicine. I am a Hispanic woman, so I very obviously fit the bill.

     To be honest, I was tentative about wanting to share that piece of information, but I know I want to be completely honest about my journey to medical school and as I will begin this 6-week program at the end of May, it isn't really something I will be able to hide haha. Also, I kind of want to blog all the cool things I will be learning in the program as from what I read it will preview the classes I will be taking in medical school. Does it suck that I will have to give up six weeks of my summer? Of course! But honestly, I don't exactly mind it. I could be sitting here contemplating about whether or not I wanted to blog about being waitlisted at the school I was seriously excited about, but thankfully instead I am writing about how I was accepted. So, today I am counting my blessings, and deciding that for me this is all good:)

     I hope you are having a great day and that you had a very happy holiday! I will be posting something on Thursday, so stay tuned:)

 ~Genesis<3

   

   

The Best Gifts I've Received This Year!

Oh my goodness! I honestly can't believe it is Christmas eve! I feel like Christmas snuck up on me this year and since my family celebrates on Christmas eve instead of Christmas day, tonight shall be full of lots of festivities and family. What more can anyone ask for? In the spirit of the holiday, I want to share some of the best gifts I've received this year and honestly, I couldn't be more grateful for them.

1.) Time with Family

     One of the best parts of being on a gap year has definitely been being at home with my crazies. The last two years of undergrad I didn't have the chance to come home as much, and just being home the past couple months has shown me how much I really missed all the little moments that make me love my family. I remember after first moving back, sitting at our Kitchen table smiling and laughing at my sister's antics and my parents' quirks and just thinking about how much I really missed that when I was away at school. Thankfully, being home the past couple months has allowed me to experience all of that again, and will hopefully make med school next year more manageable.

2.) A Great Support System

     I have always been aware that I had really great people in my life, but I feel that this year my support system has really been super evident. The entire medical school process this year has been better because I've had so many people in my corner rooting for me. Every piece of good news my friends would celebrate and having people motivate me through all this has been incredible. Just thinking back to when I was accepted, I couldn't believe all the people that were happy for me, and all I could think was "How did I get so lucky?".

3.) Self Awareness

     This has really been a gift to myself this year. As I've had the time to focus on myself and my needs, I've learned to accept myself and also to love myself better. Of course, I still have my rough days and my moments of doubt, but I think I've made a lot of progress from my former self this year and I think I am in a pretty good place.

4.) The Opportunity to Live my Dream

     I believe it goes without saying that getting accepted into medical school has been one of the best things that has happened to me this year. It feels like God and the Universe are saying, " Yes! You go, girl! You can get that MD!". I feel exceptionally lucky because it feels like things are falling into place, and the doubts that I had about this all working out are slowly subsiding. There are still quite a few technicalities to figure out but to think that next August I will be walking across a stage to receive my first white coat fills me with delight.

5.) The Present

     As a pre-med, I think it's so easy to get caught in the hustle and bustle of your medical school dreams, but I have been much better about enjoying the now and living in the present. All the moments that I have spent this year with the people that I love have made this such an incredible year and I hope I can continue living in the moment once I start med school.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the best gifts I've received this year. I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the things that have made me feel lucky, and I hope that some of them have been present in your life as well. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

~Genesis<3

The Waiting Game

     So, we are coming up on almost three weeks since my interview and let me tell you, I cannot wait for the next couple weeks to go by. I checked the application status portal today, and it says the school has reached a final decision and I should be expecting mail within the next two weeks! Despite the fact that this decision is a big one for me, I've been relatively calm. I'm not gonna lie, I've been scoping out apartments in the Chicago neighborhood that I believe I would like to live in if I do end up going to that school, but hey, a girl is welcome to dream right? 

     I think the day dreaming is only amplified by the fact that my best friend just found her apartment in the city and the thought of us being in the same city next year seems like a dream come true. Realistically, I know that I probably won't have the time to go out as much as I would like considering I will be an ever busy medical student, but just the idea of it delights me.

    Honestly, If I don't get into this school, the other school where I was accepted out-of-state is a really great school and I am through the moon excited that they've already accepted me. I'd say one of my least favorite parts of this entire process has been the waiting game. I am such a planner that I love to know what is going to happen next and obviously, this whole process is a matter of waiting and seeing what happens. It has definitely tested my patience, but it has shown me that the best things are worth waiting for and you've got to stay patient:)

~Genesis<3

Being Pre-med!

     Curious about being pre-med? Well, I just posted a short video about my initial pre-med journey and what it means to be premed. I hope it gives you a better idea about the pre-med process! If you have any more questions about being pre-med please let me know!

~Genesis<3

P.S. I am apologizing in advance for the awkwardness of this video haha I hope with time that will go away, but I'm happy I actually got around to posting my first YouTube video! Enjoy:)

Mid-way Through My Gap Year!

I know this blog post will seem a tad odd since I've just started the blog and have no previous mention about being on a "gap year", but I thought it would be the perfect time to elaborate on where I am in my medical application journey and also in my life.

So, I guess I should begin by explaining what the heck a gap year even means. Well, typically when a pre-med student says that they are taking/took a gap year what they mean is that they took a year off from schooling before beginning medical school. I feel like this has become more common than before, but it might also seem that way since I've been on one myself haha. When I first started undergrad, taking a gap year seemed like a very foreign idea and definitely not a part of my plan towards becoming a doctor.

As a very plan-oriented pre-med, I had a vision of what my journey to medical school should be like. I would finish up my four years of undergrad, go on to medical school directly after graduation, go on to residency after that, hopefully, meet someone in the years leading up to that point, get married, have kids, blah blah blah. Yea, as many of us know, life doesn't seem to always work out that way haha. I'll tell you what, though, I'm so happy it doesn't. If many of the things that I hoped had happened exactly how I wanted them to, I wouldn't be half of the woman that I am today. I'll be honest. For me, this gap year did come as a complete surprise. I had prepared myself to take on the medical application cycle at the end of my junior year ( which is common if you intend to go on to medical school right after undergrad) and found myself faced with the decision to take a gap year when the results of my MCAT ( which I had stupidly scheduled two days after my last final) were not what I thought best represented my abilities. Although a bit scared of what might come, I decided that taking a gap year would be the best option for me, and thankfully that has held true.

So, how has it been thus far? For the most part, I'd say it has been a blessing in disguise. The plans that I had scheduled to fill my gap year have been a tad rocky, but for the most part the free-time and sanity that I have gained from taking a break from school have made everything else seem mild. I'm so thankful that I had the liberty to undergo the crazy medical school application process free from the demands of school, and I strongly believe that has made it feel more manageable. During my interview days, I've heard students talk about how they were missing class to interview or about how they had all this work to catch up on after their interview. although I know I could've dealt with the demands of interviewing while finishing up senior year, I'm happy I didn't have to. I have been able to solely focus on my medical school applications, work my schedule around my interviews, and have the time to just relax and ensure that I put my best foot forward. The process is stressful enough, and not having school stress is the best. Taking a gap year has allowed me to work on my relationships with my friends, family, and myself. I've had the time to recharge and get myself in the right mindset to start medical school next fall.

What are the downsides? Well, for one, not having a clear plan can be rather daunting when you want your gap year to feel meaningful. I've dabbled in a few things, and I do have more things planned, but having it all be up in the air can be frustrating. Student loans (ugh). Not being enrolled in school obviously means that student loans will have to start being paid, and it is a bummer, but hey I have a great education haha. Feeling out of the school loop. It honestly feels like I'm stuck in a perpetual summer break (not really a bad thing), and it's almost Christmas. It doesn't even feel like Chistmas season because Christmas time has always been signaled by the increased bodily stress induced by finals for the past 8 plus years haha.

Currently, I am just working for the retail store that I worked for during my senior year of college while I'm trying to plan my next move. I work with some really great people, so I'm having a blast, but I do feel ready to try something else. I'll try to keep you posted:)

Well, I believe this post can best be summarized by the picture that I chose for this post. I took the picture on a random Tuesday morning hiking trip ( a gap year luxury) with my best friend, Elida. The state park that we were at had so many sktetchy areas that were marked with the "this is not a trail" sign that the entire trip we would jokingly get to places and say "hey guesss what? this is not a trail." What the heck am I getting at? Well, in life there are many plans that might not seem to be the right "trail" for us, but sometimes it's good to venture off and see what life surprises you with. During our hiking trip, we inadvertenly fell off the trail so many times, and not gonna lie we ended up on some iffy paths, but I had such a blast exploring the cliffs and trails with my bestfriend that it didn't matter. The adventure made me feel alive, and that's all that I could've hoped for.

~Genesis<3

Gifts for your pre-med friends!

With Christmas just around the corner, I thought it would be a bit fun to give a few gift suggestions for your medically-inclined friends ( besides copious amounts of coffee of course).

I am an avid Etsy shopper, so you better believe that I've typed in "medical student" or "medical school" a few times. These items are some of my most recent favorites, but if you do happen to find yourself on Etsy typing in "medical student" you'll find a myriad of items that I'm sure your favorite pre-med or medical student would love:)

~Genesis<3

Keychain

T-Shirt

Coasters

Necklace

Acceptance!

Now, before you get confused, this post isn't a follow-up of the interview I had last week, but rather the result of an interview that I had late September for which I received notice the middle of last month.

Not going to lie, the beginning of November was a little rough for me. I had a little snafu with the Medical Assitant externship I was in (This is a bit of a private story, so I don't want to elaborate on it at the moment.), I had been feeling uneasy about one of my really good friendships, and my medical school news seemed to be at a quiet halt. To say the least, I felt rather lost. I remember driving home from work one night and just breaking down because I just didn't know what to do with myself anymore. As usual, amidst my frustration I began to pray asking God for something to help me make it through this. I thanked him for getting me this far and asked for the strength to keep positive about the process. Two days later, I was invited to interview at one of my top choices in Chicago ( the interview I had last Tuesday), and a week later I received a big white envelope from the school where I had interviewed at the end of September.

In my self doubt ( and apparently utter ignorance of medical school acceptances), I took the envelope from my father saying, " Oh, this is probably them saying that they had the pleasure of interviewing me, but that they aren't going to consider my application any further." To my surprise, the opening of the letter greeted me with the words that every medical school applicant hopes to read, Congratulations. The letter communicated that after consideration, the medical school had determined that I had the qualities necessary to make an excellent medical student and with great pleasure would like to offer me acceptance into their medical school. I was in shock. This was the moment I had dreamed of from the moment I decided to become pre-med and the moment that helped me push through the obstacles in the past four years. I looked up from the letter and all I could say to my ever curious father was a quiet "I got in." Of course, what followed were celebrations, texts to my best friends, happy tears on my behalf, and the realization that I had made it. I was going to have the chance to be a doctor.

I'm sure you're wondering where all the doubt comes from. Well, in my opinion, my interview with the school was definitely not my strongest. It was the first experience I had with a medical school interview and while I had thouroughly prepared to answer why I wanted to pursue medicine, I felt I wasn't ready to answer the random "character questions" the school threw at me, especially when one of my interviewers ( who was definitely playing devil's advocate) challenged every answer I gave. I had tried my best and I still left the school discouraged in my performance. Also, in chatting with my fellow interviewees of the day, I didn't think I measured up with the competition. There were students who were doing research at places like Yale, graduated from Stanford, and here I was just a Chicago girl who had a passion for medicine. Well, apparently I underestimated myself.

My point of this entire post is to show you that you should never doubt yourself, and especially don't compare yourself to others. Everyone has something that sets them apart and schools do recognize that. Don't think that you need to have a 4.0 GPA, have saved babies in Africa, or have discovered the cure for cancer to get into medical school. What you need is the dedication to pursue your dream and the passion to show others that you can do it. I am just a girl that worked her butt off at a great university, struggled but yet succeeded on the MCAT, and put her heart into her application in hopes that medical schools would recogize her passion. Thankfully, they did.

So, if you are still going through this journey, keep fighting, put your best foot forward, and believe wholeheartedly that you have what it takes. Life may just show you that you do:)

~Genesis<3

Interview Day Recap!

Before I actually began my own interview process, I never really knew what an interview day for medical school actually entailed. I thought it would be nice to give a little recap of what interview days have been like for me so far and what you can possibly expect as a medical school applicant on one of the most important days on your journey to medical school.

Interview day

7:30 A.M.
- My interview day check in time was scheduled for 11:30 A.M. and the school where I interviewed at was about an hour away from my house. I was aiming to get there at least by 10:00-10:30 to give myself ample time to park my car and locate where the interviews were taking place. Yes, an hour beforehand might be a little excessive for most, but for me being late stresses me out like no other, so I don't mind being early. I began my day as usual. I got ready, had some breakfast, and then snapped this little pic before heading out the door!

9:00 A.M.
-I left the house, put some gas in my car, and was on my way. Traffic wasn't too terrible, but as I got closer to the city ( my interview was in Chicago) the traffic was a bit crappy ( Thanks! Chicago construction...).

10:10 A.M.
- I parked my car and wandered around trying to figure out where the heck I was supposed to interview. The campus was rather large so it took me a bit to orient myself and figure out what direction I should be headed in. This was the moment that I was happy that I had arrived early, and that I had worn my comfiest heels as I did quite a bit of walking.

10:20-10:30 A.M.
- I arrived in the right building. I searched for the nearest restroom to put myself together and apply some lipstick ( a girl's gotta look good haha). Then wandered around the building trying to find the interview room. On my route, a nice ( and cute;)) student asked me if I was looking for the interview room and directed me in the right direction. I had a general idea of where it was, but I did appreciate him taking the time to help a sister out. It gave me a good impression of what the students are like here.

On my way, I found this really cool display case with art some of the med students had made. There was also a hand drawn picture of Dr. House holding a brain that was really awesome.

10:30 A.M.

-After wandering around a bit, I found the interview room. It definitely had a Hogwarts vibe going. I checked in, took a seat, and tried to snap a quick picture while "checking something on my phone". I chatted with some of the applicants from the morning session and asked them how the interviewers were. They all said their interviews felt really laid back, so that made me feel better about what was to come later in the afternoon. My fellow afternoon session-ers started coming in and I chatted with them as well.  Overall, the group was really nice and it definitely made for a laid back environment.

12:00 P.M.

-We had sat in the check-in room for quite some time waiting for everyone from the afternoon session to come in before the interview coordinator came to escort us to another location for the Dean's presentation.

12:15 P.M.

- The dean welcomed us and gave us an overview of the school and what programs they had to offer. The school surprisingly was ranked pretty high among other medical schools in the U.S. and even above another school that had been my top choice. I was rather impressed.

12:45 P.M.

-Lunch time! we all gathered back in the Harry Potter room and went to serve ourselves lunch. They had ordered Thai food for us, so I was definitely in my happy place as pad thai is one of my favorite meals. If I had to choose a school on what food they offered, this school had just won me over. During our meal, some of the med students came to sit with us. It was pretty nice and it gave us a chance to have our questions answered.

1: 30 P.M

- Tour time! After lunch, one of the med students took us around campus showing us what the medical school looked like. The main floor of the medical school building had an older feel ( as shown in the picture above), but the upper floors had just been remodeled and were super modern. I was very happy with the campus and could see myself as a student there.

1:50 P.M.

- We came back to the Harry Potter room as some of the afternoon session had interviews beginning at 2:00. I had a break in the first block, so I sat and chatted with the some of the M2s ( second-year students) before my first interview.

2:40 P.M.

-Interview time! The interview coordinator came to get me for my first interview. The interview process for this school was made up of three 30 minute one-on-one interviews. One with a faculty member and the other two with medical students. My first interviewer was a retired biochem professor ( an adorable and hilarious older, Indian woman), and the med students were actually two of the students that had sat at my end of the table during lunch. Overall, every interview felt pretty laid back. The first interviewer had me writing down the Nicaraguan medicines my mom uses at home and the med students were super chill. I wasn't asked anything too difficult, and while they asked me the typical med school interview questions ( why do you want to be a doctor, tell us about yourself, etc.) they asked them in a very conversational way. It was definitely the most fun I had had during an interview. All the interviewers took the time to give me a bit of their background as well, so it added a nice touch and created a very friendly environment.

4:45

- End of Interview day! I walked out of my last interview and headed back to my car. I was exhausted from such a busy day, but very happy that I had such a great experience. The dean told us during our interview session that the school would try to make decisions by the end of the month, so I am hopeful to hear good results:)

Overview

This was definitely my favorite interview day by far. I felt so at ease the entire day, and I feel like the structure of the interviews allowed me to show off my personality. I joked around with the med students, and just had a good time. Not going to lie, every interview has its own vibe but in general, you'll typically have the same elements. I hope this gave you a better picture of the interview day, and what to expect. It definitely can be a lot of fun, so try not to be too nervous:)

~Genesis<3