If you've been following me, you know that I wrote about being half-way through my gap year back in December (You can find the post here). Now, that I will be starting my summer program with my medical school next week, I thought it would be the perfect time to summarize how the remainder of my gap year was and what else is coming for me.
The past couple months have definitely been filled with a lot of growth and excitement (I'm sure you've been able to witness some of this in my monthly recap posts) and as the year has progressed, I've realized how good this year has been for me. When I made the decision to take a gap year, I didn't know what to expect. I had some tentative plans and I just hoped for the best. Honestly, I was a bit scared how I was going to justify this past year if I didn't make it a spectacular experience, but then I heard a really great piece of advice from a 4th-year medical student on Second Look Day. The topic didn't have to do with gap years, but with your summer between M1 and M2 year. You have the option to do a multitude of things during that summer, but if you decided to do nothing, that's okay. She said that if you are asked about why you spent your summer that way, you simply respond that you used the summer to take care of yourself and to regroup after your first year of medical school. When she said that, it really clicked with me because when I look back on it, that is exactly what I did this past year.
During undergrad, life had thrown me a couple curveballs and honestly, I never had the chance to regroup because I was constantly moving on to the next thing. I floated from school year to school year, graduation, a medical assistant program, and then finally, life slowed down to a steady pace. I was so glad I could finally catch my breath, but then I felt a bit guilty about it. When medical assisting didn't pan out for me, I felt like my year wasn't being put to good use. I had taken this gap year in order to put me in a good position for medical school and here I was wasting it. But, I was wrong. These past months might not have been filled with building my medical student resume, but they've been filled with building myself as a person. I have had the chance to catch up with old friends, make new friends, and prepare myself for everything that comes next for me. I am so thankful that I've had the liberty to live life more freely and to not have had a hectic schedule for once. The next four years will be filled with plenty of that. I found out new things that I really enjoy and I was also able to start this blog which is something that I had put on hold for years. In my mind, I have built a solid foundation that I can now use as I go on to the nitty gritty of my journey.
Next on my journey, I will be spending the next six weeks doing a summer pre-matriculation program (SPP). The program will give us an overview of the classes that we will be taking our first year of medical school (Biochemistry, Gross Anatomy, Histology, and Physiology) and will also allow us to build connections with some of our classmates. The really cool part is that I will be living on campus, so I'll have the opportunity to get to know the campus before I actually start medical school. Also, It'll be really nice to be able to see how classes will be structured, so that come August, I can hit the ground running. Was this program originally a part of my plan? No, but I am excited to see what comes of it. I'm also super excited to be getting a taste of being a medical student. The past couple years I've been dreaming of having the chance to study medicine, and now my chance is here. It feels surreal. For the blog, I'm hoping that now that I will be doing more medical related things, I will have more to post, but I am also not sure what my schedule will be like. I intend to try my hardest to keep my Tuesday/Thursday post days, but if not, I'll at least try to do one day a week. I also want to get into vlogging for my YouTube channel. I want to be able to share my journey as a medical student and I think vlogs will allow me to show you a bit more into my life as a student.
To summarize my experience, I want to explain why I chose the picture above. This past year, I've really come to enjoy hiking and my most recent trip with Elida was definitely one of my favorites. We spent part of our trip navigating through a canyon and a majority of the "trail" involved hopping over rocks to get to across. There were many times that I didn't know if I was going to make it over to the next rock without falling into the creek and the adrenaline made it super exciting. If I had fallen, the worst that could happen was that I would get soaked, as the water wasn't that deep, but preventing that from happening just made it all the more fun and challenging. At some points in the trail, we were forced to think of ways to get across because we had just struggled to get to where we were standing and going back was not an option. It was a bit funny because I pointed out to Elida that this trip was a metaphor for life and in particular my journey as a medical student. I've done a lot to get myself to this point in my life. Turning back isn't an option and although the path ahead might not exactly be clear, I just need to take a moment and it'll come to me. Likewise, you might not know what to expect from life, but don't let the fear of uncertainty ever stop you.
I hope you are having a great start to your week and I will be talking to you soon!
~Genesis<3
