Livin in the Past

So I'm checking out my old high school crushes on Facebook, and they're all doing such cool stuff now. One is campaigning for his future presidency (of the US!) and prepping to ride a bike marathon from Austin to Anchorage. Another one is kicking ass at Rice, another's in Denver, and the rest are all shacked up at UT. It's so crazy how everyone's got their own life going on after high school. When you're in HS, all those people seem so important. But once it's all done, they're just blips on the radar of life. All you have left is the memory of the few things you said to them and how they made you feel. If I knew then that someday I would be so far removed from them, maybe I wouldn't have been so shy in high school, and I would have actually talked to them more. Whatever, I'm the same way now, and I'm gonna be even farther removed from the guys I know in college. Maybe it's just my personality.

Whenever I start wishing that I could go back to high school and redo a whole bunch of stuff over, I suddenly get Don Henley/the Ataris' "Boys of Summer" stuck in my head: "The little voice inside my head saying, 'Don't look back; you can never look back.' I thought I knew what love was; what did I know? Those days are gone forever. I should just let them go." I guess I'm just getting nostalgic now that I'm in my last year of college and my best friend from HS is starting pharmacy school. It just seems like my youth is ending. I know that sounds totally ominous and possibly even lame, but I just feel like I should be having fun while everything about my situation is telling me to get serious. Basically, I'm exactly where I was four years ago when I was applying to colleges: I didn't know what I was doing then but I thought I knew everything, now I know what I'm doing but I think don't know jack.

Katrina

400 of the Tulane undergrad students are being hosted at my school, SMU, in Dallas! They got here this morning, and our school is giving them a free meal plan and dorms. They're even offering to enroll them for the fall semester, even though we started classes on 8/18. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for them. I think the day before the hurricane hit was freshman orientation. Can you just picture kids on their first day of college being faced with one of the biggest natural disasters to hit the US? I'm glad they're here, though, and hopefully I'll get to meet some of them. I'm organizing a supply drive for the hurricane relief with Metro Mustangs. I think we should all do whatever we can to help them. It's funny, when we heard the hurricane was coming to New Orleans, my mom was like, "What's going to happen to your Tulane application?" I then got this image of the photograph I sent in floating on the water. Of course, there are more important things to worry about than my Tulane app, even though it was one of schools that was higher on my list (around my 3rd or 4th choice). The devastation in New Orleans and Mississippi is unbelievable, though. I can't imagine what it must be like for your entire life to just disappear like that, as if you were nothing. It's absolutely horrific. My prayers go out to everyone that's been affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Belief-O-Matic

I had to take this quiz on Dr. Trouble's blog. Check out my results. Man, certain people in the mother land would go crazy at numbers one and two! Since I got the same score for Sikhism and Islam, why didn't they just put it in alphabetical order so Islam would be #3? I don't know...it must have been God's will. ;) Take the quiz here.

1.	Reform Judaism (100%)
2.	Orthodox Judaism (85%)
3.	Sikhism (83%)
4.	Islam (83%)
5.	Liberal Quakers (74%)
6.	Baha'i Faith (70%)
7.	Unitarian Universalism (63%)
8.	Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (60%)
9.	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (53%)
10.	Orthodox Quaker (52%)
11.	Jainism (51%)
12.	Neo-Pagan (50%)
13.	Jehovah's Witness (43%)
14.	Seventh Day Adventist (40%)
15.	New Age (38%)
16.	Eastern Orthodox (37%)
17.	Roman Catholic (37%)
18.	Mahayana Buddhism (37%)
19.	Hinduism (36%)
20.	Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (36%)
21.	Secular Humanism (36%)
22.	New Thought (31%)
23.	Scientology (30%)
24.	Taoism (25%)
25.	Theravada Buddhism (24%)
26.	Nontheist (17%)
27.	Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (16%)

First Interview Invite

I just got my first invitation to interview and it's from UT Houston!!! I can't believe I got this and it's at a school that I really want to go to. I'm so excited!! Today was my first day of class too and it went really well. My health psyc prof was out of town, so he videotaped the lecture and we watched it during class! I'd rather we just didn't have class so I could meet up with friends. Oh who cares? I got a med school interview!!!!

Senior Year

My senior year of college starts tomorrow. I am so excited. I have Earlier Romantic Lit, Health Psych, and Dante. It's gonna be so cool. Today was the Activities Fair at SMU and I had a lot of fun manning the booth as the President of Metro Mustangs. Sunday was cool too cuz I got to give a speech in front of the dean and all of the commuters and transfer students. I think we're gonna have a great year in the club. I got off work at 10:30 am and then headed to school and worked on the poster for the fair with our treasurer and historian. Can you believe we made this entire board in 2 hours?

I Don't Care

I love Ricky Martin's new song, "I Don't Care." Listen to it here. He's so talented. He collaborated with Amerie and Fat Joe on it. I don't care what anyone says, I still think he rocks. For the love of the Mike, bring back the boy bands. This indie rock crap just depresses me. (Holds up arms in anticipation of the indie rockers throwing tomatoes at me.)

What's Your Religious Philosophy?

You are a Believer

You believe in God and your chosen religion. Whether you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu.. Your convictions are strong and unwavering. You think your religion is the one true way, for everyone.

What's Your Religious Philosophy?

Isn't it weird that she looks like me? Spooky!

World's Shortest Personality Test

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

The Dog Days Are Upon Us

TMDSAS was processed on Wednesday. Can I get a YEEHAW?

I've heard from all of my schools, and I decided to add two more. I came to the realization that even though I have backup plan to strengthen my app if I don't get in this cycle, I still really want to get in this cycle and I have to do whatever it takes. The easiest thing to do is to add more schools and up my chances.

Why do I feel like I only see the same three people at work? Where is everybody else? And what's up with people telling me they're only working one day a week in the fall? We've fired really good people because of that before! We always had a 10 hrs/week minimum policy. I think things are gonna be really different in the spring when we go back to the old shift arrangement. Speaking of the fall schedule, why don't we have it yet?

I can't believe my summer is coming to a close. In 2 weeks, my sis will be off to start her own college destiny at Baylor, and she moves in on the same day as my first day of class. Doesn't that suck? Baylor is so cool, I wish I went there. I wish I had done a lot of things differently my senior year of high school. I should have treated my college apps the way I'm treating my med school apps and applied to tons of schools and BA/MD programs. Well, I can't go back in time. All I can do is learn from the past and make a better future for myself.

AMCAS Processed

Can I get a WOO HOO!!!!

App Update

So I'm getting in secondaries, which is really cool cuz the schools are actually reaching out to me instead of me pursuing them. At work I got to translate an Iranian postop yesterday and today I got to translate his hospital visit. I'll be doing it again this weekend. It's cool because I'm actually taking on the role of the doctor because I'm taking the H&P and rounds myself - the ultimate in direct patient contact. Plus it's nice to have the doctor depend on me for a change ;) The patient and his wife were so happy to have someone there who could actually communicate with them, and after I talked with them, the wife said that I was a sweet girl and she wanted me to see them everyday. It felt so nice to know that I made things a little easier for them. If I hadn't had been there, the patient and his wife would not have known what to do to treat his atelectasis, because they had not understood when the other health care workers had told them. They also didn't know why the patient wasn't allowed to eat, so they were glad to get an explanation.

After work, I stopped by the premed office and delivered my stamps, address labels, and LOR request sheet. The premed advisor said that she was bogged down cuz everyone was bringing that stuff in this week, so it may be 1-2 weeks before she actually sends it in. That's okay, since I'm still waiting for my primaries to be verified. I sent in my pics, certification page, and check for TMDSAS and my secondary check to OU yesterday. On my way to the post office there was a car in front of me with a TX Tech logo (a TMDSAS school) and then later there was an Oklahoma license plate in front of me (home of OU). Wow, talk about your good omens!

Live 8

So Live 8's going on the TV, and I gotta say that I don't really see the piont of it. The original Live Aid of 1985 held in London was meant to raise money for the African poor. But Live 8 is only meant to raise awareness. I think instead just having a big concert to "raise awareness" (a huge screening of Hotel Rwanda would have done more in that regard), the artists should either donate all the money they raise to Africa or meet with politicians to present their views (lobbying). Hopefully some good will come out of Live 8, and we'll see some legislation passed next week at the G8 summit.

One Down

I submitted TMDSAS last night and boy did that feel good. I went ahead and started on my UTSW, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech secondaries. I'm working on AMCAS now and I'll probably submit today or tomorrow. I just need to finish up adding my activities. Then I can start my Tulane secondary. Tomorrow Glamour Shots opens at Stonebriar, so I'm gonna go there to take my med school app pictures. I want to get all this primary stuff sent in so that I can have concentrate on my secondaries. Of course, this means I will have to deal with my special friend...yuk! Well, I won't let her get to me. I know everything will be okay.

The Line Up

Here's my lineup of schools I'm applying to:

Baylor College
Boston University
George Washington University
Georgetown University
Loma Linda University
New York Medical College
Texas A & M University
Texas Tech University
Tufts University
Tulane University
University of North Texas
University of Oklahoma
University of Southern California
University of Texas, Galveston
University of Texas, Houston
University of Texas, San Antonio
University of Texas, Southwestern

My top choice is UT Southwestern, followed by everywhere else in TX. For the out-of-states, my top choice is USC (I have family alumni), followed by Boston and Tulane. I finished my TMDSAS app today, but I'm afraid to hit the submit key. They have my transcripts and MCAT scores already, they just need my app.

Here are my EC's:

TA General Chemistry Lab, Scribe for Internal Medicine Group, President of Metro Mustangs, Member of Sigma Tau Delta and National Society of Collegiate Scholars, SMU University Honors Program, English Departmental Distinction Candidate, Beecher Senior Scholarship for Excellence recipient from SMU English Department, Bronze medalist at HOSA National Competition, AP Scholar with Distinction, Teach Farsi and Islamic Studies

Let me know if any of you want to read my personal statement and optional essay. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

That Darn MCAT

I love puns. So I got my MCAT score back, and I feel pretty happy about it. I'm really glad about not retaking. I know I could have done better in verbal, but my score is still good and I'm really happy with my bio score. Now I've just got to concentrate on making my application super awesome so that no one can turn me down...based on non-GPA/MCAT factors, tee hee. I'm almost done with TMDSAS except for the "optional" essay. I still have to put my 15 activities into AMCAS. I'm anticipating I'll finish all these by the end of the month. I wish it was Feb 1, and I knew where I stood. The worst part about this is not knowing. But I have faith, and I'm sure I have a chance for at least some interviews.

Makin' Whoopi

Summer Nights

Last night I had a great get-together with some of my friends from school. It was Jiroko's birthday so we got together over dinner at the Noodle Bar. I had the chicken lo mein, which rocked, and we hung out there until they closed. Then we headed over to Paciugo and chilled (get it? we ate ice cream, which is cold) and enjoyed our gelato. We walked around the shopping center until we found a cozy spot in front of Whole Foods (ahh, the nightlife of Plano). We hung around for another couple hours before we called it a night and parted ways. It was a great night and it was nice to meet up with my friends and have some fun and get my mind off things. Yay, summer!

Viva Las Vegas

I'm back from Vegas, and I had a great time as usual. We saw a couple celebrities on this trip, which was cool. Within the first two hours at Bellagio we saw Jennifer Tilley at the Petrossian Lounge. The next day we saw Ed McMahon at the VIP lounge and then we saw Mahasti (a Persian singer) twice: once at the Fashion Show Mall and once at Bellagio. We also saw David Spade's standup act at the Mirage, which was fun. For the first time, I got to actually play in Vegas. My favorite slot machine was Super Cherry, where I dropped a dollar and won $75. Later, I won $235 at Black Jack, then spent $35 of it on a slot machine and won $300. Then I spent $150 of that on slots. So I didn't come out too bad, and it was pretty fun. Who knows what will happen if I wind up at Tulane med? Speaking of med school, the best part of my vacation was that I didn't have to think about it at all. I could just relax at the Spa, the pool, the malls (dude, I totally splurged at Burberry's sale!!), and the casino. But all good things must come to an end, and I returned to Dallas with lots of work left for me.

Under the Knife

So I had my surgery yesterday. I had four wisdom teeth extractions: 2 soft tissue and 2 partial bony. It's so ironic how I've spent the past two years providing medical perioperative care and now I finally am a surgical patient. I had it done at Baylor College of Dentistry with a surgical resident. This was the first time I've ever had IV sedation. First thing they did when I came in was slap on all those stickers for the vital signs and put the O2 stat monitor on my finger. Then they stuck the oxygen tube in my nose and covered my hair with a cloth cap. The surgeon came in and explained what was gonna happen and then he started the IV sedation. Everything started getting blurry as I heard my mom say, "You know doctor, she's a premed student. She just took her MCAT." Now you know where I get it from.

Right before I fell asleep they blindfolded me with a long bandage wrapped around my head. I woke up intermittently throughout, usually once the surgeon would start drilling. On my partial bony teeth, he had to break them into pieces and then take them out. I kind of wish it was video taped so I could watch it. Once it was over he took off my blindfold and called my mom and sister in. My legs and arms were shaking, and I wanted to tell the doctor to give me anti-anxiety meds in addition to the Vicodin and Keflex. But of course I couldn't talk. So I motioned for a pen and paper and wrote down my request. He told me that my IV had some anti-anxiety med in it and that my shaking was because my body was cold. He had given me so much fluid in such a small amount of time through the IV that my blood vessels were cold. Isn't that freaky?

When I got home the pain started, and I downed the Vicodin. It became my new best friend (I'm from Plano, what do you expect?). My cheeks swelled like chipmunk cheeks, and according to my sister I look like a cute baby. I don't want to leave the house though, my face is too embarrassing. Hopefully the swelling will go down soon. The doctor said I can't work out until it does, which sux, but then again I also can't eat as much so that may make up for it. So here I am S/P wisdom teeth extract x4, passing in and out of my consciousness thanks to the Vicodin. Ain't life grand?

Boring...

Now that school's out, I a little bored. Since my mom's at work and my sisters are still in school, I'm pretty much stuck at home all day. I run errands over the phone and try to clean up around the house, but there's only so much. Good thing I'm not trying to be a housewife. I'm fixin to put my school books up for sale on half.com, then maybe my days can be filled with mailing off those puppies. Passions has a storyline in Las Vegas, which just makes me more antsy to go. I can't wait!