Despite my fervent attempts to post on a weekly basis, here it is nearly three weeks since you all last heard from me. I sincerely apology! I promise that my hard work and dedication in medical school has kept me from documenting the highlights of my journey. Since my last entry: I dropped my LG Lucid Android in the toilet on a rough morning when I was making a mad dash for class, we got a tv stand, ottomans, bulk items from costco, and a few things to spruce up my room for the house, and my family and friends witnessed the ever anticipated White Coat Ceremony!!
As for the phone, Nicole was nice enough to douse it in rice for the day, although on my way back from Verizon it started working again. Thanks to the "beautiful people", my scrubs and med school ID, (we called some customer service line and claimed I needed a new one ASAP because I was "on call"), I was sent a "certified like new" lucid in no time, FREE :) I must say, the house is shaping up to be a real gem. If I had a normal schedule, wall art would've donned the walls by now but.....
We finally secured the couches from Craigslist and plenty of bubbly drinks from World Market in time for last weekends' festivities. The White Coat Ceremony definitely goes down in the books as one of the best days of my life. I remember having the same feeling and sense of accomplishment when I received my MCAT score last October. As I marched into the Compton Auditorium LRC with white coat in hand, I was so ecstatic and simultaneously overjoyed that tears began to escape from my lacrimal ducts. I put forth a gallon effort to stop the emotion from ruining my makeup after my classmate Joseph looked over and said "La' Nyia, the ceremony hasn't even started yet." If only he knew the struggle. I welcomed my parents, Alanah and Corey, Wakeem and Michael, my MSPH friends, former and current professors to a momentous occasion that I'll treasure forever. As you can see from the pictures below, I couldn't have been happier. Since then I've ordered 2 more coats to include my master's degree, as in another year or so it will become a regular rotation in my wardrobe. If you know me well enough, my attachment to uniform has finally taken precedence.
The intricacies of medical school and the people in it still "wow" me on a daily basis. Time it correctly and drive down 21st Ave North at about 7:45 on the morning of a biochem quiz and you will see tons of stragglers in scrubs frantically skimming through pages of metabolites and hormones. It's a rough act to follow but hey we signed up for this! I am now officially the recipient of the Great Lakes National STEM Scholarship and hope to cash in on the refund since my loans paid tuition in full. I was recently elected Freshman Liaison of the Saburo Hara Pediatric Society, and hope to attend the AAP National Conference in October in New Orleans. I'm constantly moving, finding time to catch up on sleep and workouts, trying a few food digs here and there, but most importantly remembering that I can only do my best, one day at a time.
When they see me, they'll say "Here Comes A Fighter"- Gym Class Heroes. My new anthem.
