Flights for winter break to SFO!
Today, I booked my flights for traveling back to San Francisco over Winter Break! I will spend Christmas through New Year with my family and then off I go to California in January for a week before classes begin.
Hurray!!!!
Interview at GWU, trip to NYC and Genetics exam
Thursday, I drove down to Washington D.C. for my interview at George Washington. Wow... is it ever close to where my parents live! My dad dropped me at the METRO and twenty minutes later I walked into the medical school lobby. I'm not kidding! There were fifteen students interviewing on the same day as me. Most of them seemed like very nice people. Only one bad apple in the group and I think it was mostly a maturity thing. This girl kept complaining to the rest of us, "I can't understand what the point of the whole interview process is. It's such a waste of time!". That's a pretty memorable statement and I hope she doesn't end up in my class. But current students at GW were all very nice and pretty cool. They looked like my friends! It felt so homey, because we have a lot of similar interests and priorities. There was a strong feeling of community and they each had interesting things to report about the first year as a student. Everyone seemed to be friends and had funny stories to share. They help out one another in lab and before exams. There's no hint of competition or resentment for other students, which you might get at other medical schools that are still grading on a steep curve. The grading scale at GWU sets 90% and above as Honors. Otherwise, you either Pass or Fail. 94% of their students pass the USMLE's on the first "Go", which seems to be a pretty decent statistic to me. The facilities were very nice, too. The exam rooms and lecture halls were sporting the latest technology. All of the lectures are recorded as MP3's, so you can load them up on your iPod and listen at high speed, which is how I read all my audiobooks anyway.
The interviews themselves were very chill. First, I was interviewed by a faculty member. He was a friendly, laidback pediatrician and we talked about all sorts of things from my rock climbing to his kayaking adventures and of course about more serious topics, like a little bit of health policy, GW's location in Washington D.C., the school curriculum, my personal interests in medicine and why it's a match for me. He didn't ask me any of the typical interview style questions. It seems everyone else was asked to, "talk about a time they failed". Second, I was interviewed by a second year medical student named Stacia. She did her post-bac work in California and was originally from the East Coast. We were also the same age, so we already have a lot in common. She was fun to talk to and spoke highly of the students in her class. At the end of the interview she tore off a corner of the evaluation sheet and wrote down her GW email address for me. I felt very welcomed and left GW with a very nice impression. I am hoping to get an acceptance from the school, but I know it's impossible to know out what their impression is of me. On paper, I think I am a good candidate for their school. During my interview, I expressed my sincere interests in GW, motivation to work hard, etc. It won't be until mid-January until I find out. So far, one person from RIT who interviewed last month was already added to the waitlist, which isn't good. That means he could be accepted in June, July, August or not at all! Keep your fingers crossed and meanwhile I'll report my interview experience from Georgetown in about two weeks from now.
I drove back to Philly on Saturday afternoon and got a call from my SF friend, Dana who just came out to NYC for a visit. After I emptied the car and got cleaned up, I checked the bus schedule and hopped a bus headed for Manhattan. Only $30, round-trip!
I planned to come back later that night, but ended up meeting her at a bar in Soho, we headed for dinner in Greenwich Village, went to her friends Kyle and Brenda's for a brief visit in Alphabet City, then to a house party in Greenwich again and we slept at Kyle and Brenda's, then got up and had the most delicious brunch in Gramercy Park at the coolest, coziest little place, ever! Everything was so delicious and I must have said to Dana a million times how much I loved it! After brunch, we both headed to Port Authority to catch our respective buses to Philadelphia and Salisbury, MD.
It was great to see her and have a little mini holiday. We haven't known each other all that long, but formed an almost instantaneous sense of rapport with one another and as she said, "its a pity we didn't get to hang out more in SF...but i think we are becoming 'those' sort of friends- that hang out when they can and its like no time passes." Dana's awesome! Smart, funny, tech-saavy, and a fashionista, at that! On Saturday night, she was wearing a little, red Miss Sixety shirt with mittens sewn as part of the pattern of the shirt, that snap to the tops of her forearm, that I secretly covet.
Today, it's back to school. I got my genetics exam back... a B+, which I admit is a bit of an annoyance. Oh well. On to the new material and one more test, and one more quiz to go! We should be starting a new online graded class discussion on the Bird Flu, which I'm looking forward to. We've moved on from fruitflies, replication, protein translation and are now studying mutation, viruses and all you would ever want to know about bacterial reproduction. Yum! heh... it's funny how differently I look at my counter tops these days.
Pigtails are like a party for your head!
You see?!
Props to Sarah and Todd Elliott!
I saw it yesterday at the store and I had to buy it. My mom used to dress me up in pigtails and by the 2nd grade I hated them! But, this is basically how I looked in 2nd grade... funny, huh?
A giant thank you and super, huge props to both Sarah and Todd Elliott (aka
DJ Scout) for the fantastic music sets you made for my birthday. Well, okay... Todd's set was really for WOOM X, but he recorded it for me, emailed me the link and posted it on his website. The first day I got it, I listened to it three times straight. Most of it is all new stuff that I have never heard before. (I've listened to just about every single set Todd has ever made, like a gazillion times) He has impeccable taste in music and always seems to know what I'm in the mood to listen or dance to. I used to compare him to Juliette Binoche, in the movie
Chocolat with Johnny Dep, whose sensuous desserts scandalized the town. She knew exactly what chocolate a person would like best... and this is how I thought of Todd and music. Well, ok... he always knew exactly what I wanted to listen to. But that's all that really matters, right?! ;)
Job interview at University of Pennsylvania
Yesterday, I had a job interview at University of Pennsylvania for a research position. Actually, it's an interesting study that has been on-going for 12 years now. The study follows 80 infants, (now 12-year olds) who were identified as being at high-risk for obesity and developing diabetes based on mothers' weight before pregnancy. The kids come in once a year and we get to feed them for two days and observe their eating habits, plus weigh them, check bone density, glucose levels, etc. One of the meals is a McDonald's meal. One is a spaghetti dinner. And another is a food buffet, where the kids are videoed to investigate the eating behaviors of sweet, pudgey, little 12-year olds. I basically get to play with them, fix their meals, make them laugh to see if milk comes out their noses and probably crunch some statistics on it. You ask about the perks? Well, I'm hoping to get a free McDonalds meal out of it, of course. Though I haven't been offered the job yet, I think it's safe to say from my mean peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, that I am most qualified for this job!
Post-testimony processing.
Testifying two weeks ago in San Francisco was a learning and eye opening experience. It was firsthand exposure to the litigation process and I gained insight to the dynamic between attorneys, witnesses, judge and jury. It was very interesting and in contrast to the world to medicine. It is times like this, where I know I am headed in the right field! In the courtroom, one objective for the attorney during cross-examination is to discredit a witness and find fallacy in their testimony. A witness must slow down, speak carefully, not answer poor questions, stay on guard, not guess, be patient and not volunteer information that may be used against them. As they say, “anything you say can and will be used against you, in a court of law”. The environment is antagonizing and a juror’s job of extrapolating factual information can be damn near impossible. In the end, it seems as though nothing is factual and though I have not yet served on a jury, it must be a disheartening situation. Who can a person believe when it’s word for word? Do other cues affect a juror’s judgment, such as an attorney’s rhetoric, attractiveness, or the appearance of good rapport with the judge? Though it's not supposed to happen, I'm sure it does. Choose your attorney wisely when selecting someone to represent you! In contrast, the collaborative culture of medicine is based on solving problems and striving for an outcome proven to give the greatest good. “Collaborative”, being the keyword here. Doctors are not in practice to discredit or work against one another. Putting heads together to find an answer or frankly stating that the answer is unknown but under investigation, is a more satisfying scenario for me. My criticism is not intended to claim that one line of work is more valid than the other, but rather to entertain the idea that some people aren’t cutout for particular careers and I am glad there are those who want to be lawyers, because I don’t want to do it! My experience on the witness stand this month has reaffirmed my decision that I am headed in the right direction. Law school is not something I plan to investigate anytime in this present lifetime. Simply put, it just isn’t my cup of tea!
Princess Flower
but on the other hand... i sure do miss those gorgeous flowers that bloom in san francisco, all year around!!! (which beats a 24-hour post office any day...
even on tax-day)
mmm... reminds me of afternoons spent in Hiroko's backyard on Dolores Street, near the Mission! a very nice life.
30th St Post Office, shortly before midnight!
I just finished knitting a surprise for somebody and I popped it in the mail, tonight… 30 minutes before midnight! (I'm excitedly awaiting a response) There are particular things that I really like about Philadelphia. I love simple, brilliant answers to life's common headaches. I hate traffic and waiting in line. Post offices are a major time-sink and I generally avoid them. But Philadelphia has got the greatest solution to post office woes on the face of the Earth. The main branch never closes! That’s right. There is always someone smiling and ready to take your packages, even on Sunday evening or late on a Saturday night. Call it a best-kept secret, if you will. Once I step foot inside the door, there is always someone who asks me how they can help. I love it! And I park my car right out front. Ahhh… It’s so nice and it thrilled me to the point of having to share it!
Post-birthday in San Francisco!
Dana just posted pictures from Friday night, when we went to Hanabi for sushi and then back to my old "Dub" flat for birthday cake. There are pictures from our sushi feast, where Mary and Peyton were designated project managers for ordering sushi... way to go guys! You correctly projected the necessary assets (though underestimated beer consumption... we needed more, a lot) and we all left with happy, full bellies without a single piece of sushi left-over. Nicely done!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yoyoyobst/sets/1323741/
*look awaaaay from the missing piece in the chocolate cake!*
I laugh in my sleep!
For some reason, I was reminded over and over today that,
I laugh in my sleep. I don't know what's more obsurd, the fact that I randomly remembered this, or that I actually laugh in my sleep! Two people have told me... my mother heard me laugh on multiple occasions, including once this summer when she came to visit me in San Francisco and also John Morrow who told me years ago that I was laughing in my sleep. I asked if he tried to find out what was so funny...
(because I would really like to know!) but I guess he didn't want to wake me and interupt such a great dream sequence!
Visit to SF does me good!
Though I couldn't call it a vacation (trial and school on my mind), it was wonderful to be back in San Francisco. I had a few great meals with friends at Luna Park and Hanabi, Jeremiah cut my hair, I got to hang-out at my old flat in the Dub Triangle where my friends even sang me happy birthday, I testified, walked around Market street resisting the temptation to windowshop, went swimming and hottubbing with the girls, and made a quick trip to Noe Valley to have my eyelashes tinted! And of course, I spent the better part of Saturday curled up with my books at the hotel, studying genetics. I can't begin to describe the warm fuzzy feeling I had while being in the city. So many things to make me smile and a lot of things to laugh at. I'm a lucky girl, to have San Francisco to come home to!
Mmm... Yummy food in San Francisco!
San Francisco has got the greatest food! Everything so fresh and to the 9's, without being overpriced. Homemade pumpkin raviolli's with sage and a great glass of sangiovese for under $20 is cheap by Philly standards. Some things are cheaper in California... and food is my favorite. This meal put a huge, happy, homesick smile on my face... ahhhh! I love San Francisco.
Happy Halloween!
Wow... three great nights in a row! Starting with Anne's visit and then dinner for my birthday with a bunch of friends and finally Halloween at the Henri David Ball to top it off. I was dressed as Pippi and got many enthusiastic complements... I had no idea how many people are such big fans of Pippi! Admittedly, I don't know too much about her, though my brother nicknamed me Pippi when we were little because I called my little pillow Pippio. So, I was Pippi! It wasn't a difficult costume for me and it felt almost genuine, somehow. Pippi and I are kindred spirits, I declare! The costume was made of regular items in my daily wardrobe... a rusty color skirt, striped tights with big black boots, topped with a plain shirt. My hair was hardly any different, than normal. And even her character wasn't hard to play. She is the strongest little girl in the whole entire world, after all! And that is exactly how I saw myself at her age... climbing trees, scuffing up my knees and running around with strawberry blonde pigtails. Pippi!
