better than one is two, aka my happy dance

Interviews that is! So far I've applied to 92 programs: 49 child neuro, 53 peds and have received one rejection, four thank-you-for-applying-we-will-let-you-knows' and one plus one (TWO!!!) interviews at places I would be very happy to go! One is for an over-the-moon amazing place and I feel honored to even get to interview there, the other a solid university program, both are for child neurology. I'm sure the tide will turn but I'm quite happy with my 2:1- interview:rejection ratio at the moment. Amazed, excited, surprised and very, very happy. I really didn't think I would get interviews so early or at such great places... It may be that child neuro is an open field with very few applicants or that I have an amazing letter writer or that research matters and I happen to have that, or who knows? Whatever, I'll take it. I didn't go into the application cycle very confident so this week has done wonders for my self-esteem. So here is to the two!

And in celebration of applications being in and my month of child neurology being over I am in Park City, UT with my parents enjoying a week filled with hiking, cards, kayaking, biking, swimming, hot-tubs and whatever else we decide to do. Life it good.

tick tock

I'm back in NY and staying at my mother-in-laws. Last night I could not sleep. Maybe it was the jetlag or sofa bed mattress but as I tried to count sheep I could only hear the tick tock of the wall clocks. I ended up taking them down and stuffing them into a closet but even the perfect silence couldn't lull me to sleep.

A few of my classmates have received their clinical placements but I am still waiting. I have few bad things to say about SGU (I am more than thankful for the opportunity and I do believe the school does a decent job educating us) but I guess the sheer number of students overwhelms the Clin Ed office plus when it come to communicating with us and administrative issue SGU leaves a bit to be desired. But it is what it is, I'm just going to whine about it.

So, in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep I started composing a few blog entries in my head. Why is it that it seems so easy to be eloquent at 2am in the morning. In the light of day the ideas are like dreams, the concept is remembered but the grandeur is missing.

Anyhow. I never finished my Confessions series and I need to do that before I completely forgot what it was like to be in Grenada and all that was 5th term. And I do want to post on my Step 1 strategy for those of you wondering. I promise I am working on them. Maybe I'll get around to posting both before I find out where and when I start third year. That seems reasonable/likely.

auntie love

I love being an aunt. I love the feel of little hands searching for mine in the dark theatre and not letting go, the entire show. I love the questions, the awe of a 7 year old and the smarts of a 9 year old. We had a most wonderful afternoon, just us three girls. No tears, no fighting, just a fun-filled time watching Cinderella (the girls favorite), Little Red Riding Hood (my favorite) and a few other story book characters come to life in "Into the Woods" the musical.  We only stayed for Act 1 and it was perfect in length and substance. Not too long, not too scary and everyone got their happily ever after...

I love being an aunt. I love that we had to dig up bugs with big sticks. I love that during hide & seek the same hiding spot never gets old. I love that at 4 years old he wants to know when his voice will change and that I am the one he thinks to ask. Boys can be fun too.

I love being an aunt and for the next 8 days that is my sole purpose. 
(I promise to return to normal med school blogging soon.)

Vacation Week

Okay, so its not really vacation because we still have classes but Dr. Boyfriend is visiting, midterms are over (and they went okay, not stellar I can join IEA great, but I think I'm finding my study groove and I actually like the material this term so I'm happy) and I feel like I'm on vacation. I've been to the beach two days in a row and have started on a non-academic work of fiction. Life is good. Now if only Dr. Boyfriend could magically stay on the island to brew my coffee during lecture breaks and keep me company during study time... but I'll enjoy this week to its fullest. It is strange to think that after this term my time in Grenada will be half over. It is amazing how fast time goes by.

I'm off to run some errands and then go explore St. George's with my tourist... Happy vacation week fellow classmates! I know I am going to enjoy it. Pictures and details to follow.

quiet spots

The last few days have been filled with quiet, a very good quiet.

Thursday after class I headed to Carriacou with two of my favorite people. A nauseating, rainy, windy and very crowded 2 hour + ferry ride later we arrived to find that everything was closing. Dinner was beer and bread but we were on vacay so no complaints. The next day being Good Friday meant that all shops and such were closed so it gave us plenty of time to catch up on anatomy and biochem. And we even made it to the beach despite the rain shower and scary dogs. Afterwards more studying was had. It was just nice to be somewhere different even if we were doing the same things (studying, eating, sleeping, watching a movie on a computer). Saturday was a bit more eventful with a proper british breakfast at the cutest little house/restaurant, Lyme and Dine followed by a walk through the main town of Hillsborough. It was time to come back to Grenada but not everyone was ready to leave so we found a place for "but I'm not ready to go back to Grenada" girl to stay and said our goodbyes. The ferry ride back was peaceful. The weekend proceeded without much to note, it seems many students went away and campus seemed deserted, it was a change to walk around and not see 1/2 the class between the anatomy lab and the student center. I love my class but Grenada is kind of small and our class is large so you are bound to run into someone no matter where you go. Grocery store, coffee shop, far side of the island, it doesn't seem to matter.... so for a day it was refreshing to only see a total of 2 people during the walk from my apartment to the anatomy lab. 

Today I decided to go for a run and found a desolate spot with a view of campus on one side and the airport on the other. (See picture above.) After sitting and reflecting for awhile I was ready to study again. I think I needed this weekend. Finals will be here in just over a month and there is so much to learn and review in that time. Now I'm sure that before I know it, I'll be home for the summer and first term will seem a distant memory... but in the meantime I've found my quiet spot to run to when I need a study break or feel homesick or just want to sit and appreciate the place I'm in. And next Easter I've got a whole quiet island to visit again...