Everyone has those people in their lives that they can neither live with, nor live without. For me, that person is Kinley's boyfriend, Neal. On the outside, Neal is frighteningly intense, maddeningly talkative, and borderline obnoxious. On the inside, he's thoughtfully sincere and sincerely thoughtful. This side of his personality is like the free gift inside a box of Lucky Charms - reserved for those who are willing to wait patiently to discover it and/or are willing to dig a little. :)
Neal and I frequently share our hopes and fears about our futures in medicine, because no one else in the suite shares our passion. (Well, Cassidy would be the next closest, but she's more concerned with getting into optometry school than medical school.) We understand each other's pure glee over finding a cool residency program, and each other's frustrations with classes and requirements.
We may be two completely different people, but we make a great pair when it comes to pushing each other on to realize our dreams. We're honest with each other and aren't afraid to use a little tough love. We are also currently in a competition lovingly known to us as the "person-off" - aka, the competition to see who can be the better person. In this competition, I am currently in the lead. ;)
Hope you enjoyed this post, Neal. Thanks for dating one of my best friends. You have really good taste. :)
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
When your mom is kinda cool...
... she'll come visit you for the weekend.
... she'll take you to not one, but two, coffeeshops in one day and not think anything of it.
... she'll stay up until midnight baking in a dorm kitchen with you and your best friends.
... she'll walk around with you all day doing nothing.
... she'll pause to look at details and not rush through anything.
... she'll be cool with having no plans.
...she'll take random pictures of you while you're talking just because she likes the faces you make.
... she'll take you out to eat so you can have a break from the cafeteria.
... she'll let you talk and talk and talk - even when you don't know what to say.
.... she'll listen.
... she'll want to post your pictures on her facebook profile.
... she'll play guitars in hip music shops.
... she'll wave to you when she leaves.
... she'll make you want to be just like her when you grow up!
... she'll take you to not one, but two, coffeeshops in one day and not think anything of it.
... she'll stay up until midnight baking in a dorm kitchen with you and your best friends.
... she'll walk around with you all day doing nothing.
... she'll pause to look at details and not rush through anything.
... she'll be cool with having no plans.
...she'll take random pictures of you while you're talking just because she likes the faces you make.
... she'll take you out to eat so you can have a break from the cafeteria.
... she'll let you talk and talk and talk - even when you don't know what to say.
.... she'll listen.
... she'll want to post your pictures on her facebook profile.
... she'll play guitars in hip music shops.
... she'll wave to you when she leaves.
... she'll make you want to be just like her when you grow up!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Chemistry and Coffee
This
gets a little more bearable
when you have
one of these:
gets a little more bearable
when you have
one of these:
Ahh, yes...behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee (Stephanie Piro.)
Friday, November 6, 2009
I also like...
...practicing my doctoring skills.
I do not know why calamity seems to befall our suite, but I am just glad I am always right in the middle of it without being directly affected by it. It started with Kinley having appendicitis and needing to go to the emergency room for an appendectomy. I got to drive her to the hospital and be the switchboard for all the many phone calls coming in and going out that day. Kinley's boyfriend, Neal (who is pre-med also) and I spent the whole day feeling giddy that we were in a hospital. So yeah, that was a cool adventure for me at least - I'm not sure how Kinley felt about it.
Well, yesterday, Cassidy finally got a real doctor (not our health center nurse) to look at an infection on her toe. Poor thing, she'd been in pain for a week. As it turned out, she needed "surgery" to clean out the infection and allow her toe to heal. I was not with her at the doctor's appointment, but her boyfriend, Evan, was with her the whole time. He went into the surgery room with her to hold her hand while they operated on her toe (Aww.)
(I think by today he may have regained feeling in his hand.)
So last night Cassidy had to take off the dressing to soak her toe and re-dress it with clean bandages. I am really hoping I didn't annoy her with my enthusiastic offer to help.
She took her boot off and for the first time, looked at the dressing on her toe. Blood had soaked through the bottom. Cassidy got light-headed. I got excited.
I talked Cassidy through peeling off the large bandages wrapping her whole foot, and she did a great job, but she let me take the final bandages and gauze off.
Yes.
It was like Christmas.
(Don't look at me like that.)
As it turns out, the wound wasn't quite as epic as she and I feared/hoped (respectively.) But we got her all cleaned up and re-bandaged. Both of us stayed calm and cool and did a pretty nice job, if I do say so myself. Cassidy even took care of it all by herself this morning!
If anyone else has any calamity, emergency, or epidemic, feel free to give me a call!
I do not know why calamity seems to befall our suite, but I am just glad I am always right in the middle of it without being directly affected by it. It started with Kinley having appendicitis and needing to go to the emergency room for an appendectomy. I got to drive her to the hospital and be the switchboard for all the many phone calls coming in and going out that day. Kinley's boyfriend, Neal (who is pre-med also) and I spent the whole day feeling giddy that we were in a hospital. So yeah, that was a cool adventure for me at least - I'm not sure how Kinley felt about it.
Well, yesterday, Cassidy finally got a real doctor (not our health center nurse) to look at an infection on her toe. Poor thing, she'd been in pain for a week. As it turned out, she needed "surgery" to clean out the infection and allow her toe to heal. I was not with her at the doctor's appointment, but her boyfriend, Evan, was with her the whole time. He went into the surgery room with her to hold her hand while they operated on her toe (Aww.)
(I think by today he may have regained feeling in his hand.)
So last night Cassidy had to take off the dressing to soak her toe and re-dress it with clean bandages. I am really hoping I didn't annoy her with my enthusiastic offer to help.
She took her boot off and for the first time, looked at the dressing on her toe. Blood had soaked through the bottom. Cassidy got light-headed. I got excited.
I talked Cassidy through peeling off the large bandages wrapping her whole foot, and she did a great job, but she let me take the final bandages and gauze off.
Yes.
It was like Christmas.
(Don't look at me like that.)
As it turns out, the wound wasn't quite as epic as she and I feared/hoped (respectively.) But we got her all cleaned up and re-bandaged. Both of us stayed calm and cool and did a pretty nice job, if I do say so myself. Cassidy even took care of it all by herself this morning!
If anyone else has any calamity, emergency, or epidemic, feel free to give me a call!
I like...
...coffee, early in the morning.
I am on a secret (OK, not secret. I lied) mission to visit every coffee shop in J-town. So far I have visited 3; going incognito to find the best brew and atmosphere. I have not been disappointed! Yesterday I had two free hours in the morning before class so I treated myself to an espresso excursion.
I drove downtown just as the city was really beginning to shine in the morning light. The sun had been up for about half an hour, but everything was still golden and gleaming. I had rolled down the windows of Wild Blue and was playing Ingrid Michaelson on the stereo. I swung into a parking space and strolled down the empty side walk. The sun was up and warm and the breeze was cool.
There were birds singing. I think. I could have made that up.
The coffee shop I decided to infiltrate on this particular morning was perfect -chic, but casual, cool, but comfortable. I ordered a cafe mocha (you can tell a lot about a coffee shop from the quality of their mocha) and was quite enamored with it. It was rich and creamy, with a thick, smooth coffee flavor, and a distinct chocolate essence without being too sweet. Ahh, I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it. And the fact that I got a student discount....well, that was nice too. {smiles}
I decided to sit outside at a little table on the sidewalk, even though it was a little chilly. It was just too beautiful of a morning to stay inside any more than necessary! I would love to say that I sat with my cup of coffee-y goodness, people-watched, and soaked up the sunshine, but I didn't.
Instead, I sat with my cup of coffee-y goodness, unloaded my backpack, and studied organic chemistry.
Organic chemistry has no regard for beautiful mornings.
But that's ok. I don't mind.
I had coffee.
I am on a secret (OK, not secret. I lied) mission to visit every coffee shop in J-town. So far I have visited 3; going incognito to find the best brew and atmosphere. I have not been disappointed! Yesterday I had two free hours in the morning before class so I treated myself to an espresso excursion.
I drove downtown just as the city was really beginning to shine in the morning light. The sun had been up for about half an hour, but everything was still golden and gleaming. I had rolled down the windows of Wild Blue and was playing Ingrid Michaelson on the stereo. I swung into a parking space and strolled down the empty side walk. The sun was up and warm and the breeze was cool.
There were birds singing. I think. I could have made that up.
The coffee shop I decided to infiltrate on this particular morning was perfect -chic, but casual, cool, but comfortable. I ordered a cafe mocha (you can tell a lot about a coffee shop from the quality of their mocha) and was quite enamored with it. It was rich and creamy, with a thick, smooth coffee flavor, and a distinct chocolate essence without being too sweet. Ahh, I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it. And the fact that I got a student discount....well, that was nice too. {smiles}
I decided to sit outside at a little table on the sidewalk, even though it was a little chilly. It was just too beautiful of a morning to stay inside any more than necessary! I would love to say that I sat with my cup of coffee-y goodness, people-watched, and soaked up the sunshine, but I didn't.
Instead, I sat with my cup of coffee-y goodness, unloaded my backpack, and studied organic chemistry.
Organic chemistry has no regard for beautiful mornings.
But that's ok. I don't mind.
I had coffee.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Two letters...an N and an O.
Today I learned how to say no.
No.
As in nadda.
And as in nope.
It only took me one meltdown to realize I had spread myself too thin. When you love life as much as I do, you want to do everything! Passing up one cool opportunity seems like a crime. But never passing up any opportunity means that eventually you become so stressed trying to juggle all of your "cool opportunities" that you don't get to enjoy any of them. And that's a crime.
So you decide to say No.
You take a deep breath, clench your fists, set your jaw, squint your eyes, prepare for the worst, and
say no.
And you wait.
You cautiously open one eye. Then the other. The world is still spinning and the birds are still singing. People still like you.
You let out your breath. You unclench your fists. You relax your jaw.
It's ok.
Actually, it's better than ok. Now you can enjoy loving life and love enjoying life! Saying NO is such a freeing thing. It hurts right at the moment, but in the long run it saves you from so much pain. Kinda like a vaccine, I guess.
So today I said no. And now I'm looking at all of the things that are still Yes-es in my life:
1) Yes, I can do my homework!
2) Yes, I can do my job well!
3) Yes, I can go to the Family Clinic every Friday!
4) Yes, I can go to Bible study on Monday nights with the girls!
5) Yes, I can go to the Christian Fellowship on Tuesday night!
6) Yes, I can sleep!
7) Yes, I can enjoy my friends!
8) Yes, I can have a life!
Yes. Yes is good. And so is NO.
Oh, one more thing: I picked up a lovely red leaf this afternoon. It's tacked to my bulletin board to remind me of the day I said no and the world kept spinning.
No.
As in nadda.
And as in nope.
It only took me one meltdown to realize I had spread myself too thin. When you love life as much as I do, you want to do everything! Passing up one cool opportunity seems like a crime. But never passing up any opportunity means that eventually you become so stressed trying to juggle all of your "cool opportunities" that you don't get to enjoy any of them. And that's a crime.
So you decide to say No.
You take a deep breath, clench your fists, set your jaw, squint your eyes, prepare for the worst, and
say no.
And you wait.
You cautiously open one eye. Then the other. The world is still spinning and the birds are still singing. People still like you.
You let out your breath. You unclench your fists. You relax your jaw.
It's ok.
Actually, it's better than ok. Now you can enjoy loving life and love enjoying life! Saying NO is such a freeing thing. It hurts right at the moment, but in the long run it saves you from so much pain. Kinda like a vaccine, I guess.
So today I said no. And now I'm looking at all of the things that are still Yes-es in my life:
1) Yes, I can do my homework!
2) Yes, I can do my job well!
3) Yes, I can go to the Family Clinic every Friday!
4) Yes, I can go to Bible study on Monday nights with the girls!
5) Yes, I can go to the Christian Fellowship on Tuesday night!
6) Yes, I can sleep!
7) Yes, I can enjoy my friends!
8) Yes, I can have a life!
Yes. Yes is good. And so is NO.
Oh, one more thing: I picked up a lovely red leaf this afternoon. It's tacked to my bulletin board to remind me of the day I said no and the world kept spinning.
Friday, October 30, 2009
All in a Friday's work...
6:00AM - Alarm goes off
6:02AM - Turn alarm off so that it doesn't wake up roommate
7:20AM - Realize you fell back asleep and jump out of bed to get ready for your 8AM class.
7:55AM - Brush your teeth, pull on shoes, and hustle to pre-calculus
8:30AM - Try to stifle yawns while working logarithmic equations
8:50AM - Get out of class and run to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast before your 9AM class
8:57AM - Walk into organic chemistry with a cream-cheesed bagel, grapes, and a cup of milk.
9:35AM - Eat your bagel while trying not to get lost amidst alkynes, hydrogenation, and oxidative cleavage.
9:51AM - Get back to your room, flop on your bed, check facebook, and call your mom.
10:45AM - Get ready to go to your 11AM class, having intended to work on homework over this hour, but having not, due to the fact that you're still on the phone with your mom.
10:56AM - Get off the phone with your mom and jog over to intro to cell biology.
11:17AM - Your biology professor lets everyone out early because it's Friday (and the day before Halloween)!
12:10PM - Get caught in a torrential downpour without an umbrella, rain jacket, or rainboots.
12:15PM - Walk dripping and shivering into the cafeteria for lunch with your roommate.
12:45PM - Head back to your room to get ready to go to the Family Practice Clinic to shadow a doctor. Attempt to NOT look like a drowned rat. Put on nice slacks. Stifle yawns.
1:15PM - Get to the clinic and find the new doctor you're supposed to shadow for the day.
3:50PM - Leave the clinic, having seen a variety of patients and interesting discussions with your mentor (doctor.) Stifle yawns.
4:02PM - Get back to your room, exclaim to your roommate how tired you are.
4:05PM - Check your e-mail and facebook. Flop dramatically down on your bed to illustrate to your roommate just how tired you are.
5:25PM - Wake up after falling asleep after flopping down dramatically down on your bed.
5:26PM - Try to come out of your spontaneous nap induced amnesia.
6:17PM - Go get dinner with your roommate.
6:45PM - Come back to your room, resolved on cleaning and organizing it after the crazy week.
7:15PM - Spend the next half hour watching youtube videos with your roommate, suitemate, and suitemate's boyfriend.
7:50PM - Resolve to clean your room again.
8:15PM - Put away clean laundry that you washed on Tuesday. And has been sitting in the basket since then.
8:32PM - Clear off dresser and desk. Put on high-heeled shoes with socks and walk around the room. Then put them up again.
8:53PM - Eat some Halloween candy.
9:30PM - Watch your roommate get out painting supplies and begin her latest masterpiece.
9:45PM - Knit a row of a hat you've been working on for a year.
9:50PM - Put down the hat because you're distracted.
10:00PM - Decide to post something on your blog.
6:02AM - Turn alarm off so that it doesn't wake up roommate
7:20AM - Realize you fell back asleep and jump out of bed to get ready for your 8AM class.
7:55AM - Brush your teeth, pull on shoes, and hustle to pre-calculus
8:30AM - Try to stifle yawns while working logarithmic equations
8:50AM - Get out of class and run to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast before your 9AM class
8:57AM - Walk into organic chemistry with a cream-cheesed bagel, grapes, and a cup of milk.
9:35AM - Eat your bagel while trying not to get lost amidst alkynes, hydrogenation, and oxidative cleavage.
9:51AM - Get back to your room, flop on your bed, check facebook, and call your mom.
10:45AM - Get ready to go to your 11AM class, having intended to work on homework over this hour, but having not, due to the fact that you're still on the phone with your mom.
10:56AM - Get off the phone with your mom and jog over to intro to cell biology.
11:17AM - Your biology professor lets everyone out early because it's Friday (and the day before Halloween)!
12:10PM - Get caught in a torrential downpour without an umbrella, rain jacket, or rainboots.
12:15PM - Walk dripping and shivering into the cafeteria for lunch with your roommate.
12:45PM - Head back to your room to get ready to go to the Family Practice Clinic to shadow a doctor. Attempt to NOT look like a drowned rat. Put on nice slacks. Stifle yawns.
1:15PM - Get to the clinic and find the new doctor you're supposed to shadow for the day.
3:50PM - Leave the clinic, having seen a variety of patients and interesting discussions with your mentor (doctor.) Stifle yawns.
4:02PM - Get back to your room, exclaim to your roommate how tired you are.
4:05PM - Check your e-mail and facebook. Flop dramatically down on your bed to illustrate to your roommate just how tired you are.
5:25PM - Wake up after falling asleep after flopping down dramatically down on your bed.
5:26PM - Try to come out of your spontaneous nap induced amnesia.
6:17PM - Go get dinner with your roommate.
6:45PM - Come back to your room, resolved on cleaning and organizing it after the crazy week.
7:15PM - Spend the next half hour watching youtube videos with your roommate, suitemate, and suitemate's boyfriend.
7:50PM - Resolve to clean your room again.
8:15PM - Put away clean laundry that you washed on Tuesday. And has been sitting in the basket since then.
8:32PM - Clear off dresser and desk. Put on high-heeled shoes with socks and walk around the room. Then put them up again.
8:53PM - Eat some Halloween candy.
9:30PM - Watch your roommate get out painting supplies and begin her latest masterpiece.
9:45PM - Knit a row of a hat you've been working on for a year.
9:50PM - Put down the hat because you're distracted.
10:00PM - Decide to post something on your blog.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
I am not a morning person
Let me preface this post with a fact about myself:
I hate waking up.
It's true - I love being awake, I love falling asleep, and I love being asleep, but I hate waking up. I can't think of many things I would rather not do. Because of this, having an 8AM class four days a week is the bane of my existence. Early mornings and I have a very poor relationship.
But supposedly, "joy comes with the morning." (Psalm 30:5)
Say what?
Seriously?
I mean, yeah, waking up early means I get to start my day before everyone else in my suite. It's quiet and peaceful, and I get to see things (like the fog that rolled in overnight) that they might sleep through.
Waking up early means I get to brew myself a pot of coffee (Pecan Praline coffee this morning, thanks to my awesome care package from my awesome mom!), curl up on my bed and read great books about my great God ("The Radical Cross" by A. W. Tozer this morning,) and listen to worship music to start my day (on the playlist this morning was How He Loves, by David Crowder.)
Being up early means I have a chance to start my day before I have to start my day.
I guess, maybe, I don't hate early mornings as much as I thought. I still don't enjoy my alarm going off, and admit I hit the snooze button once or twice, but I really am blessed every morning. Maybe the psalmist was right after all...
I hate waking up.
It's true - I love being awake, I love falling asleep, and I love being asleep, but I hate waking up. I can't think of many things I would rather not do. Because of this, having an 8AM class four days a week is the bane of my existence. Early mornings and I have a very poor relationship.
But supposedly, "joy comes with the morning." (Psalm 30:5)
Say what?
Seriously?
I mean, yeah, waking up early means I get to start my day before everyone else in my suite. It's quiet and peaceful, and I get to see things (like the fog that rolled in overnight) that they might sleep through.
Waking up early means I get to brew myself a pot of coffee (Pecan Praline coffee this morning, thanks to my awesome care package from my awesome mom!), curl up on my bed and read great books about my great God ("The Radical Cross" by A. W. Tozer this morning,) and listen to worship music to start my day (on the playlist this morning was How He Loves, by David Crowder.)
Being up early means I have a chance to start my day before I have to start my day.
I guess, maybe, I don't hate early mornings as much as I thought. I still don't enjoy my alarm going off, and admit I hit the snooze button once or twice, but I really am blessed every morning. Maybe the psalmist was right after all... ...joy does come in the morning.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Well, this is embarrassing.
Do you ever have those days where you would just like to curl up and go to sleep right on the floor of the organic chemistry lab? No? Well, I do, and today was one of them. It had already been a long day: waking up at 6AM to get a shower before my suitemates (because we all have 8AM classes,) sitting through a pre-calculus lecture, organic chemistry lecture, making phone calls for my job and reading for another class, cell biology lecture and a healthy dose of RGTA (Receiving-Graded-Test-Anxiety,) all I wanted was a nice and easy organic lab to end the school day. That's not too much to ask, is it?
Let me fast-forward the next three hours to the end of organic lab. This had been a tough one - tedious and easily messed-up. The lab was freezing, my lab partner and I were surrounded by separatory funnels, beakers, flasks, funnels, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, Hirsch funnels, vacuum hoses, and various other bits of equipment and toxic chemicals, and we were already running late. It was five minutes past four o'clock and we only had one more step to go! All we had to do was hold a beaker of diethyl ether and a dissolved crystal over a hot water bath to allow the ether to evaporate and leave us with our crystals. Then we'd be done!
Did I mention that ether is flammable?
No?
It is.
All I had to do was hold the beaker over a hot water bath. It was supposed to be easy. Every other lab group had done it with no problem.
Did I mention that this hot water bath had been turned up as high as it would go by some impatient student before me?
No?
It was.
So I go over to the hot water bath, lower my ether-filled beaker into the boiling water, and wait. I notice the ether has started boiling vigorously, so I decided to ease it out of the water before it over flowed. Now, I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but let me just say one thing...
FIRE!!!
And not just a little candle-light glow either, but raging
FIRE!!!
No small s'more roasting camp fire, but a blazing, bon-
FIRE!!!
Yes, I, Casey Holloway, single-handedly caught the organic lab on fire. Thankfully, my lab TA and professor were not far away and came over to put out the fire, but not before it had disfigured a squirt bottle, melted the plastic covering inside the hood, turned my boiling stick into charcoal, and roasted the inside of my beaker. But hey,
my ether evaporated. :)
Let me fast-forward the next three hours to the end of organic lab. This had been a tough one - tedious and easily messed-up. The lab was freezing, my lab partner and I were surrounded by separatory funnels, beakers, flasks, funnels, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, Hirsch funnels, vacuum hoses, and various other bits of equipment and toxic chemicals, and we were already running late. It was five minutes past four o'clock and we only had one more step to go! All we had to do was hold a beaker of diethyl ether and a dissolved crystal over a hot water bath to allow the ether to evaporate and leave us with our crystals. Then we'd be done!
Did I mention that ether is flammable?
No?
It is.
All I had to do was hold the beaker over a hot water bath. It was supposed to be easy. Every other lab group had done it with no problem.
Did I mention that this hot water bath had been turned up as high as it would go by some impatient student before me?
No?
It was.
So I go over to the hot water bath, lower my ether-filled beaker into the boiling water, and wait. I notice the ether has started boiling vigorously, so I decided to ease it out of the water before it over flowed. Now, I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but let me just say one thing...
FIRE!!!
And not just a little candle-light glow either, but raging
FIRE!!!
No small s'more roasting camp fire, but a blazing, bon-
FIRE!!!
Yes, I, Casey Holloway, single-handedly caught the organic lab on fire. Thankfully, my lab TA and professor were not far away and came over to put out the fire, but not before it had disfigured a squirt bottle, melted the plastic covering inside the hood, turned my boiling stick into charcoal, and roasted the inside of my beaker. But hey,
my ether evaporated. :)
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Setting the stage
So before I begin blogging the stories of my crazy life, I think you should be introduced to the characters and the setting of this story (I can't help it that I think of my world as a play.)
I don't live in a singularly "pre-medical" world; on the contrary, my life has about 22 facets. I am a religious studies/sociology-anthropology major, active in theatre and community service, enjoy photography, painting, poetry, and playing my guitar (unintentional alliteration, I promise.)
I live with three other girls, Coye, Cassidy, and Kinley - collectively, we are known as the Fabulous Four. Coye is my roommate. She is the quietest and most petite of the four, but she can be the fieriest and strongest-willed in the right moments. She loves tea, speaking French, spending time at the Turkish House, and figuring out the best way to become an Emergency Manager. Cassidy and Kinley are roommates, and live on the other side of our suite. Cassidy is the oldest of the four, but doesn't mind acting like the youngest. She has a sweet spirit, fiery red curly hair, an obsession with keeping us organized, and an intense fear of roaches. She plans to become an optometrist. Kinley is the most strong-willed and blunt one, but also one of the most grounded. She loves to read, ride horses, listen to a wide variety of music, and study "The Influences of Women" (a self-designed major) while planning to become a lawyer. These three girls will, most definitely be in almost every post. They will also most definitely be in my wedding one day (but that's another story.)
There are many other characters in this story, but they will make their appearances in a later scene. Right now, get to know me and my girls - we're a crazy bunch, but will probably end up changing the world or getting into trouble. We are praying for the former.
I don't live in a singularly "pre-medical" world; on the contrary, my life has about 22 facets. I am a religious studies/sociology-anthropology major, active in theatre and community service, enjoy photography, painting, poetry, and playing my guitar (unintentional alliteration, I promise.)
I live with three other girls, Coye, Cassidy, and Kinley - collectively, we are known as the Fabulous Four. Coye is my roommate. She is the quietest and most petite of the four, but she can be the fieriest and strongest-willed in the right moments. She loves tea, speaking French, spending time at the Turkish House, and figuring out the best way to become an Emergency Manager. Cassidy and Kinley are roommates, and live on the other side of our suite. Cassidy is the oldest of the four, but doesn't mind acting like the youngest. She has a sweet spirit, fiery red curly hair, an obsession with keeping us organized, and an intense fear of roaches. She plans to become an optometrist. Kinley is the most strong-willed and blunt one, but also one of the most grounded. She loves to read, ride horses, listen to a wide variety of music, and study "The Influences of Women" (a self-designed major) while planning to become a lawyer. These three girls will, most definitely be in almost every post. They will also most definitely be in my wedding one day (but that's another story.)
There are many other characters in this story, but they will make their appearances in a later scene. Right now, get to know me and my girls - we're a crazy bunch, but will probably end up changing the world or getting into trouble. We are praying for the former.
Say what?
So you're probably wondering who the heck "Doc. Holloway" is. Well the truth is, she doesn't exist...yet. She will one day, in about ten years. Right now she is hiding within her mild-mannered, unsuspecting alter-ego, me. Yep, me. Who is me? Ah, brilliant question - I'm glad you asked. (Or if you didn't ask, you were about to, right? Hey, a girl can dream.)
I'm Casey - a sophomore in college, trying to maintain good grades AND a life. It's tough, yes, but I feel up to the challenge. I've wanted to be a doctor ever since I was about four years old, when I received a plastic toy doctor's kit. I squeezed the blood pressure cuff bulb with abandon and gave "shots" to my stuffed animals like there was no tomorrow. I was hooked.
Fast-forward fourteen years, and the idea of wearing a white coat and treating the sick still fills me with as much excitement and anticipation as it did all those years ago. Though now, it's becoming much more challenging and real than playing with a plastic doctor's kit. Now I'm in the midst of organic chemistry, cell biology, shadowing at a local clinic, investigating medical schools around the country, and trying not to stress about the MCAT a year in advance.
The point of this blog? For myself, so that in ten years, I can remember what I was like before medical school and residency. For you, so that you can see inside the mind and life of a less than average pre-med student. For everyone, so that you can laugh out loud and maybe think some deep thoughts before continuing on your way. In ten years, look me up! I just might be your doctor!
I'm Casey - a sophomore in college, trying to maintain good grades AND a life. It's tough, yes, but I feel up to the challenge. I've wanted to be a doctor ever since I was about four years old, when I received a plastic toy doctor's kit. I squeezed the blood pressure cuff bulb with abandon and gave "shots" to my stuffed animals like there was no tomorrow. I was hooked.
Fast-forward fourteen years, and the idea of wearing a white coat and treating the sick still fills me with as much excitement and anticipation as it did all those years ago. Though now, it's becoming much more challenging and real than playing with a plastic doctor's kit. Now I'm in the midst of organic chemistry, cell biology, shadowing at a local clinic, investigating medical schools around the country, and trying not to stress about the MCAT a year in advance.
The point of this blog? For myself, so that in ten years, I can remember what I was like before medical school and residency. For you, so that you can see inside the mind and life of a less than average pre-med student. For everyone, so that you can laugh out loud and maybe think some deep thoughts before continuing on your way. In ten years, look me up! I just might be your doctor!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
