Moving on

So lately, I've been struggling with a lot of ideas -later posts to follow on more specific topics. As I've mentioned in a previous post, this feels like a year of change. I definitely feel anxiety and eagerness rising as time goes on - it seems like I'm almost ready to take another big step in my life and move on to the next phase. What does this mean for me? Well, it means a change of place, change of familiar faces, change of my life's main focus, and more growing up.

This translates into a bunch of things. On the surface, it means that I'll be living somewhere else - wherever med school takes me. Could be NJ, could be Long Island, Massachusetts, even.We'll know in a few months, but until then, the looming thoughts of starting over are more than a little frightening, but exciting at the same time. It means a whole new group of friends to make, a new town/city to get used to living in, a whole new set of academic buildings to memorize, and a new school system to brave. Yikes.

I feel myself ready to take on a whole new slew of responsibilities as well. The biggest I can think of is being responsible for the lives of my patients, and at NJMS, that seems to be thrust upon the students sooner than later. But that's a good thing - I tend to work better under pressure. It means more schooling ... which I'm actually happy to have. A lot of people are turned off from academia after undergrad, especially at Cornell, but to be honest, I miss taking classes. I'm always eager to learn, and find no better way to learn than to do things hands-on. Thus, I'm looking forward to anatomy and any other lab-type classes. Hopefully I'll be stitching up patients before I know it. Good thing I know how to sew :)

What I'm not looking forward to is leaving the little family I've been a part of for the past years of my career at Cornell. I feel like I've been to hell and back with these people. I've grown close to my friends here, and can't see that ever changing for the world. This reminds me of when I was getting ready to head out for college. Back then I was unsure how things would turn out with my friends and I going all over the country to live our own lives. But now, having practically lived 4+ years with my friends here, there's no question in my mind that distance is completely negligible. Plus, the internet is a wonderful tool to have when it comes to communication.

Though I'm not too comfortable with the idea of change, once the initial jolt is over, I tend to acclimate rather quickly to a new situation. On a side note, this is why I really like, and relate to, Shikamaru from Naruto, for those nerds reading this. Transitions are much easier now than it was when I was 17 and off to college. So, for now, I'm going to enjoy the months I have left in upstate NY as much as possible by getting the most out of the people, the place, my job, and the liberal atmosphere. Let the good times roll.