52 Posts Left...

It is hard to believe this is the fourth time I've reread my first post. Today is the four-year anniversary (hence the "linen and silk" shoes pictured left - Wikipedia says a four-year anniversary gift should be something made of linen and silk) of my first acceptance to medical school. Each year I go back and relive my December 26th experience in Chapel Hill, NC - my first taste of the years to come. I still get chills when I read it, remembering the anticipation, joy, and relief like it was yesterday. Inspired by my sister's blog as a PeaceCorps Volunteer in Ukraine, I decided I would start my own literary journey, which soon turned into weekly posts that I promised myself to continue until the end of medical school. And today it seems surreal to announce that I only have 52 posts left.

Obviously (if you do the math) 52 posts doesn't take me all the way to the end of school. That's because, over the course of the spring semester, I will transition this blog to something bigger and better (waaaaay more details on this to follow in the coming months!). For now I will just say I am looking forward to continuing this personal journey for one more year, and I am excited to continue writing about my final experiences as a student.

In the coming year I hope to diversify the posts a bit more. I am going to ask my family members (yes, that means you! - Mom, Dad, Shelley) to each write a blogpost. My mother has dutifully edited this journal for the past four years, and I want her to detail her own take on the experience (and then I can edit her writing for a change!). Shelley was my inspiration, and Pops needs to comment on how pumped he is that I will actually have a real job before the age of 30 (knock on wood). I would like one or more of my preceptors to write a post, and maybe I will throw in few other guest bloggers in the process. It is going to be a good year.

As another December ends, I also must look back on my three New Year's Resolutions for 2012: first, learn to cook something. That one was mission accomplished. I also was able to reach my second goal, taking a year to study Public Policy. The third one I am going to have to fudge; I really wanted to "go somewhere crazy" in 2012 (I really wanted to go to SE Asia). I did make it to Costa Rica, and on January 1st I will head to Belize, but I wouldn't call either place "crazy" (the more Americans you find somewhere, the less crazy it actually is). Add them together and you get a pretty daggum good vacay though.

Resolutions for next year? I think I will pass. I have some personal ones, but I can say I would like to continue to learn how to cook. However, I'd really like to have a real job! That resolution, though, will have to wait until 52 posts from now...

Happy New Year!