I have been living in St. Louis for 10 weeks now (WOW) and I haven't really talked about it on here yet!
My roommate, Bethany, and I get along wonderfully! She is one of my closest friends and everything in the apartment is going very well. There are very few things we have done without each other. I am so lucky to have ended up living with someone who is so much like me! I've never had such an easy going living situation.
School is going well, in general. I have made a group of great friends; we got close very quickly because we are all going through the same thing and spend all day together at school and in the library. On an average day I am at school from about 8am-6pm, but there are plenty of days that I stay until 10 or 11. I have been trying to mix up where I study, but the school library is convenient, my classmates are nearby, and there's free coffee down the hall, so I usually stick around there. My only real class right now is Anatomy. The course block is 10 weeks long, so now I only have 3 weeks left! I cannot wait. This is by far the most difficult class I have ever taken.
Once a week we also have a class called Applied Clinical Skills, which is when they teach us the non-scientific things about being a doctor: how to take a history, how to treat special issues, etc. Also, my school sponsors a student-run clinic, and I volunteered there a couple weekends ago. It was amazing because I basically got to play doctor! We had licensed doctors there as well, but I greeted the patient in the waiting room, did the initial physical exam (eye test, hearing test, blood pressure, pulse, temperature...), and took the history. I really loved doing that!
We just had our second (out of 3) anatomy exams yesterday, so I am taking this weekend completely off. This is the first official weekend of fall, and it couldn't be better timing for me to finally have time because the weather is beautiful! I live near a huge park...the biggest one in the country...so I plan on taking advantage of that at some point. I have been there a few times already- when BJ came to visit we checked out the art museum there, my mom and I went to the zoo, and I've wandered about with my friends. I haven't been able to do nearly as much St. Louis exploring as I did when BJ was here...we had such a great visit! We went to that museum, had stl-style pizza in the italian neighborhood known as the Hill, did the touristy arch thing, and went to a Cardinals game! With a group of school friends I went to a concert under the arch, I went to the Anheiser-Busch brewery, and we've done some exploring of the nightlife.
Even though school is so much work, and at times I feel like I have no life at all, I am very happy here. It's hard being so far away from my family, but I try to stay caught up on what everybody is up to. I would like to congratulate Jamie for being initiated in SDT today! And it was strange hearing about the Atlanta flooding and knowing I wouldn't experience it at all. Seriously, though, I feel like I have really found my place (not St. Louis, necessarily, but med school...) and I am looking forward to every step of this long road.
I hope everyone else is doing well and I would LOVE to have a good variety of updates to read on here...how else am I supposed to know what's going on in your lives??? Even if you think it's not worth writing about, I think most of us would disagree.
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!
Kim
5 comments:
Wow, thanks for the fantastic post, Kim! It sounds like you have made a great start for yourself in med school. I'm so glad you are getting along so well with your roommate and have bonded with other classmates as well. I am really happy for you. love you!
Kim-
It's so nice to hear that you are happy and doing well. I especially like when you said "I feel like I have really found my place." Even though you didn't say this explicitly, it's starting to sound like you have found 'your calling,' which can be so important to establishing a happy and successful career. It's no gaurantee that we find our calling, but you certainly sound like you are well on your way!
Kim, great post. I love hearing about your life. I am glad that you are happy (even if it is the biggest challenge of your life!) Please keep posting. Maybe it will catch on and others will do the same.
I can't believe that you have been there for 10 weeks. Yep, time flies when you're having fun! PaPa & I are living the quiet life so there isn't much to share. We broke the fast here and loved having everyone. Today we are going to the Ettlesons to celebrate Jake and Lizzys Birthdays. He is 10 and she will be 15. We are all looking forward to your visit and having family fun. Your life sounds quite busy but nothing that you can't handle. Everyone has to be somewhere so I guess you found your somewhere... We love you, Kim and hope that you'll keep us posted,xxxxxxxxxx
Hey Kim! Thanks for the update on your new life. You sound really good. I hope it reflects your reality. Hard work is hard. But achieving something really difficult is so sweet. You never know the full extent of your strength and resolve until put to the test. So keep your focus on the process. Stay flexible as to where it might lead. I'm really excited about the possibilities.
Uncle Mike
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