Back to Those Pivotal Events

When I started this blog, I wanted to share the many "pivotal events" that have shaped my life. I discussed my father's death by suicide, moving to a different state at age 11, and finding out my first husband was gay. These are but a few of the events that have shaped my life. I want to return to this goal and share more of my life with everyone.

Getting into medical school was without a doubt one of the most momentous events in my life. Throughout high school and college I was a very good student, so I assumed it would be easy to get into med school. I was very wrong. Since I thought it would be easy, I only applied to 5 schools. Of those, I only got interviews with 3--Johns Hopkins, Penn State at Hershey, and MCV. I didn't get invited to interview at UVa or Pitt.

My first interview was at Johns Hopkins. In retrospect, I should have scheduled that one later. It was VERY high pressured. They questioned my choice of college, stating that with my grades I could have gone to an ivy league school. I tried to explain that expense was a factor, as was my desire to participate in competitive horseback riding. I did NOT enjoy that interview at all. Despite Johns Hopkins being a world-renowned hospital, it is in a very bad section of Baltimore that made me nervous. I was not accepted there, but was put on a waiting list.

My second interview was at Penn State's medical school at Hershey. I remember it was on a Monday--the night before I stayed at a hotel and I watched the Super Bowl on TV. San Francisco won, though I don't remember who they were playing. Strange the things one remembers. The actual interview, I don't remember much of for some reason. It was not nearly as stressful, but it must not have stood out in any way, I suppose. I was also put on a waiting list for this school.

My final interview was at MCV. It was a very snowy day and I had to drive over Afton Mountain to get there. After a harrowing two plus hour drive, I got to MCV. One of the people who was to interview me didn't make it in that day due to the weather (and I drove all the way from Bridgewater), but the ones who did interview me were wonderful! They even had a student interview me which was AWESOME since she was able to answer many of my questions that I didn't feel right asking professors. It was a great experience and I especially loved the different way of teaching--by organ system rather than individual subjects (anatomy, biochemistry, etc.).

Then came the waiting.....and waiting.....and waiting. By the end of February I had not heard anything. I was leaving for a 3-week trip to Europe for my interterm and I had not heard anything. I left instructions with my boyfriend at the time to check my mail daily and I would call when I could to find out. This was before the days of email and cellphones. After visits to Iceland, Luxembourg, France and Switzerland, I finally had the opportunity to call him from Cologne, Germany. I had been accepted to MCV!!! The rest of my European trip was so much less stressful after finding this out!

So that is how I ended up attending MCV for medical school. I feel it was the best choice for me, even if the choice was not entirely left up to me. I had a wonderful experience at MCV, both academically and socially. It was the right fit and one that helped forge my future!