A Swerve into the Memory Lane, Pt. 1: "I Accept!"

This is the first part of the short promenade down the very recent memory lane to bring the blog up to date.

The whole medical school to-do begins with what one would think is a simple thing: a phone call. But this is med school admissions, and nothing is simple. The offer to attend medical school is given in person, over the phone. Someone has to be at that phone--no messages will be left on voice mails or answering machines. So everyone provides a zillion phone numbers where they or their friends/relatives can be reached. As long as a live person answers, the offer is in play. If it isn't you, a message is left with the person who answered telling you that you've got an X number of hours to call the office of admissions. If it is you, better not pass out (there will be plenty of time for that in the gross anatomy or phlebotomy labs) before you utter "I accept" to the person at the other end of the line.

In my case, the first phone number on the list of around 10 I provided was reached. It was very late in the process, and I essentially had given up. Bought a car, made plans for the rest of the summer, and started counting the gray hairs showing up in my beard. I was at work when I was thinking about that skinny rejection letter landing in the mailbox, when the phone rang. With slightly more than three weeks to go before the orientation started (ie. end of the line), I finally got the offer, which I promptly accepted.

The rest of the pre-orientation time was spent looking for a place to live in Buffalo, filling out various forms, and tying up all the loose ends. I worked till the last week of July, and then said goodbye to my coworkers, my boss, and the last 7 1/2 years of my professional life. Time for bigger and better things.