by. the. way.

I am at school preparing for my final NSU exam ever . I cannot put into words how exciting that is. Do you know that feeling when you are watching a thunderstorm from afar and you can see the lightning and are waiting for the thunder? It is that sense of anticipation I am experiencing right now. 31 days . It is not that I am so ready for this chapter to end, as it is I am so eager to see what the next has in store for me. I do not ruminate on how lucky I am to be in the position I am in; rather, I am enjoying watching the fruits of my labor blossom. I do not believe in luck . I believe that you make opportunities through hard work and being the kind of person others want to know and see succeed. I find myself in the position of waking up every morning excited about life. I learn so much every day, and although that may be due to the fact that I am still a student and will be a student every day of the rest of my life, I relish the thought that there is so much more to learn. I...

I’m going back to Peru. I’ve wanted to return to Peru since the moment I left it four years ago. Knowing the immensely profound opportunity I have to travel to a foreign country, be welcomed by a community, and help that community with my newly acquired skills and knowledge has the power to make me take a deep breath and hold it. Then I stop and think: Is one week enough? The answer is most definitely: No, it is not. I want to stay there for months…and months. There are multiple problems with that. 1. That would be expensive. 2. I have a fantastic job opportunity that will not wait for me for that long. 3. I do not know if I have the capacity for being alone in a country I do not know, speaking a language I am only slightly acquainted with for that period of time. I am not sure which of those three problems is the most significant. Maybe they are all equally significant. Each has its own importance. The last thing I want to do is go to an amazing country for an extended time whil...

Countdown has begun. Officially 5 months and 26 days to go… Graduation. Cliché to say it is one of those exciting/terrifying/confusing/exhilarating anticipated moments. It is though. The complicated part involves determining which fractions of my past deserve being ended while my multiple new beginnings set to blossom soon. This is further complicated by having what seems like EVERYONE ask you what field I am going to go into once I’ve graduated and passed my boards. For a while I was concerned because every rotation I entered left me with the feeling of “Wow, I could do this, too.” I was warned by multiple advisors and professors that I would most likely find myself in that situation; the situation of enjoying and being good at several fields, while finding it difficult to determine which was truly calling to me as a possible profession. Fortunately, I do not think that will be the case for me. I finally had my true “AHA” moment. The trick is now to align my “AHA” moment with r...