I'm in Medical School!
-- DISCLAIMER --
Since this is my first blog post I may end up rewriting it. I’m a newbie to this world, and I can imagine that some people don’t write as if they’re speaking, but I will be! So here it goes…
My Journey to Medical School
What's up friends? I’m Anissa, a 24-year-old 1st year medical student. Obviously, I am not a traditional student based on my age. But I’m also not a traditional student in the fact that I don’t come from a family of doctors (my cousin & I are going to be the first ones) nor did I have a slew of resources available to me. Let’s talk about how I got here, and how ANYONE can get here.
High School:
I was not a typical applicant for medical school. Growing up, I wanted to be a fashion designer and a dancer. Honey, I wanted to be a professional ballet performer while dancing at night for the Miami Heat basketball team, and designing the next new shoe or handbag on the weekends!
When I got to high school, I took my first Biology and Chemistry courses and fell in love with science! (And I was good at it.) Since Chemistry was my favorite, I began to pursue a career as a Forensic Scientist. I did not know that I wanted to be a doctor until my senior year when I took an Anatomy & Physiology class with my favorite teacher, Mrs. A. Brown.
It was Mrs. Brown’s (and the school’s) first time offering the class, and we had around 10 students. It was small and intimate so it made for the perfect learning environment for a difficult subject. Her one rule was that we wear scrubs every day that we had class. It was a difficult class: we dissected a cat (and I believe a pig), we had heavy assigned reading, and not so easy tests. It wasn’t the typical class offered at a “county high school” with low funding and a small population of students.
I never realized until just now that taking that class was what brought me to the choice of becoming a doctor. I had even planned to go to college for forensic science before taking that course. But as soon as I made the decision, I changed my major and began to google EVERYTHING.
College:
In college, we had a “pre-med advisor”; however, she left us my sophomore year. I never actually went to her office much, but the year I needed guidance was the year her position was terminated.
So who was my pre-med advisor? Google.com
I literally googled every single thing, from summer research to how to be the best applicant. My summer research opportunity (as well as the awards, connections, and invitation to come back) came from a google search.
My second pre-med advisor? My mistakes.
My first time applying was a disaster (in my opinion). I applied at the deadline and almost missed it, I had no idea about FAP and spent my entire student loan on applications and plane tickets for interviews, my interview responses were way too humble (child-like actually, I even begged at the end of one), and I was NOT confident. I was wait-listed, and flat out rejected. I thought all hope was lost, I would never be a doctor, and I was not good enough. A little black girl from Jackson, Mississippi with no money and a degree from an HBCU? They would never give me a spot in a medical school.
But my current school offered me a second chance. They saw something in me that just needed to be sculpted.
Graduate School:
The year after I graduated from college, I completed a Master’s program at my current medical school. OH MY GOSH it was so hard!!! I was no longer the smartest person, I was seeing things I had never seen before, and I felt terrible. I felt unworthy and ashamed. I was hurt…but then I spent time with some students who did get into medical school and they told me about their experience in the first semester (which was very similar to what I was going through). They inspired me and reminded me that only the strong can make it. If it was truly what I wanted, I would find a way, push through, and excel.
It was amazing how those conversations and a shift in my study habits (actually a complete makeover of my study habits) changed my experience as well as my performance. I found my calling again and……………I GOT INTO MEDICAL SCHOOL!
M1 Year:
Now I’m a first-year student! Yay I’m so excited!!! It’s what I’ve dreamed of, it’s what I know I’ll do for the rest of my life….……and it’s sooooooooo hard. I thought since I went through it already in graduate school that I wouldn’t be intimidated anymore by the field of medicine and its complexity. Boy was I wrong! I am experiencing a whole new set of hills to climb…but that’s for another blog post.
Here’s my takeaway for you:
It does not matter where you come from, whether you’re “well-off” or not, what race you are, or even if you live in another country. If you have a passion for something, anything, all it takes is your drive. You will not always succeed at your first try, and you will not always feel encouraged to do it. Some days you may feel you absolutely hate it and want to quit! But that’s just the pains from your hard work talking (that’s not really how you feel).
If it hurts more to look back and see that you have not done it, do what you can and find a way to push through just one more day! You’ll find yourself a week, a month, a year down the line and wondering what you were ever worried about in the first place! Don’t give up on your dream. You can do this…when you need a “pick me up”, I got you.
