SCARE!!!!

Okay, so i'm posting this now and i'm sure that everything will be okay. You all can read about my hairy experience later when I tell everyone about my blog!! Then we can all laugh at how close I came to not going to Medical School. Of course, if it doesn't work out, i'll just erase this blog and no one but myself will know! And then I will take a plunge off of a cliff!!! So here is my story.....

I have been very diligent with getting all of my paperwork into St. George's since I have read horror stories on valuemd.com about things not being processed on time and students who fell into a "limbo" stage where they sat and sat until everything was resolved (some students had to defer admission!!). So anyway, since the end of the summer I have been bugging the school to send me the financial aid information so I could start early. They kept emailing me saying, "we will release it soon!!" Well, I finally received it in early November, and I filled it out electronically that day!! Then I started to follow-up and was told everything was going according to plan.

On December 4th, the loan servicer contacted me to say that I needed to verify additional information. I did, and was told everything was all set and my application would be processed soon. About a week later, I called SGU to see how everything was going, they said "we have not received anything from Great Lakes (servicer), so I called Great Lakes. Their reply was, "we are waiting on word from your school for certification". And so I went back and forth for two whole days before SGU finally said "we got it!!". Then on Decemeber 15th (I actually have nightmares when I think of this date) I received an email stating that I was denied financial aid. I was in total shock, and spent the entire weekend worried that I would not make the January 2007 class. This morning (Dec. 18), I called the lender's representative (in regards to financial aid, lender's use servicers to weed out applicants. In this case the bank (lender) uses Great Lakes (servicer). She was incredibly nice and assured me that Great Lakes does this all the time, that is deny students for loans based on insignificant finds on credit reports. I had to do the following: re-apply for the loan on paper (instead of electronically), get denied again, allow a copy to be sent to her (lender). She would review my credit history and call me back as to whether she could override my denial. She said that would take about 1 week.

So, by the end of December I should know definitely if I will have Grad Plus loans for school, or if I have to scramble to find a co-signer for private loans for the first semester!! It really sucks that I have to sit and wait a whole week, and it's a tad bit annoying. I can only hope that everything falls into place!!!

Until the next posting (hopefully with GREAT NEWS), have a great day!!!

So, it's sunday morning......

So, it's sunday morning, and i just finished breakfast and a grande coffee (black of course!) down at the coffee shop. I decided to have a nice relaxing sunday morning, checking my email, mailing some friends, and of course posting here!!!

I realized while reading over previous posts, that i sometimes promise to do something later (for example, posting pics of my puppy) and then not following through. For future reference, most of my posting occurs during work between patients, so i post, continue on with patients and by the end of the day, forget what i posted, therefore making all of my promises unfulfilled. I apologize now for any unfulfilled future promisings!!!

So the last few weeks have been a stuggle for me. A struggle to get up in the morning, and an even bigger struggle to get to work!! I have been talking to Jenna (my incredibly gifted girlfriend who is very intelligent, very detail oriented, extremely observant and of course very quick to give me her take on anything in my life) about it, and here is her explaination on my lack of working will power (Note: this is a synopsis, not word for word): Since I am fully aware that in a short 6 months i will be undertaking the biggest journey of my life, I mentally don't want to be a medical assistant anymore because that is not my course in life. So, it's hard for me to get up and to continue on in a postion that in the end will benefit me zero times over!!! And she is absolutely right!!!! It's not that I don't like working for the doctor, I value his input, experience, and wonderful opportunity he has given me. I just know in my heart and mind that my time is up there and knowing I have 6 MORE MONTHS is equivalent to being a honeybee trapped inside, seeing the wonderful and glorious sunny day outside, and banging uncontrollably into the closed window 1000's of times over!! Of course, I will suck it up and continue on, at least until december comes or I win the lottery!! :)

By the way, Jenna has informed me that blogs are very un-cool, and that she would never read my blog EVER!!! I guess she will be missing the wonderful comment i just posted!!! Too bad for her!!! :)

Okay, time for me to do something with this lovely day. I hope you have a great day, be safe, and i'll be posting again soon!!

I'M ACCEPTED!!!!!!

So, here is the story.....

My mom calls me Monday, around noon (today is Wed)....i pick up the phone and say "Hi", and she says "why are you answering your phone at work?" BECAUSE I CAN!!!! (A four minute conversation ensues where I tell her that Dr. Hess doesn't mind me answering my phone at work). Anyway, in a very excited voice my mom says "a VERY HUGE packet has arrived from St. George's!!" So, i tell her to open it up, and read it to me. Now, my mom is a speed reader in disguise (she can plow through a book in a few hours), so I hear her open the envelope and within 5 seconds she says "Congratulations!!" and i say "you were supposed to read it to me!!" So she proceeds to read me the letter that says i am definitely accepted for Jan. 07, and waitlisted for Aug. 06. I felt like a huge weight lifted, as i have been waiting patiently for 6 weeks to hear my fate!!

I wanted to celebrate that night, unfortunately i had to work at the coffee shop, so last night I went out for some Korean food, and a large sake!!!! I'm positive that there will be more celebrating to come in the future as my friends and family learn of the good news!!!

My mom overnighted the package to me so i have to pick it up today. She did tell me that the letter gives me the option of remaining on the waitlist for Aug, or removing my name for August and starting in Jan 07. I have already decided to take my name off for Aug., and start in Jan. I feel 6 more months of paying down debt will help me financially when i'm in school.

I can't describe in words how i am feeling right now. It is so surreal. I have waited for this moment for a very long time, and now that it has arrived, i am in complete shock. The reality of being in medical school in 6 months is overwhelming. So, i'm trying hard not to think about it. Instead, I will be celebrating my acceptance!!! I think i deserve it.

I will post my acceptance letter as soon as i receive it. Until then....be safe, and have fun!!!

why King Moonraker??

Good afternoon!!!! I was just finishing up my day at work, and I decided to post a random blog; something NOT related to medicine!!

So, today, I was on the internet, and browsing along, and I came upon a location in a profile that read "Land of chocolate". I decided I wanted to change my location too, and the first thing that popped into my head was "Land of Misfit toys". A quick little detour....

I LOVE the xmas special Rudolph. I remember being a little kid and waiting for it to come on during the holiday season. I really did not like the singing of the snowman....I would have preferred to see more of Rudolph, The Bumble, and the misfit toys. You know "No one likes a Charlie in the Box"....and, "a train with square wheels"!!! Of couse my favorite was King Moonraker!! I am a huge cat fan...and I love big cats (tigers, lions, etc.) So, when I was young and first saw King Moonraker, I was in a total trance!!! Not only was he a beautiful lion....but he could FLY!!! That right there was all I needed....I was in love!!!

Moving on....So I quickly decided to explore the "ins and outs" of this blog site, and to change my location to "Land of Misfit Toys" from Rochester. Of course, since I was right there, I also decided to change my signature from "J" to "King Moonraker", the love of my life. I figure I will leave it up until I get bored with it, then move on to something different. But for today I AM KING MOONRAKER!!!! And I love it!!!

Here me roar!!!

Interview Aftermath

:)!!! Well, I had my interview Wed., and it went really, really well. I spent the morning driving down to NYC (it was a beautiful day!!). I arrived in the city around 3:30, I got a slice of NY style pizza (YUMMY!!), and I finished preparing mentally for the interview. I arrived at Roosevelt Hospital at 4:40 and at 4:50, Dr. F. came down to the lobby. The interview started with the essay. I had 10 minutes to write 250 words on one of three topics. I chose to write about an influential person in my life, and of course I picked my mom!!! Once the essay was complete, Dr. F. told me about himself, when he graduated, what he was doing now, what his future plans were. He then started the questioning with why I chose SGU? He followed that up with why I wanted to be a doctor? We discussed the past 10 years; why I had waited to go to school and what I had done during that time. He also questioned me on my thoughts of being out of school so long and whether I could handle the work load of medical school. I expected all of these questions and I was very prepared with my answers. We then discussed a medical ethics question. He debated me on the Terri Schiavo case. Of course he took the opposite opinion of my answer, and we spent about 10 solid minutes discussing. I really believe he wanted to see how I thought, and whether I would back down or stick to my opinion. After that, I asked a few more questions about the school, and then the interview was done. In all, it lasted a little over an hour. Dr. F. was very knowledgeable. He readily answered all my questions about SGU, clinical work, and residencies. He was a great interviewer!!

So, now I have to wait again....for about 4-6 weeks for the final answer!! The waiting is horrible!!! I will post with the good news because that is what I expect!! Have a very good day, and be safe!!

J

INTERVIEW!!!!!!

So, I FINALLY have my interview tomorrow for medical school!!!! Only one, but it is a start. As I said in an earlier post, the interview is for St. George's, which was no surprise to me; I have believed for a long time that SGU would be the place where I would make my dream a reality. I actually found out about the interview in february (see post entitled YES!!!). The interview coordinator had set my interview up with Dr. A (due to the rules, I can't use names without prior permission!!) in Albany. However, when I called her to schedule she informed me she was out on early maternity leave!!! So, SGU had to find me another interviewer. That took some time; almost 3 weeks. So tomorrow (3/29/06) I will be traveling to NYC for my interview with DR. F. From talking with him on the phone, he seems very polite and was very accomodating with my interview time.

It would be inhumane for me to say I am not nervous; I am, just not in an over the top "Oh my god I have an interview" way. I have spent the last week formulating my answers to the most popular questions (Why doctor?, why SGU?, etc) and have spent almost every waking hour mentally reviewing my answers. I feel prepared, and I am confident that this interview will go very smoothly. I have had no restless nights leading up to the interview, which for me is a very good sign (means I AM prepared!!) My only occassional "bad dreams" involve me not getting to Roosevelt Hospital on time, and missing my interview!! One dream was actually quite funny, I was trying to catch the subway; ACTUALLY trying to catch it. I was running down the track, jumping over rats like they were hurdles...it was all pretty humorous when i finally woke up!!!

I plan on posting my entire interview experience on Thursday; see you then!!

J

YES!!!!!!!

I RECEIVED MY FIRST INTERVIEW INVITE!!!!!! I'm actually so excited!!! I found out on Wed. by email, and then my mom called me and read the official letter over the phone. I think waiting for an interview is the most nerve-wracking experience. Everyday you check your email like a million times, and when there is nothing there, you get really bummed out....then you wake up the next morning and perform the same obsessive ritual, over and over again!!! Well, at least I have one now...that is all that matters!!

So, here is the quick scoop.....I have an interview with St. George's University. In the next week they will call with the place and time. NOW the preparation begins! I'll be spending my entire weekend in Barnes and Noble rehearsing answers to questions that may come my way (of course, not the whole weekend...SUPER BOWL ON SUNDAY!!!!)

That's it for now....be safe and have a great day!!

J