"Take Your Time, Baby"

They weren’t exaggerating when they said medical school is like drinking from a fire hydrant.

I have never consumed so much information in a week’s time, but I made it through! Despite the content, however, the biggest takeaways from week one were:

1. Grace

Moment of honesty, I had no idea what I was doing the first few days. How do I stay organized? What exactly am I studying? Do I take notes on everything or just the important parts? Even though I had all these questions I had no idea what to ask or where to start. But then someone said this to me and it allowed me to take a much needed breather “ Have you ever been to medical school before? Exactly. You’re not going to have everything figured out on day 3 and that’s okay.”

There will be a lot of moments where you don’t necessarily have everything together. All it is is an opportunity to learn. Embrace them!

2. Community

It’s normal to feel out of place in new settings, but there’s always a community that will make the journey better. Remember when I said I had no idea what I was doing? Neither did they, but we figured it out together… and laughed a lot while we were at it.

It’s very easy to be all work and no play, especially sitting in a lecture hall 7 hours on end. Taking a brief moment off- whether it be walking to lunch or just sitting in the lounge- with

a good community has a way of resetting and reassuring you. Looking around and seeing us as the future of medicine really warms my heart and makes the long days a little easier.

Wherever you’re at in your journey: studying for the MCAT, internships, or even just beginning, give yourself grace and get yourself a community. You won’t make it without either!