So…we are back from break and working on falling into the groove of the next trimester. Breaks have always been strange for me, because I spend so much time juggling things during the term, that when there is no school and there is suddenly all of this time, all sorts of issues from day-to-day aspects of life can crop up.

I will preface this entry with an apology for its vagueness, but I have been dealing with things in my life over the past few months that make me want to reflect.

We all experience change, growth, and loss. None of these things is inherently good or bad; perspective is key. As students, we have the opportunity to see many of these things in the most glaringly obvious of ways, as we are regularly evaluated by teachers, mentors, peers, and ourselves. There are plans, goals, and rubrics to follow, and in theory, so long as you keep moving forward, you can develop into something new at the end. Life lessons can softly slip by almost undetectable, or they can smack you over the head with a frying pan. In working through the challenges, there is always a path. Maybe not the path you want to be on, but it is only a small part of the bigger journey. Fear, anger, and indifference all cloud the way and can interfere with the particular nuances needed to pick up all that there is to learn from a situation. I know that I am in a growing phase right now. It’s a painful one, but I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after bumping around in the dark for some time.

I am often asked how I balance family, work, and school. The typical answer is usually something like, “planning is critical.” But, sometimes it isn’t pretty. Because the thing is, plans don’t always pan out quite as you imagined. Creativity is required, not to mention a few good friends to help make it all the better. We are all taking on significant challenges as we work to become doctors; I hope that all of my peers will have wonderful communities that lift them up when things get hard. For all of you that are a part of mine, thank you so much for being with on my journey.