Almost...

Yesterday I tied up loose ends. Brought over the last of my furniture from home, said goodbye to my lab, and finally told a boy I've been crushing on him for the last fifteen months.

Because tomorrow I am a doctor. And while it will be following orders and writing notes I barely understand myself at first, finding the balance between intimidation and self-assurance, I cannot but be filled with irrepressible anxiety, trepidation, naked fear. No amount of verbal felicitations or wishes of luck can subdue the monument that stands before me at this juncture.

I remember those early mornings that I swam laps in the town pool as a teenager. With my feet dangling at first in the pool water, anticipating the shock of coldness into which I will soon be submerged. Knowing that the best way to fight the urge to turn back is to dive, without thinking, head on.

Things Learned from ACLS class

1) You feel pretty stupid continually while shaking a dummy torso, asking him "Annie Annie are you OK?" and asking your imaginary friend to get the AED and call 911.
2) CPR will give you carpal tunnel if you do it long enough.
3) Doing the Heimlich on someone who does not need it is a poor way to make friends.
4) When given Adenosine, sometimes people go into asystole before they convert into sinus rhythm. (cooooooooool!)
5) You still feel pretty guilty smacking a dummy baby, for about 5 minutes.
6) Apparently we do not give mouth - to - mouth the way Zack did it to Kelly on Saved by the Bell. The face mask gets in the way of the tongue.
7) Surprisingly, those people in the training videos are pretty decent actors. That mother really looked panicked that her plastic baby didn't have a pulse.

Saving lives, people!

Me: So the topic is "what propels people to change." Can you think of any examples?
Student: Umm. Sometimes when you're stuck in a bad situation you have to, like, adapt and live with it, and stuff.
Me: Well, good. Adversity promotes change. Can you think of an example? From your own life, if necessary.
Student: Well one of my friends went to college and found out her roomate was like Black and she called me freakin out...I mean she wasn't racist or anything, she was just like "um...I've never lived with a Black person before."
Me: No I would not use that example.

sighhhh two more weeks...