What I Learned on My Trip

Sorry for no updates for a long time!!! I've been wanting to post this since the end of June, when I got home, but we were painting my room and all my stuff got moved around, and this list disappeared for a month. But I've got it now! :D Earlier this summer, I got the opportunity to be a scholar at the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine at UCLA for ten days, where I got the chance to learn about what it takes to become a doctor, as well as live on a college campus. While I was there, I compiled a list of things I had learned so far.

Day 1:
You never learn anything on Day 1.

Day 2:

• Cell phone alarms are pretty much your best friend. Set them for 10 to 15 minutes before you have to be somewhere and you don't have to worry about watching the clock--you can even take a nap and be on time.
• If you need one, NEVER pass up the opportunity for a nap. Otherwise you're miserable through all your other activites.
• Make phone calls when your roommate is out. It's just easier.
• At UCLA, the food in the dining hall is AWESOME. But there is NOTHING wrong with a one course meal or drinking water instead of soda. And just because dessert is there does NOT mean you have to eat it!
• Have warm clothes--every room is FREEZING because of the air conditioners.
• Contrary to popular belief, you CAN run out of hot water in a dorm shower.
• Shaving in the shower is HARD, but balancing your leg on the waist level sink is harder.
• Showers are fairly spacious, but not quite big enough for two, and definitely not big enough to lay donw in if you get wasted and pass out.
• You can buy condoms in the vending machines downstairs. They're right between the Three Musketeers and Snickers bars.

Day 3:

• Bring a MATTRESS PAD. Quality of sleep is BAD without one.
• Because of security checks, you can't leave your room after hours. Bring food from breakfast/lunch/dinner and stash it for when you get hungry, which you inevitably will.
• The only usable electrical outlets are hidden behind the bed. Pull out your mattress and use the outlets during the day, unless you want a fire to start while you're asleep.
• There are no clocks in your dorm. Plan accordingly.
• Different doctors give you a totally different feeling about going to medical school and becoming a doctor.
  
• I think I want to major in Biology...

Day 4:

• USC looks JUST like Balboa Park (ie, a bunch of dull concrete museums).
• I never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want to be a surgeon!

Day 5:

• Michael Jackson died! While I was across the street!
• Hanna Bezold will most definitely be a pediatrician one day (I met a pediatrician who talks JUST like her!)
• Babies are easier to care for than adults because they're more predictable and there's less that can happen to them.
• About 40% of all births in the United States are Cesarian Section.
• Breast cancer occurs in 1 in 8 women.
• OB/GYN=primary care AND surgery--residency is four to five years.
• Oh by the way, it takes about 14 years of education before you're a fully certified doctor, depending on your specialty, which determines the length of your residency and fellowship. Oh, and medical school is uber hard to get into. Also you might not the residency you want, but if you get one you don't like you're stuck with it. All this competition, and yet the world is begging for more doctors--but there are thousands more people who get turned away than accepted into med school, residency, and fellowship. You still wanna be a doctor? Well, suck it up.

Day 6:

• Precum is like basketball playes dribbling before they shoot.

Day 7:

• If you leave your stuff somewhere, it'll end up in the lost and found.
• Tip good waiters well. Leae complaints about rude waiters with the management.
• Santa Monica is grosser than San Diego in terms of beach cleanliness.
• Urban Outfitters is NOT for me. But they do have some...interesting books...
• Johnny Rocket's has far from great service.
• HPV vaccines can make you skip your period.

Day 8:

• Sleep deprivation=sick.
• You know you have bad luck when you get sick the night before you're going to Universal Studios for the first time.
• Suturing a banana is harder than it looks.
  
• Being devoid of a pulse when taking your blood pressure can mean one of two things: 1.) You're dead. 2.) Your stethescope sucks.

Day 9:

• Being sick completely takes your motivation out of doing ANYTHING.
• If you spend 14 hours a day with the same people, those same people will get the same amount of sick.
• You have a voice.
• Tea is magical. :)

Day 10:

• Sure, you act like you're friends with all the people you meet, and you stick together while you're there cuz you don't know anyone else. But no one beats your real friends--they're your friends FOR A REASON.
• Ihop is a worthwhile detour on a three hour drive.
• There truly is no place like home. :)