Six weeks to go.....

Ok people, I've made up my mind. VCU it is. I've been agonizing over this whole thing for weeks now, but pretty much came to the conclusion that I have to trust my gut. From the get-go, I've always known that I would be happier in Virginia, as strange as that sounds.
Sorry to offend any of you from LA or Orange county, but LA in general makes me sick for a variety of reasons. It is not the type of environment that I can really see myself flourishing in.
I've had an extremely pleasurable experience with VCU from the beginning, and a lot of this also comes down to the way I felt and the way I was treated throughout the application process.

I've also realized that I'm the kind of person for whom nothing is ever going to be good enough, unless I change my patterns of thinking. Here I am agonizing over this decision because I'm worried that the med school that I really want to go to isn't good enough. Give me a break. I was just flipping through some med school book at Barnes and Noble the other day, and one particular passage caught my eye. It said that if you've been accepted to a U.S. med school, ANY U.S. med school, you're already in the upper echelon of all students entering graduate school. Isn't that great? I mean, really, where do you draw the line with this stuff? Shouldn't I be exceedingly proud that I have come this far, to have actually been accepted to any school at all? I tend to forget these things, and part of that comes from the brainwashing that can happen at UCSD. I start to obsess about nothing but the rankings, the numbers, the prestige, and start to forget why I'm doing what I do in the first place. I want to be a doctor, period. And you know what? I don't really care about doing groundbreaking research, winning the Nobel Prize, performing the first total body transplant, and all that stuff. I just want to be a good and respected doctor, that's it. I know I will receive an excellent medical education wherever I go, so I'm going to go where I know I'll be happy. I have to come to terms with the fact that there's always going to be bigger fish in some other pond somewhere. That's life. What matters is what I do in my own pond. Sorry for that weird analogy, but it just came to mind for some reason.

Bottom line, I just want to get back into school. I miss it. I'm excited, scared, nervous, elated, and a thousand other things right now. I'm going out to Richmond in two weeks to attend a financial aid workshop and to find an apartment. I can't believe this is real and actually happening already, but it is. Med school, here I come!

Anyways, I also have a couple of announcements for you guys. Number one, my job is going to be up for grabs very soon. See description below if interested. Number two, I'm selling my Princeton Review MCAT prep materials (all books and tests) for $150 or Best Offer. Contact me at ascheffman@sbcglobal.net if interested in either.

Here is the job description, and keep in mind that this is a position for someone who is looking for a full-time job and wants to commit to it semi long-term. If you're just graduating and taking the year off, like I did, it may be perfect for you. If you know you are interested and want to expedite the process, send me your resume and I can get starting arranging an interview for you right away.

Inventory Coordinator
Orthopedic Surgery Center of La Jolla
Full-Time, monday-friday, 6:30-3:00
Starts at about twelve an hour, full medical/dental benefits, quarterly bonuses, gym membership reimbursement, 25 paid days off a year, and catered lunch every day.
This is overall an awesome job, it can be mind numbing sometimes but what isn't....Duties include: receiving/stocking/ordering surgical supply, chart data entry, assisting with patient moving/positioning in the OR, room turnover, etc. Personally, I have enjoyed the job immensely, and it has been a tremendous learning experience for me.

Good Luck with Finals!!!!!