Missing the President

Both exams are done -- excellent news. I passed both -- outstanding news! So there we go. To celebrate being done with our first set of medical school exams, many of the students in my class went into the city on Tuesday evening. I went a bit earlier with 4 of my friends, since we could see no compelling reason to stay on campus all afternoon when we could go exploring instead. After ambling through Central Park for a while, we walked a long way down 5th Ave. On the way, we were halted at a barricaded road; all traffic, both motorized and pedestrian, was blocked off. President Obama had just given a speech at the U.N. and was supposed to come down that road, so we awaited the appearance of the motorcade with anticipation.

Will we get to see the President?

Unfortunately, it was a no-go. After a good 20-30 minutes of waiting, the barricades were removed, and everyone went on their way. We continued on our jolly way and eventually made it to 23rd St, where I experienced for the first time the amazing eatery known as the Shake Shack, in Madison Square. The burgers were absolutely dripping with juices, and the red velvet custard was divine. After our meal, we headed to the "After-Histo Party Venue," Pranna, a fancy/modern bar and lounge. There were only a few of us there for much of the time, but I enjoyed chatting within our smaller group and relaxing after a weekend full of anxiety about the test. Today we started our next unit of MCFM, Immunology, and if it's as simple as Dr. Goldstein says ("Kill the pathogen, and don't harm the host -- the rest is just details"), then we should all be fine.

Of course, it's always about the details.