Operation Procrastination

I'm getting good at procrastinating. For example, yesterday I played church songs on my ukulele for an hour.

Who says procrastination can't be creative?

Motivation

At COT, I realized for the first time how important motivation is. We were instructed to decorate our flight room's bulletin board with things that motivated us. Most of us, with the help of Capt Frandsen, designed computer printouts with pictures of family, friends, vacations, sport team logos, etc., to post on the board. The idea was that we would be reminded of the people and things that have had positive impacts on our lives, and that we would then be motivated to work harder and to persevere even when we were exhausted or when it seemed impossible to accomplish everything we were given to do.

I have taken that to heart not only for medical school, but also for the rest of my life. I am eager to surround myself with reminders of the things that motivate me, because I know that they will at least give me the mental strength to persevere. In that vein, I have made it a habit to wear my Air Force PT uniform when I run. When I do that, I realize that I'm not just running for myself; I am a representative of the United States Air Force, and I must not look weak. When I come to a big hill, or when I get lost for the third day in a row and end up running almost 2 miles more than planned, potentially risking making it to class on time (true story), wearing the uniform is enough to keep me positive and keep me running, despite the challenges. For the 9/11 race, I wore my uniform. It motivated me, and as I already mentioned, I had my best 5K time ever. Motivation is truly important.

Not only the uniform, but also the bib: Running in Memory of All 9/11 Heroes

Ribosome Love with LOTS of Sprinkles

"You're not going to be responsible for anything on here except for love," said Dr. Warner, as he advanced the Power Point to a slide showing a 3D molecular view of a ribosome. It was nice to hear 163 medical students laughing together at 8:30 in the morning on the day of their first quiz. The quiz itself, which we took an hour later for histology, went just fine. It must have been because of the love and goodwill toward ribosomes that we all possessed in our hearts. Anyway, I suppose we're real medical students now because we've had our first test of any sort, so it's nice to have passed that particular milestone.

I have a confession to make: I probably haven't been as diligent in studying as I should have been. I certainly haven't been as diligent as I could have been. I just can't type out notes and read books and think about case conferences without needing some breaks, and when I get particularly bored or antsy, I turn to cooking. This week, much to the delight of my roommates and friends, I baked. Kendra's 7 rotting bananas had been tempting me for a while, so on Tuesday, I baked 2 batches of banana bread. It was supremely satisfying to mash 7 bananas to the sweet sounds of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. I half hoped my roommates would walk in and find out just how weird I am. Anyway, the baking was a success, and I ended up with a 3 loaves and 12 muffins of tasty banana-chocolate chip-walnut bread.

They were even more beautiful combined with the aroma...

I spent most of yesterday and today in the city. I know, I probably should have been studying, but it's nice to have a break and a change of scenery. Saturday was spent mostly walking around midtown, going into shops, taking in the busy city life. I also went to church at St. Patrick's Cathedral -- and I loved it! I don't think I would want to go there every week, but it was definitely a cool experience. There were people from all over; I would assume lots of tourists go there for Mass if they're visiting New York over a weekend. I am going to reiterate my somewhat ambitious desire: I would love to attend as many different churches in New York as possible. I don't know if I'd ever be able to make it to all of them, but I can certainly try.

Looking even more splendid in the afternoon sun

Afterwards, I met up with some of my Einstein friends in the Upper West Side for dinner and drinks. We had fantastic Thai food at a place called Land, and then we moseyed over to Crumbs, a cupcake shop. Yes, a cupcake shop. There were at least 2 dozen different kinds to choose from. I went for the Good Guy, a funfetti-inspired creation including cream filling, generous frosting, a white-chocolate drizzle, and LOTS of sprinkles:

How could you not love this?

My main excitement for the weekend, however, was this morning: I ran in the World Trade Center Run to Remember 5K race. This was the first year of the race, so I'm hoping that they'll continue to have it each year. It was on Governor's Island, which is a short ferry ride south of the tip of Manhattan. It was a gorgeous day for a race -- low 70s and sunny skies, with the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Manhattan itself shining in the sun. I (barely) got a PR with a time of 22:06 and was 72nd overall out of over 600 runners. I didn't stay for awards, but I later found out that I won my age category! Cool.

Manhattan gleams in the sunshine.

We were treated to views of Lady Liberty during the race...

...and the stretch coming to the finish line provided another view of Lower Manhattan, the Financial District, where the Twin Towers used to be. If that's not motivation for a 9/11 remembrance run, then I don't know what could be.

After getting back to the mainland, I spent a bit of time walking through Battery Park, which was full of people waiting to board ferries for the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. Someday, I must do that as well. I may live here now, but can still be tourist when I feel like it. Some parting shots from today:

These kids took their 100-meter dash REALLY seriously. They were fast!

The older buildings of the Financial District have so much character.

The best part about the race? The bagpipe brigade that played as we ran past. Classic.

Learning Something New...

So there's that old saying that you learn something new every day. Being a medical student, I don't believe this saying will be difficult to fulfill. However, what I've learned today has nothing to do with being a student:

My dinner tonight.

What is that magnificently mauve mass in the middle of my noodles? It is chicken. It was excellent chicken -- I cooked it with olive oil, butter, garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, red pepper, half and half, and wine. It had a spicy bite and wonderfully aromatic Italian flavors. I learned, however, why we cook with white wine: so your chicken doesn't turn purple.

My Coffee Table Is a Blank Slate

Yesterday, as I was waiting for movers (who ended up being almost exactly 5 HOURS LATE) to help me get furniture from a relative moving away from Manhattan, I decided to meander along Broadway in the Upper West Side. Other than getting a fantastic panini and cappuccino for dinner, the highlight for me was wandering around a Barnes and Noble that I happened to find along the way. I love Barnes and Noble -- it always smells like new books. Also, I'm always a sucker for their bargain-priced selections. Now that I have a sofa and a coffee table, I decided to buy a coffee table book. Milestones of Aviation will provide many hours of entertaining history (along with lots and lots of pictures), and hopefully I'll be able to tell the difference between F-86, C-135, and B-52 aircraft (to mention a few) by the time I'm done...after all, I don't want to look like a total fool when people find out I'm in the Air Force and start asking complicated questions about flying machines I've never heard of. Also, I caved in and bought Newsweek (so expensive on the rack!). It was impossible to resist the single large title word, "ALIENS." Yes, I know I'm a huge nerd.

So here's a question: How am I supposed to stay focused on my class reading when these gems are tempting me? Decisions, decisions.

Glorious Food

I couldn't resist. In my previous post, I noted the giddy trip we took to a local Italian bakery. Now I feel obligated to share the glorious splendor of our meal and dessert.

For dinner, we had Laura's amazing concoction of peppers, onions, corn, and beans over whole wheat couscous and topped with avocados. This was accompanied by Allison's beautiful salad (not pictured) as well as my fresh green beans and carrots with hummus.

Lots of vegetables to make up for the dessert that would follow...

Next came dessert, which Joanne and I were very proud of. I already described it, with the exception of the delicious crisps that Allison provided. See it for yourself.

Cinnamon-sugar bakery crisps, cappuccino gelato, chocolate cannoli, and tiramisu

How can you feel anything but blissful after a dessert like this?

I think we're going to try to do meals together regularly. It sounds perfect to me.

White Coat

I've officially been a medical student for 2 days now. Initial impressions: We're going to have a lot of work to do. It's not bad yet, but it will get "worse" quickly. There's more to do than there could ever be time for, especially with the city tempting me with all it has to offer.

Well, that's not so bad. Our first classes have been an introduction to and/or review of cellular structures. I'm not a huge fan of cells -- I just don't find them interesting. I know I could gain a lot of potential enemies from that statement, but least I'm being honest! At any rate, I certainly realize that it's entirely necessary to understand the basics before we can get into more interesting stuff like systems and diseases, so I won't complain, at least not too much. Our first set of courses is comprised of histology (the study of microscopic structures), molecular and cellular foundations of medicine (basically genetics, biochemistry, etc.), and introduction to clinical medicine (learning how to take patient histories and things like that). We'll begin anatomy in October, once we've finished with histology.

Last night was our official induction into medical school: We had our white coat ceremony. This meant that we were all gathered into Robbins Auditorium with family and friends (including Andrew and Mom), and after speeches were given, Einstein alumni cloaked us in our brand new white coats, the symbol of the doctors we will become. Our coats are awesome; they have the Einstein patch, our embroidered names, and a lapel pin that says "Humanism in Medicine," something that is really important at Einstein and, in my opinion, in medicine as a whole.

White coat status: Received.

(Side note: I just took a break to go to an Italian bakery up the street with my friend Joanne. A few of us are making dinner together tonight, and Joanne volunteered to bring some dessert. Being a huge fan of all things Italian, I imposed my presence on her as she investigated the options. We are now in possession of 2 iced mochas, 4 chocolate cannoli, a giant slice of tiramisu, and an overflowing quart of cappuccino gelato.)

After the ceremony, there was a "cocktail reception" which was actually a giant tent filled with catered goodies. I had sushi, dumplings, and rice noodles, along with really fudgy brownies and wine. Einstein definitely treats its medical students (and their families) well. Here's to 4 years of excellence!

In other news, this past weekend was yet another chance to venture into Manhattan. As Andrew and I were walking from Rockefeller Center to his hotel, we happened to come suddenly upon St. Patrick's Cathedral. Its majestic spires of stone looked slightly out of place among the glass and steel of the nearby skyscrapers, but it was more beautiful for that. Inside, the large space was full of tourists and the familiar smell of incense, not unlike many of the churches I saw in Italy. I have this unreasonable desire to go to Mass at every church in New York City. I know there's next to no chance that I would ever be able to accomplish this, but it would certainly be an incredible experience. We'll see...

Slightly out of place, but ever the more awesome for that fact.