I'm finally here...

Sitting in the classroom and contemplating about the beginning of my medical school career has left me in a somewhat exhilarated yet drained state. I remember waking up on the first day of orientation on an air mattress in a very empty apartment room and thinking to myself, “I’m actually here…and that I really need to get some furniture.” Besides that, I couldn’t believe I was officially starting medical school. What was is it going to be like? What are my fellow students like? I was in a state of intense anxiety, compounded by the dire need to use the restroom.

Apprehension set in as I walked through the doors of Forscheimer. All around me were people I didn’t know but would soon be my colleagues for the next four years and beyond. The whole first day of orientation was a blur of activity, greetings, and new faces. Like a never-ending torrent, massive amounts of information racked my brain on top of the names and faces I kept hoping to remember so as to avoid the awkward second meetings. Reflecting back on the events of that day, the enormity of my journey as a medical student really sinks in. I can finally say that I’m starting, but where will the journey lead and how will I handle the path to get to the finish line. Needless to say, more anxiety ensued.

Blank Canvas

Like every recent college graduate, we all at some point think of the large and daunting world we are now entering into. Whether we are fearful, excited, indifferent, or any other emotion you can think of, there's no turning back (even if you wish you could...too bad, the world won't wait for you). Even with our entrance into true adulthood and independency, we all have our doubts, but while sitting at my graduation ceremony (for a very long time might I add), our student speaker used a great clip from Calvin and Hobbes to describe the optimistic possibilities present within our grasp. Here's the clip:

 

Hopefully you can read it, but if not, here's a quick summary: It snowed. Everything that was is no longer and the snow has painted a new landscape for adventure and the pals set off for an adventure. But as the clip depicts, we approach a world ripe for the taking, a blank canvas where we can paint our own legacy. Up until now, we've been preparing for this very moment, the opportunity to begin writing our own history upon the world, independent and unique from every other person. So, close your eyes (don't really...you still have to keep reading!) and try to picture yourself as an explorer (I'm currently wearing a nice, fluffy pirate's hat), just like Calvin. Without setting sail, or sledding down the hill, we can never know what there is to discover.

So the world is out there, fresh for us recent grads to take. Even if you have already been out in the world, that canvas is never-ending, you can paint to your heart's content like a kid using a crayon all over the wall (only now you don't have parents to yell at you!). As I head off to medical school, I don't know what to expect (and yes, I'm a little scared...yeah, just a little...), but I know I'm starting to paint my own story and with it, my own lasting legacy. I leave you with this one phrase..."LET'S GO EXPLORING!"

A Start to Blogging

I never thought that I would be here, starting a blog. I never liked writing very much and the idea of devoting time to writing out my thoughts would have been preposterous to me even a couple of months ago. That being said, there really is no exact reason why I decided to start this blog. You can say I just started it on a whim, or that I had a change of heart about writing (not likely...). Either way, here I am writing my first post while trying to keep it interesting enough to keep you, the readers, at least somewhat entertained.

Now, you may be wondering what exactly this blog is about and how I came up with the title Random Bag of Thoughts (if you're not, too bad because I'm going to explain it anyway :) ). While thinking about a title for my blog, I tried to think of what exactly I would be writing about, but found that my mind would always disperse into random thoughts about miscellaneous things from sports to life and my impending entry into medical school (if you check back in 3 months and I'm still writing on this blog...then you know I'm surviving medical school through procrastination...). And thus, the bright idea of using Random Bag of Thoughts surfaced (I know, what an epiphany, right?).

But this title really does suit what I want my blog to embody. If I'm going to write anything, I might as well be able to express all my random contemplations in whatever way I like, poor grammar and unsophisticated vocabulary (Oh, what a beautiful thing!). Through this blog, I plan to depict anything that comes to mind as a I reflect about my life experiences and detail my clever and highly philosophical ideas (i.e. dino nuggets are essential components in the diets of college students everywhere, bringing fun and paleontology to nutrition! What a perfect pitch...). Ok, so maybe not the most thought-worthy substance in the world, but I do hope that my ramblings will give you something to think about, something to reflect on, or at least something to laugh at (I'll just think you guys are all laughing with me, rather than at me). Who knows, maybe by reading my astounding piece of literature, you'll discover some absolutely amazing and stunning thing about yourself or the direction of your own life (I can dream I make that big of an impact, right?).

For now, my topics will most likely be a collection of on-the-spot thoughts, but in the near future will mold into consistent reflections on my life as an over-stressed and sleep-deprived medical student...I'll try to throw in  some diversity into my posts here and there to keep my blog from turning into A Medical Student's Life and Rants to hopefully keep you guys interested (though if you lost interest already...*sigh I'll just not think about that). Well, I'm guessing about now you have had enough of my aimless writing (if you made it this far, congrats because even I don't want to read what I just wrote), but hopefully my future posts will at least have some consistent main idea to them (with lots of asides...I mean, I have to at least stay true to the name of the blog). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my first post as much as I enjoyed writing it! In my next post, I will be exploring more thoroughly my claim of the importance of dino nuggets... ... ... PSYCH! Unless you guys want me too, because I really could, I wouldn't mind really... Well, maybe sometime in the future. :)