today was the White Coat Ceremony for the incoming first year medical students. at the end of orientation week, the MS1s receive their first white coat and there is a short ceremony to welcome them into the medical fraternity (or something like that). anyway, it got me thinking that it's now been a full year since i was a medical school newbie and that perhaps i ought to reflect on this:
1. feel like i've grown a lot over the last year. can't really say how exactly, except my mental image of Quen in September 2008 seems like such a distant, immature person. haha. but i always feel this way when i think about past iterations of myself.
2. a year later, the feeling of being profoundly blessed to be a medical student here still lingers. i'm thankful for this, that i've not faded into taking my life for granted. i do indeed feel very privileged to: a) peek into the indescribable wonders of God's creation, b) be training for a profession in which i am given such weighty responsibilities, c) have been admitted to this medical school after initially being rejected in '05.
3. a side note on creation - our new associate pastor Wesley has taught me a new word to describe God: "transcendent." this started to hit me last weekend on our Servant Team retreat as we were laying on the grass silently admiring the stars, trying to wrap our minds around the idea that God SPOKE the galaxies into existence.
4. in the midst of this heat wave i've occasionally wished that i could have gotten in to a school in a part of the country where there are actual seasons, where it snows in the winter, where people wear pea coats and scarves, etc. etc. but overall i'm super happy to be in San Diego, especially to have found Ethnos Community Church. if we stay here after i graduate Ethnos will likely be one of the main reasons why.
5. i still don't know jack about medicine. yes, i've learned a lot in the last twelve months, but there's a legitimate reason medical training is 7+ years: there is a BUTTLOAD to know. going into my second year, i think i'm going to miss the "but i'm just a first-year" excuse that i sometimes use on myself.
last thing, having nothing to do with medical school:
GO BEARS, WHUP THE TERPS!
