Premed Planning

Hi Bloggers,
Three and a half years years later and here I am, sitting in this class called iQuest, reflecting on my years at Cal High. Last semester I had spent my iQuest time at the San Ramon Regional Hospital. Julie, the charge nurse there for the Diablo Unit (post operation) is also my preceptor. I have learned a lot under her wing, as you can tell from my previous blog posts. Some of which include bed meetings, how the medical binders work, and even how the medicine dispense machine works.

When I reflect even before iQuest, all the way to freshman year, I can say that I've learned quite a lot as well. A lot of people say that high school is supposed to be used to learn so you can get into a good college and get a good job. I think thats completely wrong. You spend your 13's-18's wondering who you are as a person and what you are meant to do. High school is basically a time for you to be allowed a certain amount of freedom to make more choices, whether they are right or wrong is up to you. Either way, there are consequences for said actions, and with that comes a lesson or understanding. In my opinion, high school is just a stepping stone for you to understand the value of action and make smart choices to benefit yourself and others. If I had to think back to my years of high school, I'd say that making smart choices and learning lessons is the purpose of high school.

Another thing I've learned is that nothing is permanent, which may seem like a silly thought at first. As a freshman, somehow everyone manages to stress out about stupid things like being asked to homecoming, friend problems, boys/girls, trivial things like that, and things might seem really bad for a week or two, but its not permanent. If one keeps an open mind during situations, knowing it'll soon pass over, life will be easier for that person. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems, or as good. Saying that, you should cherish the happiness when it comes, and know that the sadness will all blow over soon.

Lastly, I've learned that its crucial to surround yourself with people you truly enjoy having in your life. Starting freshman year, I had a group of about 20 or so "close" friends and about 5 best friends. Senior year, I have a couple close friends that are dear to my heart and one best friend that I know I will continue to talk to, even after high school. Freshman through Junior year were years that I feel I wasted my potential and time. I was friends with people who were always involved with drama or really immature, which caused unnecessary stress on me. Now, I keep to myself, stay out of drama, spend time with people who actually matter and I've never been happier. People fill their lives with fluff: things that make their life MUCH harder than it actually needs to be. I guess this is the most important lesson I've learned in my life so far. Its so much better to share success with people that genuinely are rooting for you and be able to rely on the same people when you're failing. When you surround yourself with fake people, your happiness is fake.

Now looking into the future, I can see what I want to do very clearly. 2nd semester is going to be important for me to work diligently to save money for college. In addition, I want to make sure I don't get any grades lower than a B because I don't like giving up when it comes to education. The colleges I've applied to include the Maritime Academy*, Long Beach State, San Francisco State, San Jose State, and the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville). I need to ask one of my former teachers to write me a recommendation for U of A, and after that, I'm completely done with college applications. If I get accepted into the Maritime Academy, I will go into Marine Transportation and either join the Navy, Coastguard, or work for private ship companies. If I don't get accepted into CMA, I will go to U of A for nursing.

Some events I'm looking forward to this year are the big pillow fight in San Francisco on Valentine's Day, getting my acceptance letters/emails from colleges, graduating (!!!!), Grad Night, my best friend's birthday, living by myself for a month during the summer, going on my senior trip, and visiting Korea for a couple of weeks during the summer. This year is going to be a year full of change, but using the lessons I've learned from my past three and a half years of high school, I'm going embrace the changes and make the best of every situation I can.