2017-2018 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
What? So What?
In my 2016-2017 Year in Review I talked about what was exciting to me, I set some goals, and gave myself advice. I had learned more about my major (Medical Laboratory Science) and I had participated in research in my lab, and I was excited about what my field would bring me. I set myself the goal of continuing to do well in school, graduating from college, and learning as much as I can in order to pass my certification testing. And I told myself that I need to make sure to do what makes me happy, when pressures outside me are telling me otherwise. So, how did I do? What happened in the past year?
Well, I knew that meeting my goals in Medical Laboratory Science would be hard, but I didn’t know it would be this hard. I’ve spent my last three semesters studying for multiple exams absolutely every week, while also working my job. It’s been a deluge of information. Thankfully, I’ve had two worthwhile breaks in the classwork when I did my 6 week clinical rotations in St. Louis and Cincinnati, and I get a few hours of gratifying research every day at my job in the Plas Lab, and these jobs have reminded me that I actually do like my major and that the classwork is worth it. But it’s been an incredible amount of work. And all throughout, I’ve been struggling with the goals I set myself: do well academically while making sure that I do things that make me happy. I haven’t quite struck the balance, but I haven’t given up yet. And in the midst of that struggle, I’ve had one notable highlight: my service trip to Mexico between Spring and Summer Semesters.
In this service trip, we went to hotels in Cancun and provided our services; I got to do real Medical Laboratory Science for people in need. This, too, was a learning experience, as I learned that I can do a lot, but I can’t do it all. In Cancun, though I was providing services for the dozens of people who we met with, I also saw all of the people I wasn’t helping. And to those that I was helping, sometimes I felt that other medical students who had come on this trip with us could help them better. Over that week, I had to accept that what I was doing was still worthwhile, even if I couldn’t help everyone in every way. The help I provided was still good. That was a valuable lesson.
Now What?
And that valuable lesson: “I can do a lot, but I can’t do it all” can be applied to my everyday life as well! My job, my classwork, and my personal life ask a lot of me. It’s hard to not get the best grades while still doing great elsewhere, but maybe if I stop and think “I can do a lot, but I can’t do it all”, I can be satisfied with what I’m doing. I can accept the fact that I am enough. Maybe that’s what I need to work on this year, as I move from university life into the real world.
In my 2016-2017 Year in Review I talked about what was exciting to me, I set some goals, and gave myself advice. I had learned more about my major (Medical Laboratory Science) and I had participated in research in my lab, and I was excited about what my field would bring me. I set myself the goal of continuing to do well in school, graduating from college, and learning as much as I can in order to pass my certification testing. And I told myself that I need to make sure to do what makes me happy, when pressures outside me are telling me otherwise. So, how did I do? What happened in the past year?
Well, I knew that meeting my goals in Medical Laboratory Science would be hard, but I didn’t know it would be this hard. I’ve spent my last three semesters studying for multiple exams absolutely every week, while also working my job. It’s been a deluge of information. Thankfully, I’ve had two worthwhile breaks in the classwork when I did my 6 week clinical rotations in St. Louis and Cincinnati, and I get a few hours of gratifying research every day at my job in the Plas Lab, and these jobs have reminded me that I actually do like my major and that the classwork is worth it. But it’s been an incredible amount of work. And all throughout, I’ve been struggling with the goals I set myself: do well academically while making sure that I do things that make me happy. I haven’t quite struck the balance, but I haven’t given up yet. And in the midst of that struggle, I’ve had one notable highlight: my service trip to Mexico between Spring and Summer Semesters.
In this service trip, we went to hotels in Cancun and provided our services; I got to do real Medical Laboratory Science for people in need. This, too, was a learning experience, as I learned that I can do a lot, but I can’t do it all. In Cancun, though I was providing services for the dozens of people who we met with, I also saw all of the people I wasn’t helping. And to those that I was helping, sometimes I felt that other medical students who had come on this trip with us could help them better. Over that week, I had to accept that what I was doing was still worthwhile, even if I couldn’t help everyone in every way. The help I provided was still good. That was a valuable lesson.
Now What?
And that valuable lesson: “I can do a lot, but I can’t do it all” can be applied to my everyday life as well! My job, my classwork, and my personal life ask a lot of me. It’s hard to not get the best grades while still doing great elsewhere, but maybe if I stop and think “I can do a lot, but I can’t do it all”, I can be satisfied with what I’m doing. I can accept the fact that I am enough. Maybe that’s what I need to work on this year, as I move from university life into the real world.