Bittersweet Victory

I matched! I absolutely will be an anesthesiologist. I will be at a great hospital with huge clinical volume, great facilities and awesome faculty. I spent this monday floating on a little cloud up until I learned some good friends of mine had not matched. The SOAP ended today and they remain unmatched. Another friend is dealing with family misfortune(s), and I've had some unpleasant family drama of my own. It certainly has not been the match week I had expected. I found out where I had matched this friday and am happy with the placement, but it's hard to feel like celebrating when surrounded by so much despair.

 By far the hardest thing for me about match day is that it makes this whole thing so much more REAL. Change is scary, and in a few short months I will be moving to a different state, and starting a whole new life, far from family and friends. I am going to be a real doctor with real responsibilities. I am going into the field I wanted. Perhaps in time, my excitement will grow greater than my anxiety, but right now this all feels like a bittersweet victory.


 One of the scariest moments of my life was after the move here for medical school, I was driving "home" after dopping my Dad off at the airport when it hit me that I was driving to a home that I just moved into, with a roommate I had met less than 24 hours before, in a city I had never been to, far from anywhere I had been before. My whole life had changed and I had never felt so alone. But soon medical school started, and I met people who have become some of my closest friends and I'm going to miss them terribly come June. I look forward to being able to repeat that process for residency, meeting new people who may become lifelong friends and taking the next step on my journey.