Tag: 50 Facts About Me, Part 3 (Philosophy/randomness edition)

1. People keep on asking me if I want to become a dermatologist after they find out I have this blog. Truthfully, this blog is a hobby. And also, I'm only a 1st year med student; I barely know anything about the world. I have no idea what type of doc I want to truly be. 
2. Some people may be cynical and think I made this blog because I want to be a dermatologist because dermatology can be a very profitable specialty. This is absolutely false. I started this blog during my junior year of college as a hobby; I didn't do this in order for it to look good on my resume. If I become a dermatologist, then it will be awesome. But if I don't, then I'll be very happy anyway. Who knows. I change my mind about my specialty every couple of weeks, starting at the age of... oh, I think perhaps sophomore year of college. In high school I wanted to be a cardiologist. Then neurologist during senior year of high school during graduation. Then pediatrician -> family medicine -> internal medicine -> dermatology -> general surgery (Thank you Grey's Anatomy) -> internal medicine -> pediatrics -> psychiatry -> neurology -> ENT -> pediatrics. Who knows?
3.  I love making Chinese food.
4. Many children have the luxury of parents helping them with their homework during their younger years. For immigrant children like myself, it was very different. I had to learn English on my own, figure out grammar rules, do extra practices, etc. It wasn't till perhaps mid-high school did my English fully feel "good", per se. By that I mean creative enough to get top-notch scores on AP Exams, do critical analyses that truly made sense, be able to formulate things well.
5. I think self-reliance is a very big thing I've prided myself on in many ways. I don't believe in luck; in fact, I don't think I've been lucky per se, many times in my life. What I do know is that I've worked for the things I have and I treasure them very much. I feel very lucky to have been accepted into a Southern Ivy college and a top-notch medical school though.
6. I believe that no matter what one does, there are always struggles in life. As soon as you overcome one obstacle, another rises in your path. There is no clear, smooth path in life.
7. Suffering is a form of penance but it brings one closer to God. It makes you depend on God more and makes you think more about God. And improves your spirituality in ways!
8. I think that often bullying/being bullied is a rite of passage. I definitely was bullied during middle school and those years (in some ways) were terrible. But it also made me appreciate the things and times when I was not bullied. It made me stronger. Who care about things that people say about minutiae? It really doesn't matter. What matters is your reaction to it. You can either be petty and respond in equally acerbic ways or be the bigger person and walk away with your head held high.
9. And speaking of the previous point, I realize that there are some people in this world who are definitely very immature. In high school I was in the math club, and was one of the few girls on the team. Many of the boys were very immature, making crude jokes and laughing off things that, if mentioned during any lecture or discussion in my medical career, could even have been reported to the Deans. I think the boys seriously just needed to grow up. And I think they have.
10. One thing I'm trying to learn better is to forgive. To be the bigger person and remember there is a greater role in this world. That little things pass. Perhaps my surgeries and past plights were the "sticks and stones", but I'm trying not to make "meanie words" get to me. One thing that I realized about bullying is that when you don't respond to bullies, the kick they get from your response - your retaliation - is gone. And from that, they actually get frustrated. In fact, it doesn't even seem fun to bully you anymore.
11. Violence is not the answer. I've seen some things in the hospital (where I work at) that have definitely been quite crazy. Trauma patients. Domestic abuse. Rape. Psychotic breaks. Violence is never the answer. What it does is create a lot of hurt and physical persistent pain that has to be treated. And more people wind up in the hospital at 3 AM when that tired resident is trying to manage 20 other patients at the same time.
12. I think there is quite a degree of romance in studying in places like coffee shops, tea shops, etc. Think of all of the writers who coined their first pieces in these places! Think of the struggling actors and actresses who worked in these places while auditioning for roles before landing their first big hit! And I think about the pharmacy students, optometry students, law students, engineering students, and undergrad (general) students sitting around me... and think... we are all in this together =D

Miscellaneous:

1. I have a feeling that I will probably use the same phone I have right now till I graduate from med school. Seriously, I barely have any $$. And plus, I really like the one I have! Samsung Galaxy S2!
2. 9gag is awesome. IMO.
3. My phone's connection to the computer is currently broken (I can't use the connecting software) so downloading pics is not fun -_-
4. Backaches due to sleeping funny are not fun.
5. I'd like to grow my hair out back to its old 2.5-3 ft (or longer). Truthfully, keeping it this long is quite a bit of work.
6. Things I'd like to go to someday again: the opera, basketball game starring Jeremy Lin, a ballet performance (a formal one)
7. Things I'd like to go to/do for the first time: skydive, kayak on a river, ride on a giant tortoise in the Galapagos Islands, ride on the wings of a Giant Condor (ok, yeah, that'll probably never happen XD)
8. And I just realized... I really need to go to the bathroom... so here's my 50 facts!