Wrinkles, oh wrinkles

Confession: I've always associated wrinkles with old people. Growing up, I would hear my mother become super sad whenever she got a new wrinkle. Her laments helped reinforce the fact that we all eventually become old and saggy.

When I started medical school, I encountered a very diverse group of students. Students from age 20 to 36 were included in my class. People who graduated several years early and people who came back to school after putting in years of hard work in their previous careers. Some students looked very young, like they could be in middle school; others looked like they could be those so-called middle school students' parents.

I never thought I looked old though. Just a few months ago I was mistaken for a high-schooler in my hometown. However, yesterday, when I looked in the mirror, I noticed it. Just like my mother had lamented, I too recognized my first wrinkle on my forehead. Yikes. I had grown old.

Honestly, how old do I feel now though? I recently took this quiz on Buzzfeed. This quiz, titled "What age are you, really?" revealed that although I am only 23, I actually am a 41-year old. Yikes. I've always known that medical school, despite its exciting nature and intricate details, always took a toll on me, and that included a physical aspect. During these past 1.5 years, I've have hefty times of extreme stress, crazy times of upheaval and sadness, intense moments of happiness and satisfaction, arduous study hours, and all the like. Getting yelled at by superiors for making the same mistakes every medical student makes. Dealing with family problems and personal problems. Renovating multiple parts of my condo despite the fact that I don't own it. Financial problems of a typical medical student. Did medical school really age me that much? Had all of these educational endeavors taken such a heavy toll?

I don't know. Perhaps that quiz isn't that accurate. Perhaps it's the fact that my life was just meant to be like this. Like mother, like daughter. History repeats upon itself, despite the fact that I regularly use all of those retinols and skincare goodness.

Medical school is supposed to be one of the hardest educational tracks to pursue in the world. Some taut it to be even more difficult than graduate school and professional schools (JD, MBA, etc). Is it the root cause of my physical deterioration? Or is it that the Texas sun has completely underminded my body despite my Asian genes, and has decided to give me problems at age 23?

All summed up in some random forehead wrinkles. Bleeh.