Strike! You're Out!

I had a full seven hours of sleep last night and it was wonderful. Today everything was pushed back one hour compared to the weekdays. I had a pretty laid back morning with only two hours of class.

During class we just got to know our instructors better. They told us their stories and how they got to medical school. Both Jon and Mary had an outstanding background that many should follow while Jake recommended that we not do what he did. He only applied for 3 medical school while the average student applies for 15.  Jon took Mary on a get away once where he made her spend her 24th birthday testing feces. Mary spends a year after undergraduate in Haiti to volunteer and research. Jake won a baby llama from a fair when he was in middle school and it's name was Razzle Dazzle. It was great getting to know them all better after a whole week of classes with them. Listening to their personal stories and their pathways gave me some insights on some of the do's and don't for when it's my turn. They also told us about the Vanderbilt Medical School and what makes it so special. Like when Mary wanted to take the year off to research, the other school wasn't so supportive while Vanderbilt thought it would make her a better doctor. After the get-to-know-you session was over, we split up for small group discussing.

Everyone else in my group was very eager to share their clinical or OR experience so that was what we mostly talked about. My roommate, Anni, probably had the most interesting experience. She got to see the CT scans of someone with cancer and she was there when the doctor she was shadowing had to tell the patient about it. The second patient she saw had clinical paranoia and only trusted the doctor. Anni's doctor had time to show her how to input patient's data onto the computer and other things. Everyone else's experience was pretty awesome too. I was pretty jealous because the doctor I shadowed didn't allow for much. When it was my turn to share I didn't really have much to tell about since I only saw one patient. I did tell them that it was interesting to see how different doctors work together to help a patient. It was a rare opportunity to shadow a doctor but I just felt like something was missing. Before we ended the discussion, we got to see one of the Vanderbilt Hospital's LifeFlight helicopter land on the roof. It was really loud, windy and cool!

TP HUT HUT!

After lunch we played Minute To Win It. The VSA staff turned the dance room for the previous night into the game area. They screen on the sides and center stage played the task video and count down. Everyone was seated in the audience and they called people's name to see who would compete for points for their house. I'm one of those people who never get picked for anything so when they called my name, I thought that they mispronounced someone's name to sound like mine. I froze for a second before running up to the stage. Thomas was also on stage playing for the A-house while I was playing for the V-house. The task was to put an oreo on your forehead and then use your face muscle to move the oreo into your mouth, all in sixty seconds. There were three of us in my group, Pablo, Anni, and me, and we each had to get one oreo in. Pablo got it after a few tries earning our house some points. Anni and I weren't as skilled, although I was pretty close. It was all pretty exciting and we were all screaming and hooting. We end up in second place which was pretty good.

Our last significant event of the day was going to a minor league baseball game. I have never been to a baseball game before so it was all really exciting. We each got ten baseball bucks to spend on food since we did not have dinner at Vanderbilt. Complete rip offs everywhere! I swear they prey on the souls and wallets of hungry baseball fans. We were all rooting for the Nashville Sounds and they were playing against the Memphis Redbirds. I was confused at some points so I just cheered and booed at anything and everything. I'm not sure if it was common or not but there were a lot of people with cow bells and they were just ringing them. The Sounds end up loosing...I think. The night ended with a spectacular firework show. It lasted pretty long and I have to say it was almost as good as DC's fireworks but it was definitely better than the San Pablo July 4th Fireworks. After all the screaming I done, I had to pay for it with a sore throat but no regrets. I had the time of my life and I got to hang out with my new friends. It was just awesome.

Savannah, Francis, Precious, Me, Maggie, and Toby

Tomorrow we will be exploring Downtown Nashville and doing a text-based scavenger hunt. I can't wait!