Bittersweet Adventure

It was finally time to say our final goodbyes and go our separate ways. The heavy hearted feeling hit me after breakfast when people started to check out. I hung with my friends for as long as I can before they had to go. After they left I went to sit in my room and I just felt really really sad. I have made some very good friend at VSA and although we will be able to keep in touch through various social networks, we most likely won't ever see each other again. After Mr. Mannix came to pick us up, I took one last look at my home for the past three weeks. I'm going to miss VSA and everyone in it tremendously.

We made our way to the book store to buy ourselves some nice Vandy apparel. After we went across the street to a Vanderbilt University sign to take a few group pictures. Then we went to the admission office attempting to get into an info session but it was full. So we decided to visit the Nashville Parthenon. It's even bigger than I imagined it would be and it was just beautiful. For someone short like me climbing up the step was a bit of a challenge. Under the Parthenon is actually a little museum about the history of the place and the different artifacts from that time. On the upper level of the museum is actually the ground level of the Parthenon and it is the home of the famous Athena statue. It was definitely different then what I thought it would be, yet again. Turns out they recently colored Athena with a coat of gold (real gold)  and did her make up. I felt that it was a bit too flashy and she would have looked magnificent in her original white color. The snake beside her represent the people of Athen and her shield is protecting them. The room behind Athena had some iron cast doors with lions' heads on them. It turns out that it is lucky to pat/pet lion's nose, so I did.

For lunch we had breakfast food at the Pancake Pantry. We were lucky to have come at a time where there are line so we were seated quickly. I ordered a steak and egg but they mixed it up and I got bacon, eggs, and pancakes instead. I didn't mind because the pancakes turn out to be really delicious. I could never in my life make such a thick and fluffy pancake. After we had our fill of food, we planned where we wanted to go from there.

Since we still had some time left Mr. Mannix took us to downtown Nashville to walk around. I was a little sleepy for some reason but I was happy. The last time we came with our proctor I didn't get to see much and was really disappointed. This time I got to slow down a bit more and look around. We went into this shop that had a lot of vinyl records. I wasn't really interested in vinyls but also because of the no air condition state that the shop was in. Then we went to this really cool poster shop where everything is hand made. The store had two cats in it that reminded me if my dogs. I miss them so much and I couldn't wait to see them. I played with the cats and looked around but none of the poster really interested me. I don't really have any more wall space in my room for poster anyway so it would have been useless.

Finally we arrived at the airport and check in our baggages. I was so relieved that my suitcase made it through.  The security area that we went through had a really nice TSA officer that was ushering people through the full body scanner. She called everyone by an endearment and she had a nice smile on her face. I thought that there should be more people like her because she make things seem less intimidating. People in the south really are much nicer than elsewhere.

After a very emotional day of happy " Yay! I'm going home" and sad "I'm never going to see them again" thoughts, I was worn out. I was in and out of consciousness throughout the long flight but I made sure to stay awake for the landing because I wanted to see LA. From above the view was captivatingly beautiful! With all the light around the city. It felt and looked like I was staring into an ocean of stars. Our plane landed and we went to wait for our connecting flight. Unfortunately the Vandy team encountered another flight delay but thankfully this one was only by one hour.

The flight from LAX to Oakland was really short and I felt like it was only about half an hour long when it has actually been one whole hour. My parents were already there along with the others' parents. Standing there waiting for the luggages to come out, I shivered from the cold for the first time in four weeks and it felt good. As I walked through the doors I was hit by a nice cool breeze and I knew there and then that I was happy to be home.

Ready, Set, Don't Go

Meghan!

As soon as I woke up, I found out that Natalie from my proctor group was long gone. Without stopping by my room, she boarded the airport shuttle for Minnesota. I couldn't believe that I missed the chance of seeing her off.  And I would have missed Joeē's departure if it wasn't for my sprint down the stairs to the lobby. This was it, we were all leaving the Hank Ingram House for our other respective homes. That's  probably why I didn't care for  breakfast. My feelings suppressed my appetite for our last meal at the Commons. 

After having breakfast and exchanging autographs with everyone, Carolyn and I set our eyes for the foosball table. For the past couple weeks, we've played foosball after almost every meal. So naturally, we were inclined to play one last time. But as soon as we placed our hands on the table, we were told to go back to the dorms. With Carolyn and I on one side, and Nick on the other, we played for one match point. After winning, we headed back to Hank. You might think it's bizarre, but I've had some of my fondest memories and met some of my closest friends through the foosball tables at the Commons. I couldn't leave things undone.

Last look of my dorm room.

Kaila's last announcement.

Packing the last of my things, my dorm room looked just as empty as I arrived. I may have been all packed, but I wasn't ready to go. Since check out was from 9:00 AM until 12:00 PM, everyone left at different times. I was relieved knowing Mr. Mannix would come for us by 10:30 PM. I wouldn't want to be in the eye of the storm for that long. I wasn't prepared to cry while still at VSA. But once Carolyn prompted to leave, I couldn't help myself. Like one of the proctors said, Session III has the most emotional check out moments of all three sessions. With three weeks at VSA, everyone has developed close knit friendships. After spending as much time as I have with Carolyn, my tears couldn't be controlled for at least 10 minutes. I was an emotional wreck. Seeing people off has never been my strong suit. I felt like I was a little kid leaving Disneyland for the first time. 

One last look of the Hank Ingram House.

After seeing several of my friends off, it was finally time for my cohort and I to leave. Although I didn't want to leave, I couldn't handle the gloomy atmosphere. While some VSAers live relatively close to each other, I don't have the same opportunity. Keeping an optimistic mindset, I plan on staying in touch with my VSA family.

Statue of Athena.

Leaving Vanderbilt's campus, our cohort headed for downtown Nashville. Although we did visit as one of our proctor activities, I didn't actually get to stop and smell the flowers you could say. Walking through the pedestrian bridge and a couple shops, Mr. Mannix educated us on our surroundings. I had no idea the massive flood in the river was only three years ago. Seeing downtown Nashville in its current state, you would have never noticed. Just like Washington D.C., I've appreciated Nashville's natural and modern beauty, with its mix of modern and not so modern architecture. They each have a certain charm about themselves, and I've been fortunate enough to exposed to both. One of my favorite Nashville sites was the Parthenon. It's slightly odd to think of Nashville having the Parthenon. Still, it was beautiful on the inside and outside. Given our later departure, it was great to see a couple more sites and use our time with purpose.

Inside the Parthenon.

Leaving Nashville, a ton of emotions were going through me. While I'll miss the people I've encountered at VSA, it's time for me to head back to the Bay Area. I wasn't very ecstatic to leave, but it was inevitable. Good things must come to an end somehow in order for other things to come along. 

 Flying Southwest, I noticed how compact it is compared to Virgin America. With less elbow and leg room, I wasn't very comfortable sitting between Keli'i and Loan. Luckily for me, connecting from LAX to the Oakland Airport, there was an empty seat between Mr. Mannix and I. Although there was a slight delay connecting, it was nothing compared to our flight woes in D.C. There were no major flight problems today, thankfully.

Before I knew it, the plane landed at the Oakland Airport within an hour. It was nice to come back to my family after being away for three and a half weeks. But while I was walking out of the airport, I unintentionally cried again. When asked by my mom, I shrugged it off. I couldn't wrap my head around it either. It may have been because of the train letters my proctor group wrote to me and being back in California. Somehow, all of us wrote a letter to each person of our proctor group. Since it's a train letter, it's meant to be read while heading home. Even before I started reading their letters I was already sobbing. I'll truly miss each of Kaila's Sailahs. 

I'm sure bittersweet feelings arise to the best of people after coming back home from an adventure. This journey in particular has struck me hard. But after a nice cool shower without flip flops and settling inside my own room, I'm doing best to cope with my torn feelings. 

Stronger Than I Thought

Today began as a job, I just wanted to get in and get out. I woke up this morning and ate breakfast for the last time as I said bye to some of my friends on the kitchen staff. Once we went our separate ways I was still fine at that point. I sat down and ate breakfast with friends and classmates as we clowned around for the last time. So far so good with my day, after breakfast everyone finished packing and began to leave. Once I seen everyone crying and sheding tears I felt my eyes watering up. I tried my hardest not to let go of any tears the whole day as I said by to classmates, and it was successful for the most part except for the incident 30 minutes before Mr. Mannix showed up.

In this incident my new found brothers were balling in tears as they not only said bye to people, but as they also said bye to VSA seeing that they were seniors and this was their last year in the program after five years. This wasn't usual for them seeing that they were the life of the party and that they always carried a smile on their faces. I think what put this moment over the edge was the music that was playing in my headphones as I watched the breakdown process happen on them not too long before it happened on me. This wasn't the incident that caused my breakdown, but it was the incident to shed the first two tears.

My complete breakdown came when Mr. Mannix arrived to take us away. He came checked us out and I was fine, until I reached the front . In the front seven of my classmates caught me and said bye to me as we all hugged it out and joked about me being form the Bi-U from the last time. In this last time Jorge the funniest person I ever met and the inventor of my name got up, and squeezed me as he cried being one of my new found brothers. In that moment I broke down in tears as I felt the bond between the rest of my class and I. This was crazy because the night before I had no idea the bond between my classmates and I was that strong, I didn't even think I was gonna cry, but I was completely wrong. As I walked to the car they shouted out last minute gator jokes that made me laugh, but made the breakdown ten times worse.

Once I hit the backseat of the car I was speechless as I got in my deep thinking zone where I would just cry silently in the back. Until we got to the bookstore and got our Vanderbilt gear. We each got jackets on the ILC's tab (Thank you,) then took pictures infront of the Vanderbilt sign. At this point there were no more tears to be shead, so I returned to myself, but a reduced version. When I say reduced, I mean I was still myself but I felt like some spark was missing that I probably won't get back until tomorrow afternoon. After the bookstore we decided to go to famous pancake place. This place had the best pancakes ever as they were just sweet enough and had the perfect amount of vanilla. Then the Georgia peach sauce complimented the pancakes so well with the real peaches. The wierd thing about the pancakes is that they were served room temperature, and they were delicious. After the pancakes we decided to walk the bridge leading to the Tennessee Titans football stadium, we felt we needed a little excercise. We only went half way, but we did stare at the flowing river for a while. After this calming walk we ventured into some of Tennessee's record stores and poster shops.

In one poster shop we came across a mean kitty. Well we don't know if he was actually mean or if he was just mad he was awakin with a poke to the neck by Loan. What made Loan poke the cat was the fact it was laying in the record box not moving at all, so she thought it was fake. The cat went on a rampage scrathing and giving anybody who attempted to pet him dirty looks. The other white cat was soaking up love will the other orange cat was being a sour puss. After our quick exploring we went to the airport where there was not one delay, until we got to L.A. and had to wait two hours for our Oakland flight that was delayed. Once we got home my mom was waiting for me at the bottom of the escalator. She almost cried as we hugged. After I got home I fell asleep in the comfort of my own bed.

The Journey Home

Today I woke up at 6:45 for what I thought would be my last 3-mile run of VSA. When I got down to the lobby, it was very crowded, with people leaving for an early flight to Houston, Texas. Perry (the 3-mile run proctor) was nowhere to be found. I waited about 10 minutes, and then headed over to the Commons Gym. My last 3-mile run turned into my last exercise bike ride. After the workout, I took my last VSA shower and went to my last VSA breakfast at 8. At breakfast I had various people (students and proctors) sign my VSA yearbook. This was a very teary time for a lot of people. Although I did not cry, I was still sad that VSA was truly over.

Me and my roommate Michael

Around 9, I headed back to Hank to finish packing. I was fully packed by 9:30, but I still had an hour before Mr. Mannix would show up. Right around the time I finished packing, my roommate’s parents showed up to take him home. They could not carry everything at once to their car, so I carried a bag for them. I had a very nice conversation with his parents. They asked how Michael was a roommate, but they mainly wanted to know about how I found VSA, and where I want to go to college. I told them all about the ILC, and that I want to go to Vanderbilt to study music and engineering. They wished me the best of luck with the remainder of high school and college. After they loaded the car, Michael and I took a picture together. He said one last goodbye to his friends, and was off.

My empty room.

By the time he left, it was 10:00. I ended up hanging out with the 3^rd floor proctors until my time came. I had them all sign my book (if they had not already), and we talked about our favorite parts of VSA. Around 10:25 I said my goodbyes to the proctors. I almost cried when I said goodbye to Hugh. If I had spent another 15 seconds on the goodbye, I would have cried. Just thinking about while writing this makes me sad. Hugh made my non-academic experience 10 times better than it would have been without him. He was always friendly, tried to accommodate my requests, and would periodically check in with me to se how I was doing. I still remember the first thing he sad to me, “Welcome to VSA. You’re going to have a great time here. My job is to make your experience the best possible. Let me know if there is anything I can do.” These little things really make a big difference, because it shows that he truly cares. Without these things, my goodbye would have been almost entirely unemotional.

Some of us put our name tags on Hugh's door.

After saying goodbye to Hugh and the other proctors, I grabbed my bags and headed out. It was really depressing to see my empty dorm room. By 10:30 we were all down in the lobby. Mr. Mannix showed up, and we checked out (collect medicines, look through lost and found, and turn in room key and meal card. After that, we said our last teary goodbyes to the students in the lobby. By 11:00 we were on the road. Our first stop was the Vanderbilt Bookstore. As you may have guessed, we bought Vanderbilt gear: hoodies, T-shirts, hats, bears, etc. The ILC was kind enough to pay for out hoodies.

After our trip to the bookstore, we visited the admission office, to see about attending the 1:00 PM info session. The website said the session was full, but we went by to see if they could squeeze us in. They said no. There was already a long wait list for the info session. They told us that we could attend the 2 PM tour if we wanted to. We decided against the tour, as our three weeks at VSA have been a huge tour.

The Athena Statue is so god-like.

Our next stop was the Nashville Parthenon. I had no idea just how huge the building is. The only pictures I have seen are from the front, but the sides are three times as long. Inside the Parthenon is just amazing. Seeing the exhibits was cool, but the best part was the enormous statue of Athena, which was dressed in gold. (It probably was not real gold, but it was gold in color.) The size of the statue really made Athena seem like a god, towering over us minuscule, worthless mortals.

After visiting the Parthenon, we ate lunch at Pancake Pantry. Surprisingly, there was no line. We walked in, and were seated immediately. As soon as I saw the menu, I had no idea what to get. They had 23 varieties of pancakes, and they all sounded so good. I ended up going with the Blueberry Pancakes. I know I could have gone with something more obscure, like pancakes infused with potatoes, but I figured they would probably have the best blueberry pancakes of any restaurant, as pancakes are their specialty. I was correct: They were the best blueberry pancakes ever. The pancakes had just the right texture: not to stiff, and not to soft. The blueberries were evenly distributed. (I have had blueberry pancakes where one pancake has 30 more blueberries than the other.) Also, the blueberry compote was a nice touch. That way you could drown your blueberry pancakes with blueberry sauce, instead of maple syrup. (I’m not a big fan of maple syrup, so this was perfect for me.)

Blueberry Pancakes!

The AT&T "Batman Building"

After eating at Pancake Pantry, we decided to visit Downtown Nashville. Although we had already been downtown during VSA, it was still very enjoyable because we visited different places. We started by getting on the pedestrian bridge over the river. From here, we got an excellent view of the city. We could really see the mixture of new buildings (like the “Batman Building”) and the older, brick buildings. Mr. Mannix told us that Nashville is in the process of becoming a large city. Many of the old brick buildings are being torn down so new ones can be built. Mr. Mannix believes that in 10 years, Nashville will be like LA: a huge, crowded city. After seeing more of Nashville, I agree. There is construction everywhere, and it’s a beautiful city. Both of these translate to more people moving there. Also, Nashville is the Music City. This draws a lot of musicians and audiences to the city. During our walk downtown, we visited a record store, and a handmade music poster store. The poster store was very interesting. The whole back three quarters was workspace, with a huge press and lots of shelves. The front quarter had posters on display, as well as two cats sleeping. One was behind a box of posters, and the other was sleeping underneath a tent sign. I would never have guessed that a handmade poster store would have cats, as I would be worried about the cats getting into the back section of the store and causing problems. 

After visiting downtown, we headed to the airport. Once we arrived, Mr. Mannix turned in the rental van. We then checked our bags, and went through security. Once we were through, we had an hour and half before our plane would leave at 6:50 PM. We were all tired, so we mainly just sat there. Some of us fell asleep, but I did not. I decided I would sleep on the airplane instead. At around 6:20, we got dinner at Quiznos. We did not have quite enough time to eat it before boarding, so we ate it on the plane instead.

Heading to LAX!

The plane ride took four hours, so we arrived in LAX at 9:10. Unfortunately, our connecting flight to Oakland was delayed. It was supposed to leave at 10 PM, but it was delayed until 11:00 PM, putting us back at Oakland at 12:05 AM. It's good to be home!

We Won't Stop

After months of preparation and a couple weeks of traveling, I never thought I'd see my last day of Vanderbilt Summer Academy. After getting used to the Commons, I had one of my last breakfast meals today. It signalled the start of a bittersweet reaction chain going on today. 

Since I've already taken the VUMC tour, and went to both the clinic and the OR, I watched an HBO film called Wit. Starring Emma Thompson, she plays Professor Vivian Bearing of English Literature who is suddenly diagnosed with metastatic Stage IV ovarian cancer. Instead of having caring doctors, she's treated as an experiment and nothing more. And the only person who seems to care about her general well being is her nurse, Susie Monahan.  Over time, Vivian realizes that being an intellectual is nothing compared to human compassion and soon dies after. Instead of portraying doctors as the hero, they soon became heartless human beings who had little emotion for the severity of their patient's sickness. While doing anything possible to save a person's life, doctors in the film forgot to care about the effects its treatments places on their patients. As Jake stressed, it's important to build a real relationship with patients. If doctors never mixed business with pleasure, then they'd be like the doctors in the film. 

After having our last lunch at the Commons, all of us created another concept map on obesity. This time, we did our best to put what we learned during these past couple weeks onto a piece of paper within ten minutes. Since our first map on the first day, we did a whole lot better. I've learned an excess amount of knowledge during our VSA stay under Jon, Jake, and Mary and our lovely guest speakers. If I didn't know anything about obesity since then, that would have been a real shame. 

Jon!

During the last few hours of class, we all reflected on the last couple weeks. With everyone going to their respective small group instructors, each of us got individual feedback on our overall performance. In this case, I spoke with Jon. This was the moment that hit me the most. I couldn't believe that it was already time to look back at what we did when we started class not too long ago.  While they gave  us individual feedback, we were also given VSA student surveys, and an additional sheet for Jon. Since he'll be taking a gap year of medical school for a degree in education as well, he asked us to critique his performance as an instructor. And without having been trained to teach kids, he's already done a phenomenal job of teaching us. 

Heading to the Wyatt Rotunda, things became even more real. Since the first day, all of VSA was given a mission of acting on the three Cs: Challenge, Choice, and Community. For the duration of our stay, I'd say we acted on each of them. Not only have we challenged ourselves and make good choices in the process, but VSA session three has become a real community within three weeks. I can't imagine making bonds like these under these kind of time constraints. And for several of the individuals who were front and center for being fourth or fifth years, I can't imagine what was going through their heads. As a first/last time student of VSA, I was already feeling saddened by the idea of parting ways with such incredible people. I can't stand the idea of actually leaving and being back in California by tomorrow evening. By the end of our closing ceremonies, some Med School 101 students gathered to take a group picture with Jon, Jake, Mary, and Vivian. Since Jake left earlier before heading off to the closing ceremonies, none of us were able to say our goodbyes. Surprisingly enough, we all saw each other again while exiting the building. This should be a good indicator of whether or not we'll all keep in touch. 

Med School 101!

Fully packed and unprepared to go, I got ready for the decades themed dance. I decided to play it simple and still wear my tie dye shirt from the last dance. And I wasn't the only one who did the same. There were several 70s/80s friends in my proctor group, so I wasn't alone! Excited for the dance, we all reconvened at the Wyatt Rotunda one last time. This definitely reached the peak of the bittersweet moment chain. The energy was still in the air from our last dance, and so we danced the whole night away. Revealing the house cup, S-House ended up not winning. But with a 10 point difference between first and second place, we deserved to win anyway. I can't even believe recovering since our first week. I thought we reached the point of no return until trivia night. Even then, I didn't think we had high chances of taking first place away from A-House. But we kept going and managed to make our way from rock bottom to close to the top of the ranks. I'll always love my S-House Space Jammers though.

Today reminded me a lot of the last day of school at a regular school. The difference however, is the fact that some of us may never return to VSA or wait another year. As patient as I am, I wouldn't be able to control myself for another year. And since I'm a rising senior, VSA won't be an option anymore.  Although this may be my last day, it won't be the last of my encounters with these people. I won't let that happen. 

In The End

I was so excited to start my day. It's finally my turn to see the operating rooms! Scrubs are so awesome to wear though they are a bit big for me. I had to pull the pant part all the way past my belly button so I don't step on it. We all made it to class on time and went with Jon to the post-operation area. It's an area where newly operated patients go to recover from their anesthesia. 

We meet up with Dr. James Blair who is an anesthesiologist. With me was Emily and Precious so we had to wait for two more doctors to show up. Dr. Blair decided that I should go with him because of my interest in internal medicine. So Dr. Blair is a 66 year old man who started medical school when he was 33, he recommends that I don't do that. Usually Dr. Blair is involved in neurosurgery but today was a weird Thursday. He started off telling me about the OR. So the area we were in had 35 operating rooms and it is part of the heart of the hospital. In addition to that there are about 15 more OR all around the hospital for various specialties. In most hospitals the OR is the theoretical center but since the Vanderbilt Hospital is so large and it has so many specialized centers this OR is only part of it.

The first patient we saw was a lady who had a hardware removed from her foot and was recovering. She wasn't reacting too well to the post-anesthetic effects so Dr. Blair gave her some medicines. Even though it has only been five minutes, the experience was amazing. See how the doctor and the nurse list the names of drugs and how much to prescribe was pretty cool. He how the patient was feeling and immediately gave her something that would make her better. Then our next stop was with a man whose thumb has been crushed by a truck. He asks the guy some question about his medical history and how he was feeling. The way he talked to the patient was so light and it lifts the heavy mood in the room. The doctor ease into questions so that the patient could tell him about himself and Dr. Blair would still get the info he needs. Then Dr. Blair's residence came in to do a pre - op exam on the patient and assess how he would handle things. While that was going on we went to an OR that was operating on another one of Dr. Blair's patient. As we walked toward the room we were stopped several times by surgeons asking Dr. Blair to get me a cap for my hair. Everyone was wearing one and it was required for going into an OR. By the time we got to the OR they were almost finished with closing the patient up. For a brief moment I got to see a surgeon sewing up the incision, I was amazed. He worked with such precision and it seemed like the instruments were a part of him. But then again after 6-8 years of residency, he has probably gotten plenty of practice. Another thing that I noticed was that the OR was so bright and cheery. They were playing rap music really loudly when we walked in. As we walked around to check on his patients, Dr. Blair told me about Ignaz Semmelweis who is the father of antiseptic. He discovered that patient would not get infected if the doctors washed their hands after each patient. At VH, there is a foam dispenser every five feet, literally. Every time we went into a room we from, if we went out we foam, and if we touched something, we foam. I think I have used more sanitizer in the span of three hours than I would have in a month. I got to watch a full operation preparation process of a man who needed his C3-C8 of his spine fixed. So they knock him out with a cocktail of drugs before propping him into place. They also incubated his throat and hook him up to a ventilator. I also saw that they used tape like there is no tomorrow to secure his shoulder, tape things down, and various other things. Unfortunately we had to leave before I got to see them cut him open (I say that in the nicest way possible). For our last stop we head on over to the guy with the crushed thumb. The surgeon was taking a live x-ray of it and I saw so many fractures. He also said that they were so closed to amputate it. While Dr. Blair talked to another doctor in the room about the drugs they were giving the patient, I just watched as the surgeon pick at the patient's thumb. It has to be one of the coolest things that I have ever seen. No, it is the coolest thing that I have EVER seen. Unfortunately that also didn't last for too long before we had to leave. While we were walking around the OR we saw a live video of an aortic graphing. Again the surgeon's suture were so identical and beautifully spaced. I stood on my toes to look into the OR room where the surgery was happening. Dr. Blair explained to me what was happening. So since they had to clamp the patient's aorta shut they had to hook him up to a bypass machine to keep his blood flowing. Sadly, before I knew it Jon had come to pick us up. Being given a chance to explore the OR today definitely opened up my interest to maybe do something that involves the OR. This shadowing definitely motivated me to not only look for more shadowing for myself but also for my fellow classmates who are interested. 

Our afternoon 'class' wasn't really a class because we spend most of it giving feedback. When we started the class Mary had asked us to make a concept map for obesity with what we knew. This time she asked us to do the same to see if we have truly learned and gained from the class. Before we went outside Jon, Mary and Jake went up to give us superlatives. I was given " Most likely to make your day" and I felt so special. One person received " Most likely to turn her patient into alcoholic" because she recommended that her patient (during CELA) drink some wine. Jon then gave us a very touching speech on how we all went beyond what he expected and how much we inspired him. After that we all went outside to do the feedbacks. Our group leader asked each one of us to individually go up and talked to them. When it was my turn to go talk to Jake I went up. I told him that the Med School 101 class that they created is just amazing. I wouldn't change it for the world. Jake asked me if I liked the class because I was really quiet throughout the course and I looked bored. I told him that it was just the expression I make when my mind is blown and I'm speechless. I loved the class with all my heart and I even asked Jake if I could take what I learned and share it with my school's Health Academy. He said that it was totally cool. He also told me that I was a very good student.

After class we had a closing ceremony where we cheered and recognize all the people that made the program possible. At the end we gave our instructors hugs and said our last goodbyes. They truly have been some of the best teachers that I have ever had. I wished them luck with their plans for the future and I know they will excel in the medical field. Thank you so much #BestInstructorJake, #HailMary, and #PapaJon.

Our day ends with a Decade Dance where you choose a decade to dress up in. As usual the dance was amazing and I had fun taking silly picture with my friends. The night ended in tears for some girls as it is our last night together. 

For Every Beginning There is an Ending

My last full day of VSA started at 7:45 AM. I went to breakfast at 8. For the final time, class started at 9, with another Puzzler: You and a friend are playing a card game. There are 21 cards in the deck (it does not matter what cards.) We alternate taking 1, 2, or 3 cards per turn. The person who takes the last card(s) wins. In each turn you must draw at least 1 card. (You cannot pass.) Is there a strategy to win? What is it? For the second to last time, STOP reading if you want to solve it yourself. (Wait... There's another Puzzler? Keep reading to find out...)

Dawson had us solve this Puzzler by playing the game. He had us get into pairs, gave us 21 cards, and had us play the game for a little while. We soon figured out that if there is 1, 2, or 3 cards left, and it's your turn, you win. If there are 4 cards left, you loose. If there are 5, 6, or 7 cards left, you win. If there are 8 cards left, you loose. If you continue this, you find that if the number of remaining cards is a multiple of 4, you lose. This occurs no matter how many cards you take, your opponent can stick you with a multiple of 4 again, until you get 4 left and lose. (If you take 1, he takes 3. If you take 2, he takes 2, and if you take 3, he takes 1.) After we figured out the strategy, we had beat Dawson. It took me multiple attempts, because the first time he went first and took one card. This left me with 20, and a loss already. After I finally beat him, he had me come up with a strategy to win if there were 21 cards, and you could only take 1 or 2 cards per turn. In this game, you want it to get down to a multiple of 3 (because 1 + 2 = 3). This means the best strategy is to not go first. Since 21 is a multiple of three, it does not matter whether the first person pick 1 or 2, the second person can match it and stick the first person with another multiple of three until the end.

After spending 30 minutes on the Puzzler, we watched A Beautiful Mind. As I said yesterday, the movie is about John Nash, the mathematician that came up with the Nash Equilibrium. The movie starts in his college years at Princeton. He does not attend class, because he wants to create an original contribution to mathematics. He spends almost all of his time working, so his roommate (Charles) tries to get him to get out and go to bars and such. He is very socially awkward. Every time he tries to pick up a girl, it fails miserably. On one of the bar trips, Nash comes up with the Equilibrium. 5 girls walk in the bar, one (a blonde) is much prettier than the rest. Nash's four friends believe they should all go after the blonde, because according to Smith's philosophy, what's best for the group comes from everyone doing what's best for himself. Nash proves this wrong: If they all go for the blonde, they will get in each other's way, and no one will get her. Then if they go after her friends, they will feel second rate, and leave. If no one goes for the blonde, and they each go for one of her friends, everyone gets a girl.

Nash writes his paper on the Equilibrium, and publishes it. He gets a job at Princeton's Wheeler Laboratories. As part of his job, he must teach a Calculus class. One of his students falls in love with him. Soon after, the government hires him to break codes the Russians are sending. He is extremely good at this, and is able to find the coordinates of an atomic bomb from the millions of numbers in the message. The military then has him crack more codes. This time, the Russians are communicating through periodicals (TIME, Newsweek, etc.) This mission is classified, so he cannot tell his girlfriend, who eventually becomes his wife. When turning in one set of his newspaper findings, he and his agent Parcher get caught in a Russian shoot out. From this point onward, Nash is constantly paranoid that the Russians are after him. Eventually, Nash is taken to a psychiatric facility. He thinks the doctor is a Russian interrogator, so he tries to attack him.

The doctor diagnoses him with schizophrenia. Parcher and Charles (his roommate) are not real, just images in his head. He is given insulin shock therapy to help cure him. Once he is released, he has to take medicine to keep the illusions away. He does not like the side effects, and stops taking the medicine. When giving the baby a bath, he thinks Charles it watching, so he leaves the room, almost drowning the baby. He also attacks his wife when he thinks Parcher is lounging at her. After this, he realizes that Parcher and Charles are just his imagination. He decides not to take the medicine, but to ignore them instead. He goes back to Princeton and asks his college rival Martin (now Head of the Mathematics Department) for a position researching and auditing classes. After years of doing this and ignoring Charles and Parcher, Nash gets a teaching position at Princeton. In 1994, he wins the Nobel Prize in Economics for his Equilibrium. I really enjoyed this movie. It was highly related to math, but did not make you think a whole lot about it. It was more focused on how sad is was the such a brilliant man had schizophrenia. I found out afterwards that this movie won four Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. I highly recommend watching the movie, even if you are not into math like me.

After the movie ended, Dawson handed out his comments on our lessons. He also recognized each person for something different. The awards included Best Lessons (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), Best Lesson Plan, Best Dressed, Best Mission, Best Explanation, etc. I won the Best Explanation award for helping a student with her mixture problem during my lesson. She had no idea where to start, so I walked her though the whole thing. 

During lunch, I read Dawson's comments. Overall, he like my lesson. The first 25 minutes were good, but the last 20 when I handed out the worksheet failed miserably. His main suggestion was to do easier problems, which I completely agree with. I assumed too much when I made that worksheet.

My Last VSA Lunch: Fruit Salad, Chili, Pizza and a Breadstick.

After lunch, we had our final puzzler: There are five pirates who steal exactly 100 gold coins. They go to a safe haven to distribute the gold among themselves. Being democratic pirates, they decide to vote on how to do so. Each pirate in turn submits a proposal for parceling out the booty. Immediately after the first proposal, they vote. If the proposal wins a majority of votes (more than half), they distribute the gold according to the proposal. If the proposal does not get a majority, they kill the pirate for suggesting it and move on to the next pirate, who makes his proposal. The process continues until a proposal receives a majority of votes.

You are the first pirate to make a proposal. What should you suggest to maximize your share and, of course, remain alive? You may only presume that a pirate will vote for a given proposal if it is definitively better than another proposal that he may receive. Each pirate knows his own and everyone else's position-first, second, third, etc. in order of giving proposals. The pirates are entirely logical and unemotional people. All they care about is maximizing their share while remaining alive. For the last time, STOP reading if you want to solve it yourself.

Since this is one of the hardest Puzzlers, Dawson had us work in the same groups as the Unknown Area Project. Initially, we assumed that the pirates would divide it evenly, so that the 2nd pirate offers everyone 25, the third offers 33, and the 4th offers 50 each. So the 1st pirate should offer the 2nd pirate 26, the 3rd pirate 34, and the rest to himself. Dawson told us that this offer would not win a majority of votes. 

We then worked backwards. If there is one pirate left, he gets all 100. If there are two left, the 4th pirate will settle for giving the 5th pirate everything, because without the 5th pirate's vote, the 4th pirate dies. If is better to be alive with no treasure than dead with no treasure. When it comes down to the 3rd pirate, the 3rd pirate gets 100, and the 4th gets his life. The 2nd person can buy the 4th's vote with 2 coins, and the 5th pirate's vote with 1 coin. This means the 1st pirate can get 97, and buy the 3rd and 5th's votes with 1 and 2 coins respectively. 

Once we solved the Puzzler, we each go to take 8 pieces of chocolate from Dawson's collection of 100   chocolate "coins." After we had all solved the Puzzler, Dawson briefly explained what would happen if you continued this problem with more and more pirates. There is a recurring pattern. The number of coins the first pirate gets decreases by 1 coin every 2 pirates added. Eventually, the first pirate gets nothing but his life, but there are certain numbers, like 201 pirates, in which the first pirate gets one coin, even though at 200, the first pirate gets nothing.

My portion of the Pirate's Booty!

Dawson and I

After the Puzzler, Dawson had us do another Concept Map about Math. (Just like we did on the first day of VSA.) Many of the students complained, so Dawson told us that the concept map is a VSA requirement. He did not create the assignment. After our 10 minutes to complete it, we filled out a survey about VSA, covering everything from class to your proctor to social time. I forgot the exact wording of my favorite survey question, but it basically asked if you are less socially awkward because of your experiences at VSA. I would never have guessed that there would be a question like this, but there was. 

At the end of class, we took another set of group photos: one with Dawson and the class, and one with Emily and the class. Afterwards, I got a picture with just Dawson. On the way out, Dawson had us put our name and phone number in a spreadsheet on his computer. He said he would email the list to all of us, so we can contact each other. He also mentioned that if we ever want a letter of recommendation, to just ask. He even went as far as to say he enjoys writing letters of recommendation. I will definitely be asking him for one in a year for my Vanderbilt application.

Immediately after class we headed to the Wyatt Rotunda for the closing ceremony. This consisted of various faculty members from the Program Coordinator to the Housemaster to the Proctors saying how much they enjoyed this 3 weeks, and how fast it flew by. At the end of the ceremony, they recognized the rising seniors that did VSA for 4 or 5 years. (You can participate in VSA for up to 6 years, from the beginning of middle school to the end of high school.) The 4 years veterans each got a Vanderbilt mug, and the 5 year veterans each got a t-shirt that said Vanderbilt on the front and VSA 5 on the back. The closing ceremony took an hour, so we had free time from 4-6.

During this time I began my packing. I'm only about halfway done, as there are a lot of things I cannot pack until tomorrow, like my be linens, by towels, and my dirty clothes. The last dinner of VSA was at 6 PM.

My Last VSA Dinner: Salad, Mac and Cheese, Fried Eggplant with Pasta Sauce, Squash and a Brownie. 

My proctor Hugh and I, dressed in suit and tie.

After dinner we had an hour to prepare for the Decades dance from 8-10. I didn't know what to wear, so I ended up dressing in my suit and tie. It turned out my proctor, Hugh Schmidt, was dressed the same way. When we got to the dance, I took a picture with him. I did not enjoy this dance very much either, because again, I'm not a dancer. At the end of the dance, the Housemaster announced the winner of the House Cup. A-House won with 459 points, over S-House with 459, and V-House with 400. After the winning house was announced, all the A-House members started cheering "A-House," and Hugh (because Hugh is the head of A-House.) We then found our proctors and went back to Hank as a group.

Once we arrived at Hank, we had free time until our final proctor meeting at 11 PM. Tomorrow breakfast is at 8, and that we have free time in Hanks from 9-12 (or until we leave.) Mr. Mannix is going to pick us up at 10:30. Hugh also handed out VSA "Yearbooks." (Just like a regular yearbook, with pictures of out classes and proctor groups.) I also found out that the running group will be running one last time tomorrow morning at 7. I guess I was wrong when I said Wednesday was the last run.

VSA is officially over, and I'm sad to have to let it go. I really want to go back in time 3 weeks and do it all over again and again.