Chris Adkins September 22nd, 2008
Hey all! Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. These past few weeks have been a little bit crazy.
First off, I’ve had my hands full with crew activities. Since the team seemed to evaporate at the end of last year, what with people graduating and others going abroad, we decided to reduce the number of officers from seven to four. Unfortunately, we were four officers very committed to an aggressive recruitment strategy at the beginning of the season so now we have about thirty five people on the team, all to be managed by us four! Even though it can be a bit overwhelming at times, it feels great to look out at everyone in the pre-dawn hours out at Percy Priest Lake so excited to be rowing.
The other thing that’s been keeping me so occupied (besides tests and papers, those unrelenting burdens) is medical school interviews. As the UC Berkeley career website says so matter-of-factly, “applying to medical school is costly and time consuming.” Preparing for them - not to mention actually getting to them - has pr
oven to require much more time than I had imagined. Just like so many people rowing, though, this “problem” is more of a blessing in disguise. It’s not even October yet and I’ve already received six interview invitations, so I’m feeling really loved right now. And, maybe even luckier for me, my parents are being awesome enough to pay for all the travel costs associated with the interviews. Given that the average cost of applying to med school is around $3,000 to $5,000, I couldn’t be happier!
I’ll try to think of a good Vandy issue to delve into next time a la my previous alcohol post. Let me know if you want to hear about anything!
And, last but not least: Go ‘Dores! 4-0!
Chris Adkins August 7th, 2008
Trying to think of how to start off this reincarnation of my old blog, I went back to Commodore in Spain to take a look at how I introduced myself a little less than a year ago when the Vandy Blogs were just starting off. With another year of life under my belt including nearly four months in Madrid, I thought that I would be a changed man. I guess I was a little too ambitious…
Crew team? Still doing that, although now that I’m an officer and a van driver, my mornings start closer to 4:30 than 4:38 (big change, I know). Research with Dr. Friedman? You guessed it; I’m still chugging away at the lab bench, producing data on telomerase mutants like none other (except for all the other undergrads and grad students in my lab, I suppose!). In fact, I just returned home from Vanderbilt where I continued my research over the summer as well as mentored my wonderful rising sophomore intern Jessica so she can develop her own research project over the coming years. And, as for that paper I was so excited about, it finally made it to print (caution: link not for the faint of heart)! Interpreting at Matthew Walker? Well, pretty close. Instead of interpreting at the low-cost Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center, I now interpret at the free Shade Tree Clinic, a facility operated nearly entirely by Vanderbilt medical students. It’s been an unbelievably rewarding and educational experience and is one that I hope to continue until the day of graduation.
While I dabble in a few other activities on campus, these remain my big three, the ones that have already made me homesick for Vanderbilt after being at my real Florida home for only about a week. Over the next year, then, you can expect to hear a lot about them, hopefully giving you a better idea of the myriad activities available to Vanderbilt students (and hopefully it might just convince a few of you to give crew a shot!).
Another theme that you can expect to read about over the coming months is medical school. Or, better said, applying to medical school. Since it has consumed my life over the past month and secondary application essays are likely to consume it for the next month, it will inevitably sneak into this blog. If lady luck is on my side, I might even get to write about all the great cities and schools I travel to for interviews. Wish me luck; heaven knows anyone going through this process can use as much as they can get!
Until next time.