The First Day of Med School

I think I mention elsewhere on this blog, that I had a different life before. I have a degree, had a different career and studied and lived in several European countries, as well as in the US, Brazil, Argentina and currently in Uruguay. 

If you add all that up, you can probably figure out that I'm not in my early 20s, much less straight out of High School (here, like in a lot of other South American and European countries, you start med school straight out of high school, but it lasts 6-7 years. Your undergrad is included into the medical training). This means I am older than 100% of my class, by at least 10 years. 

In some ways, I think this is awesome, they're all panicky, never gone to college, have no life experience and some had never even seen "the big city" before. They're lost and overwhelmed by the newness of it all, being away from family for the first time, etc. 

I, on the other hand.... well.... You can read a little about me on the rest of this blog. Suffice to say I was not overwhelmed by anything related to starting Med School. 

However, when I was getting to that amphitheater, shuffling along with the crowd of youngsters, I had butterflies in my stomach. It was the introductory and welcome talk, so no big deal, right? Wrong. 

The big deal was that I was actually here. That the dream I've had for the last 30 years is finally coming true. That after all the struggles and sacrifices I had to make, I am finally a med student. 

And it is AWESOME. 

However, being older than everyone *including the teacher* might take a little getting used to... (She's more like a tutor for our Problem Based Learning days, but still!!) 

*edit-- just remembered that in my other life, I was actually working at a University and was younger than some of my students. I guess the tables are turned!