Behind the Scenes

During my interview day, Dr. Hinkley mentioned at one point that we would be "trailblazing." The word, and what it represented, stuck with me. For my Charter Scholarship application, I wrote about my future blogging plans. I didn't get the scholarship, but I'm pretty excited that the blog plan worked out. (However, given that the whole charter scholarship thing did not work out, domain-name purchasing did not occur). Below is said essay, in honor of the conception of Trailblazing, MD.

One of the graduation requirements at my high school was to write and deliver a speech, a tradition that had turned into the “Hemenway competition” by the time I was a senior. I wrote a somewhat self-deprecating account of being rejected for the Boston-based PBS children’s show ZOOM! and found myself advancing until I was awarded the 2005 Hemenway Prize for Speaking at graduation. (Please see the included DVD for my repeat performance of this piece at the 2006 Wellesley Crew Spring Training Talent Show). It turned out this was somewhat of a unique opportunity, and I spent my college years finding other ways to release my creative energy, including fiction writing classes, dramatic productions, and, surprisingly, Facebook. I loved the ability to look at every day situations and find the most concise, humorous way to share them with my loved ones. Moving 3,000 miles away from most of my friends and family after I graduated from college gave me a little more incentive to make sure my Facebook updates provided a valuable connection to those back home. Apparently, this extra effort that went into documenting my adventures did not go unnoticed. For the past two years, every time I meet up with a friend from high school or college, my “winning” Facebook posts get mentioned. However, this has been the only outlet for creativity I’ve had during this time.

    So, in addition to looking forward to anatomy lab, endless hours of memorizing physiological pathways, learning how to communicate with simulated patients, and setting up volunteer opportunities in the Boca Raton community and beyond, I would like to channel my passion for creative writing into helping FAU create a blog about its inaugural year as a medical school. (As of sending this letter, www.trailblazingMDs.com is still up for grabs). Apart from my fabulous penmanship, I feel that this talent in creative writing is the greatest asset I can add to the diversity of the class of future MDs.

And yes. I was that student who included a DVD with my scholarship application.