thoughts for a time capsule

For some reason, everybody keeps reminding me that graduation is sooner than I think. Well I still have ages to go, but I guess their point is that I ought to be preparing for internship. Maybe study harder, start thinking like an intern, practice putting in thousands of cannulas..?

When I was in junior and middle school, we used to write letters addressed to our future selves. The teachers would then keep them and return them to us at a later, designated date. It was always interesting reading about the goals that our younger selves had made, and to see whether we'd accomplished them or not. Plus, those letters always came as a surprise because we'd forgotten we'd ever written the letters. If I were to really think about the future, here are some things that I hope I will remember:

- Compassion; that the same patients who are unbelievably rude, demanding, and selfish, may also be feeling frustrated, helpless, confused, and hurt
- When I knew absolutely nothing, strangers took the time to talk to me about life, to teach me about disease, to put a needle holder and forceps in my hands
- God is the big picture. As Joe said to me, "that's why, God must be in the training"
- The encouragement and value of a well meant compliment
- That if I remember a patient's white cell count, I should remember their name
- To cherish those relationships with friends and family; to always make time

Finally, who work in O&G seem to be very wise. Perhaps it's because they see so much of "Birth, copulation, and death" (T.S. Eliot). Here are some of my favourite quotations from lecturers this term:

"Never lose your humility. Once you lose your humility, you become a danger to yourself, and to others around you." -JN

"Always be pragmatic in life. Just think about where you want to be, not where you are." -IH

"I can't teach you compassion, but I expect you to find it for yourselves." -BJ