January 23, 1996 - Tuesday - USF Medschool Interview

     I finished a medical school interview yesterday, so at least I have that accomplishment under my belt. Last Thursday I would have sworn that my chances were null and I was fully prepared to just say fuck it and not even go to Tampa this weekend. But Friday turned that around. As Friday progressed, I truly began to feel that something wanted me to get into medical school because a highly unlikely, or lucky, string of events occurred.

     I was afraid my day was going to crash when Kristen was being a bitch first thing in the morning. She has to get up at six on Fridays and Mondays now because she shadows in a elementary school on those days. I was extremely tired and was laying on my belly and wasn't going to move. When she was ready to leave I expected her to hug me and kiss me goodbye. When she did she pouted and complained that I didn't want to say goodbye to her. That pissed me off because I had to wake up which was quite unfair of her so after a few more comments I told her it would be better if she didn't stay here on those mornings (so perhaps my day was going good after all!).

     I headed to German class and told Annette that I would be absent and gave her a copy of my invitation letter to excuse myself. She passed out the chapter twelve review exams from Wednesday. It was actually quite new for me considering I've had a two and a half year hiatus on speaking the language. I got a ninety-three, an A! I then supposed that she either graded leniently or it was an easy test and everybody got an A. But the distribution proved otherwise. It was a classic bell curve with the majority having B's and C's. I was quite pleased and surprised with myself. I then became partners with a girl I had been drooling over before class named Katylin. Lucky me.

     Then came the test. I had to haul ass to (and find) the new honors office in less than five minutes. I had an appointment with Dr. Reiskind, the honors department head who had sent me to Disney World after nobody else would. I first asked him about that, and then asked if he would save my butt for medical school. I said that I needed a letter of recommendation for USF, not in four months like
most professors need, but in two days! He agreed! He said he could have it done Monday morning. He allowed me to pick it up and Federal Express it myself which was good. I had relied on Zam and Allison to write one, especially Allison who knew I needed it for the January fifteenth deadline, but neither came through. Fuckers. But since I was already offered an interview at USF I called and they said I could still send in the last letter but needed to do so ASAP.

     We then had a little chat about why I want to be a doctor and about my career here at UF. We had a look at my computer file as well. He also agreed to send me to Disney again if all else fails for the summer...

     I headed home quite pleased only to find a message on the machine. Nobody calls me so I knew it had to be important. I was so afraid it was USF changing their mind, and it sounded that was as I
listened. My heart almost stopped as she finally said she was calling about UF. She said that they had only received two letters and if I faxed or hand delivered a letter by Monday at five, I would still be
considered. I was elated and headed back to see Reiskind who has a class just before my prokaryotic course in the same room.

     He was surprised to see me again and I asked if he could fax the letter to both schools, after calling USF to make sure it would be OK. He said yes and to bring me the stuff in his lab after class so he wouldn't lose it. That was cool too because I had been imagining getting in good with him as a lab assistant perhaps.

     So I skipped Immunology and ran to his lab where we had a nice little talk and he showed me his homepage on the web. He is designing it for his class so they can receive syllabi and old tests. I then
asked him about his research and asked if he needed any assistance in the lab. He had been talking about his mess since the beginning and said that he just might give me a call after he cleans up a little. He is researching spiders. I searched my mind as he showed me a few things for something intelligent to ask about spiders. I came up with asking him if he has done any work with silk production. He said no but ran to find an article about it and we talked about that for a
few minutes. It was pretty cool.

     The most divine intervention came in my food microbiology class. I told father this whole story over the weekend and he made fun of me for not believing in "guardian angels" and we made references to Granny. I approached him about having the interview which ended at 3:30 in Tampa, and his exam began at five. He said it's not his problem, but then said to see him after class and that he'd need documentation which I had.

     I knew something was up though which might affect everybody because he was very pissed off and kept saying that he hoped everybody was here today. It turns out that the university administrators began enforcing a rule that if you get a testing room through them instead of through your own college, then you have to have your test during the last two evening classes from 8:20 on! And he does that because he can get big comfortable rooms that way. So we voted to take it at night instead of during class and that easily gave me enough time to study, eat, and get back to Gainesville before the exam. Interesting...

     Kristen had purchased one blue and one orange piece of poster board after shadowing on Friday. When we both got home, we used it to make a poster saying "GO CHRISSY VOGEL". I made orange block letters that we glued onto the blue. It came out very symmetrical and looks really nice. Chrissy is a friend of Kristen's in her education classes whom I met at Publix once, and have sat with her mother at a gymnastics meet before. We met Shari and Kevin there and got front row comfortable seats on the upper tier. I then hung the sign on the railing in front of us. Everyone kept looking at it and liking it. Chrissy later said that everyone else saw it first and asked her if she had seen her sign.

     I took one of the black and white photographs that Kristen and I got at homecoming when the Tower Yearbook was giving away the older pictures. It showed Kristen Guise, our number one player, on the first place podium with Chrissy Vogel with another girl from another team tied on the second. After the meet I found where Kristen Guise was signing autographs and presented her the picture. She thought it was really cool compared to the programs and posters she was used to
signing. I then had Chrissy sign by her. It's a neat souvenir.

     We didn't leave for Tampa until Saturday morning. We ended up going over to my house that afternoon, and then sitting around hers all day Sunday watching movies and studying. I also tried on my suit and Kristen's father let me borrow one  of his Save the Children ties. It was the one President Clinton wore and got reamed by the Times for being frivolous. Once they discovered it was designed by a twelve year old named Dana and the proceeds go to end child abuse, the Times were forced to eat their words. I kept getting "complimented" by everyone from my interviewers, to the director, Jay Layman, and med students. I finally asked a student if it was in bad taste and he said no, that it was a cheer you up tie. Cool, maybe.

     Kristen drooped me off at about seven fifteen. We had stopped at Burger King and I picked up two croissanwichs. As soon as we got there I had to take the biggest crap ever, and ran to find a
bathroom. It was unfortunate because I had spent so long straightening myself. I barely made it and exploded. I then had only a few minutes to eat before heading into the conference room. There
were only two people in there, a girl from FSU who was very outgoing and quite attractive, and someone with very abundant lips. The room quickly filled up though to just under twenty-five people, four from UF. One was a mother of two who looked seventeen and was very cute. One was a second timer who was wearing pants and a denim shirt, tie, and casual shoes with a evening shadow. The other I talked to for most of the day. Reiskind had told me that one other person asked him
for a letter and was going today, so I picked him out as the one and surprised him when I asked. It was funny.

     The day seemed extremely casual and I could have potentially gone home at ten-thirty, but I would have missed the free lunch and "wonderful" tour. It turned out that we were interviewed by
professors who were not on the selection committee which seemed a little strange. And mine were scheduled thirty minutes apart with the second being way out at Moffit leaving me almost no time for the first one. It turned out that the first guy didn't show anyway, and the office said he was a sore topic down there and they'd reschedule another one probably for the afternoon, so I headed to the second (first).

     It was with a throat cancer doctor who didn't seem to like me very much. He began by talking about my social problems course in which I got a C. He said later that he hadn't even looked at the
grade and was just curious about the course. He then grilled me on my low MCAT writing sample even though I got credit for AP English. I also defended myself by winning the PRIDE, etc. We chatted for a few minutes about the hospitals in the surrounding areas and about how theme parks have helped me learn to deal with a diverse group of people. I almost lost my voice this weekend and I asked him why, and he said it's viral if I don't have a fever. But it sucked.

     Fortunately they had found me another interviewer as soon as I got back, with a Dr. Ackerman from surgery. He was Sean Connery in looks, age, voice... everything. The kind of person I idolize because of the stature and prominence he portrays. We sat on the soft couches in the faculty lounge so his bum wouldn't hurt. He ended up talking three times more than I did, and I talked a ton, for a total of forty-five minutes!!! He didn't have my records because of the rescheduling so we impromptued. We talked about the Gators, about my volunteer experience, and why I started volunteering. He thought it was extremely good that I did so on my own before I even knew I
wanted to be a doctor (because Kostas made me go with him).

     His only association with UF is that he has a new son in law who graduated from there. He did say that I truly impressed him for being able to get through a school as confusing as UF without quitting or changing my mind fifty times and that shows a one-mindedness and a commitment to medicine of sorts. We chatted about the future of medicine and the roles computers, government influences, and other things will have. He says it's an amazing field that is always renewing itself and we talked about having to be educated for a lifetime.

     He is from South Africa, but spent four years as in "residency" in London before coming here. Now he loves Florida and never wants to leave. We just kept talking and talking and had a fabulous time. I was quite uplifted by that talk and it almost made the trip worth it. We finally called it quits and he said he wanted me to let him know what happens, regardless of what I do, and can get a hold of him through Debbie at admissions. Hmm...

     We then went to lunch which was an array of very big sandwiches, some cookies, and a soda. It was nice but I got roast beef which isn't the easiest thing to eat because the fat will cause pieces of
your sandwich to yank out when you take a bite. But oh well. We thought about skipping the tour and leaving but it came sooner than scheduled and I learned a few things. They actually have a huge set
of clinics there and you get more clinical experiences as a med student at USF than anywhere else. they are also ranked nationally with their computer department.    

I ended up calling Kristen before one but she and her mother were at lunch. The girl who answered called me John, too. I ended up having to wait until two before she got there and we headed back to
Gainesville. I spent a lot of the time sitting on the sidewalk out by the main road under a tree, but walked back later and met up with the FSU girl. We found a bench and talked for a while. She has already interviewed at UF, and I asked her when she got this interview. She said it was back in December, like mine, so I asked if she had completed her application yet. She said yes, of course. I then said that I mailed mine after I got the interview and she seemed quite surprised. She also said that she knew a girl who got in because one of her interviewers didn't show up and they couldn't get another so instead of making her come back and inconveniencing her, they let her straight in. I wonder if that's all of the story, though.

January 9, 1996 - Tuesday - UF Classes

     My year started a little sadder than my life has been lately, when I didn't see Nedda at all the first two days of class last week. It's not that I really looked, especially since I sat in the second row, but I seemed to run into everyone else so why not her, too. I waited for my two hours of class yesterday afternoon studying German flashcards. I was wearing just shorts and a flannel, with a jacket at my side, despite the fact that the wind chill this morning when I biked to class was in the single digits! Just before everyone who had waited for the class ahead of us to end started heading inside, Nedda
bounced up and pulled on my sleeve.

     I cheered right up. Even more so when she admitted that she thought classes started Monday and not Thursday, which is why I hadn't seen her. She called me crazy for being in shorts and I refuted by saying I brought my jacket "in case" it got tonight. He he. Her friend Erika was there and I let her motion me to come sit with her.

     Fortunately her annoying and loud friend Justin only has the second class with her and my ass was firmly planted next to hers long before he got there, and whined. I'm praying that she will still let
me sit by her from now on in view of this fact...     

We talked about our breaks, of course, and how she sews a lot in the rare instance that she has any free time. She makes a lot of her own dresses and some stuff for her sister and cousin. She turned to
me at one point and asked if I had gotten an A in biochemistry and looked away in disgust when I said yes. She did admit that he got a B, but the rest of her grades are "none of my business", as usual,
which means she thinks she did worse than me. I've never had such a tough time getting certain personal information out of a girl who is otherwise so revealing. Maybe there's the challenge?

      I did kiss ass during one class when Previc came in and put a pile of handouts in the front of the auditorium style room and told everyone to pick one up. It was a mad rush over tiny, tiny chairs with huge people in them, so I offered to get them each one. I headed to the back which was closer where he had placed a few and picked up the LAST two, so had to climb over everyone up front anyway. I was glad to do the service, though.

     We were talking about Previc during his class. He was supposed to be dead or retired at least considering he had triple bypass or something in November. I've always known him as a slow witted piece of shit in his role as my advisor, who will always say no to any flexibility off of stringent graduation, but then won't even help with that. He's a better repeater of information in class though than communicator in his office, at least. Nedda said something derogatory about him and I asked if she wasn't having just the best time in his class, to which she frowned. I then asked if it wasn't love at first sight (kind of going off topic!). She replied that she doesn't believe in love at first sight... and I left THAT alone for now...

     I was happiest as we left our classes and all got lost in the crowd. I figured it would be as it used to be and we would just part without a goodbye. But wait! Up ahead, she turned around and picked
me out to give me a big smile and wave goodbye! Cool. Not really a big deal, but if it makes me happy, I want more!!! Actually I'd rather her say hello to me like that than goodbye...