Help!

I am stuck on one of my last medical school applications because I am not sure what to write about. Here is the prompt: "What makes you special, someone who will add to the Mount Sinai community?" This prompt has given me a lot of trouble, more so than any other. This is because I need to write an essay that isn't full of cockiness and arrogance, yet at the same time I have to show that I am a unique person that will bring something to Mount Sinai Medical School. I turn this over to all of you because I am not sure what to write about and all of my friends and family say generic things to write about.

What do you think makes me special?

Swimming 09-10

The swimming season is here and we finished our first week with fifty-five swimmers on the team! Personally, I think that it went very well. There was some drama to begin with... namely students and parents being angry that their swimmers couldn't swim because of lack of the correct papers. Luckily, that drama went away after the first day because the swimmers hated my dry-land set. haha! It was beastly and they were all so sore the next day. Things are working out with Provo and they have a new assistant coach that is more on top of things. I think that coaching will be the same as last year with Timpview doing all of the work with little help from Provo. The swimmers are also glad to get in the water, but they are not happy with how crowded it is. We have about twelve people in each lane. I know that people will drop out, namely Provo kids and I hope that our Timpview swimmers stay for the whole season. A lot of them are new and excited to swim. I hope this sticks. It looks like it is going to be a great year and full of fun!

Lovely Words

"Your application to Washington University School of Medicine is now complete and is under review."

These are some of the most lovely words that I have read all day. I'm stoked about this. Washington University is in my top three choices for medical school. My other two are New York University and Johns Hopkins. Don't ask me the order of the top 3 because it is constantly changing, but as of right now, I am leaning more towards Johns Hopkins. I hope that I get into at least one of them! :)

Secondary Applicaitons

Pretty much I'm stoked that I have four of my secondary applications in. My goal was to have all of them in by the end of August, but getting sick equaled me not feeling well which then led to lack of ability to write essays. This then caused goals not to happen and secondary applications not to be in. I have four in though. I'm really happy and I need to quickly work to finish my other nine. I just have to make sure they are done well and that they are in before the end of September... the deadline for me in closing in!

Random Hearings

As I was walking to the library today, I was behind two very slow walkers. I don't like slow walkers and there was no way that I could pass them. I decided to listen to their conversation because I was annoyed with them and because they were talking very loud and animated. They were talking about graduate schools and what they were planning on doing after getting their degrees here at BYU. Then out of the blue, one of them says, "I'm going to get a Ph.D in research or something." I just about laughed out loud when he said that! Tell me, how do you get a Ph.D in research? I thought you always got one in psychology, chemistry, or something of the sort. Will some please educate me? I then thought to myself that if he is trying to get in graduate school, he will probably not make it because of stupidity. It made me smile and laugh on the inside really hard. It made my day just a little bit better. :)

The First Day of School

Today is the first day of school. I'm pretty excited, yet at the same time kind of dreading it. I only have one more year left to graduate! I can't believe it! Seriously! This is the first year that I have only one class at 8 am... it feels weird... I was able to get up at 8 today. That never happens. I also forget lessons from the past today.

Never get to school later than 9 am if you want to get a parking spot that isn't five miles away from the beginnings of campus! ugh! I didn't get a parking spot and it made me so angry! My lot, let alone my traditional parking spot, was taken by some other person! Can you believe it? I can barely! It has had my name all over it for the past 3 years now... sigh... I guess times are a changing.

I've gone to my first two classes of the day. They were pretty uneventful. I know people in my first class, but I'm not really good friends with any of them. Maybe that will change and I will branch out and make some new ones. I'm not really excited for that class. Advanced Chemical Writing! Yeah, I know... Boring and probably hard. Oh well, I have to do it to graduate.

My next class was Immunology. I am way excited for this one. I have taken a liking to immunology. I don't know if it is because I work in an immunology lab, I enjoy the teacher, or if it just really interests me. What I do know is that I find it completely fascinating! I love learning how the body fights off infection and how it all works together. It is just amazing to me that the body can do so many complex things while it seems like it is pretty simple... the body is amazing!

After class, I met up with Meagan for lunch. It is her first day at the BYZOO. She seemed to be having a good day and wasn't too overwhelmed. Let's just see if she can stick with it and keep on going strong. We had a great chat at lunch and I felt old because she is now in college! I remember when she was a freshman in high school and I was a senior... I guess it's the same now that we are in college. It is still strange to me to think that it is my senior year...

Right now, I am working on my paper that was supposed to be finished in the middle of August... OOPS! Well, technically it is not my fault. I was sick for four weeks with I have no idea what and I couldn't really write, let alone think clearly. I need to get it in sometime this week so I don't get in too much trouble. I've written a lot on it and will continue to work on it... ugh! I just wish I didn't have to do it (I've also got medical school applications on top of it)! ugh! Oh well, it's good...

I'm going to keep updating this post as my day goes on... so keep on checking back for more updates on the first day of my senior year! :)

Jordanelle Triathlon!

Yesterday, I competed in the Jordanelle Olympic Triathlon and it was pretty much amazing! I absolutely LOVED it! It was definitely one of the hardest things that I have ever done in under three hours, but so worth it. For those of you who don't know, it is a 1K Swim, a 40K Bike, and a 10K Run. I did that just under 3 hours with a time of 2:58.15. I was hoping to be under 3 hours and I accomplished my goal. I placed 8th in the 20-24 age group, 93rd out of the men, and 135 overall. I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment. I was also one of the first people out of the water (only about a minute behind the leader). It is something that I definitely want to do again or possibly an Ironman. I've always wanted to do an Ironman, but I know that I won't have much time in medical school and after that so it will have to be in the next year. We'll see if that happens. Here are some pictures of me competing...


It was a lot of fun because I was able to compete with a lot of friends. Here is a shout out to Kanani, Leilani, Analyn, Jeff, Clarissa, and Liz AKA Team Timpview! Good job yesterday! We rocked the triathlon! :)