A Quarter of a Century

Four years ago, I spent the night before my birthday and the wee hours of the morning on my birthday sitting with my laptop in KSL writing my grant proposal for class.  As the clock stuck midnight, people walked by and whispered me a happy birthday.  Chuck & Dave, fellow RAs and psych majors, sang the song in hushed voices.  All in all, it was a pretty fun night!  And the rest of my day was filled with sleeping during the day, class, and pyramid practice for Greek Week.  Angela brought me brownies and Emily K. made a card for me that was creatively a beer pong table (21st b-day) and a pyramid all in one (everyone knew I didn't drink so this was really funny).  I miss the good ol' days at Case Western Reserve University.

This year, I spent last night studying endocrine pathology, and while I was able to get to bed at a decent hour, I will now spend the rest of the day reviewing endocrinology and gastrointestinal physiology & pathology.  Fun stuff.

It's really amazing to see how far I've come and how much has changed in a mere four years.  Looking to the future, I'm imagining that my birthday in four years will be spent on call in a hospital somewhere.  I think the most I could possibly look forward to is someone being thoughtful and bringing me cupcakes.  Or ice cream.  But I think ice cream would be pushing it.

I can't believe a quarter of a century has passed since my birth.  Last night while I was trying to fall asleep, I thought of my wonderful mother.  My mother had me the year of her 25th birthday.  She has spent 25 years trying to help me grow into a smart, talented, dedicated, kind, and caring young lady.  I then imagined what it would be like for me to be looking at my daughter on her 25th birthday.  No, I'm not having a child anytime soon, but I hope that I can help her as much as my parents have helped me, and I hope that she is happy, because we all deserve to be happy.

Here's a list of some pretty wonderful things that I was able to do in my first 25 years of life:

1. Be a big sister.  Twice.
2. Succeed in academics, which enabled me to have the future I wanted for myself and my family.
3. Travel the world.
4. Serve the Baha'i Faith & teach children in Ethiopia.
5. Start medical school.
6. Serve rural Guatemalans as a health care professional.
7. Get married.  To my best friend.

And for the next 25 years, I know I'll have some pretty wonderful goals:

1. Get my M.D. and match into the residency of my choice.
2. Maintain a strong relationship with my family and friends.
3. Have my baby.  Or two.  Or adopt.
4. Get a real job in a practice or hospital.  And love it.
5. Stay up-to-date on topics related to my field of expertise.
6. Attend my children's extracurricular activities.  
7. Be there for them.  And Kyle.
8. Watch my babies grow into beautiful, talented, smart, kind, dedicated, caring individuals who will help shape the world in their own ways.
9. Plan ahead for retirement.
10. Travel the world.
11. Serve the Baha'i Faith in a developing country, as a physician.
12. Make a difference.

It's nice to have perspective.  Happy birthday to me!