I'd like to thank you all for your support over the past several days/weeks as my future plans were put in limbo. As it turns out I got reassigned to serve in Mozambique as a Community Health Promoter starting on September 28th, 2009. I am really excited and can't wait to get over there.
I am glad that you all came by and checked out my blog with its new web address. Please continue to check the new blog for updates about my adventures in Africa with the Peace Corps!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Trip Canceled
The PC called and told me that that the Mauritanian government couldn't process the visas on time (and that it has "nothing" to do with the shooting in the capital yesterday..hmm). I just called and sent an email to the placement office to see if I can be placed in another country (South/Central America?!) towards the end of the summer! We'll see! Be praying for me guys...
Changing the World
I was riding my bike this morning around the UF campus and passed by two women who were sitting and watching their 3 young children as they played in the fountain immediately west of the chemistry building. The three kids were decked out in bathing suits (so obviously this was a planned event which makes it all the better). As I biked past, I thought to myself how awesome it was that these kids were having the time of their lives simply running back and forth through a fountain yelling and laughing at each other. Seeing the smiles on their faces, I tried to remember the last time I was THAT happy. As I thought back over weeks of studying French and just hanging around it came to me (playing football and swimming at Ricky's dad's farm earlier in the Spring), and although it wasn't very long ago, it had been a while. In fact, as I get older it seems that I perceive less and less of my life to be THAT fun.
I began to wonder at what age we lose that innocence, become a little more aware and concerned with the world around us, and start to have less and less fun, when at that moment I looked down at the naked handlebars on my bike and realized that the night before someone must have stolen my front and rear bike lights. My emotions immediately flared up and I forgot all about the happy kids that were playing in the fountain behind me. "How dare someone steal something from me", I thought, as if the person who did it was purposefully seeking to hurt me. My fall from reminiscing about childhood innocence back to an adult reality was quick, emotional, and it all occurred over something relatively trivial.
Although my initial reaction was that of anger, I quickly put it in perspective: this was about replacing something pretty cheap and the whole situation was arguably my fault (i.e. I left my lights on my bike outside overnight). I don't know who stole my bike lights and I bet I'll never find out. However, as I rethink what was going through my head at that moment and reflect on what emotions this simple act of unkindness produced inside me, I begin to see how blessed I've been throughout my life with plenty of "God Moments" to balance out life's painful memories. Even though I've had a good amount of "life's not fair moments", I can't even imagine having to deal with the amount of pain that the homeless people I regularly see outside my apartment complex have been dealt during their lifetime.
I think it is difficult to take this position in more complex circumstances, but as I sat there looking at my bike I made the conscious decision not to extend the hurt that someone had done to me and instead continue to reach out positively towards others. I am almost certain that the same person who stole my bike lights will continue to do other hurtful things to other people, but the growing roots of hateful acts that started a long time ago in this person's life and are continuing to negatively impact others will, in this case, stop here with me.
I'm not a bible scholar by any means, but I believe that much of the Old Testament can speak to us in metaphorical terms as well as literal. With all of this spinning around my head, I can't help but picture the story in Genesis with the idea of first sin in the Garden causing the fall of man. Although we can't ever go back in time and undue the "fall" of a person, we can move forward without spreading the hatred that is extended outward because of it and possibly start working with others on an individual basis to reduce the pain in the lives of people who are experiencing it. Although I don't think it's a healthy goal to try and revert back to the foolishness of childhood antics (aimlessly running through a fountain), I believe we all need to take each other a little less seriously, have fun, and constantly try to extend our love to those who it's not easy to love.
Thank for reading this long, random post. Feel free to leave your comments.
I began to wonder at what age we lose that innocence, become a little more aware and concerned with the world around us, and start to have less and less fun, when at that moment I looked down at the naked handlebars on my bike and realized that the night before someone must have stolen my front and rear bike lights. My emotions immediately flared up and I forgot all about the happy kids that were playing in the fountain behind me. "How dare someone steal something from me", I thought, as if the person who did it was purposefully seeking to hurt me. My fall from reminiscing about childhood innocence back to an adult reality was quick, emotional, and it all occurred over something relatively trivial.
Although my initial reaction was that of anger, I quickly put it in perspective: this was about replacing something pretty cheap and the whole situation was arguably my fault (i.e. I left my lights on my bike outside overnight). I don't know who stole my bike lights and I bet I'll never find out. However, as I rethink what was going through my head at that moment and reflect on what emotions this simple act of unkindness produced inside me, I begin to see how blessed I've been throughout my life with plenty of "God Moments" to balance out life's painful memories. Even though I've had a good amount of "life's not fair moments", I can't even imagine having to deal with the amount of pain that the homeless people I regularly see outside my apartment complex have been dealt during their lifetime.
I think it is difficult to take this position in more complex circumstances, but as I sat there looking at my bike I made the conscious decision not to extend the hurt that someone had done to me and instead continue to reach out positively towards others. I am almost certain that the same person who stole my bike lights will continue to do other hurtful things to other people, but the growing roots of hateful acts that started a long time ago in this person's life and are continuing to negatively impact others will, in this case, stop here with me.
I'm not a bible scholar by any means, but I believe that much of the Old Testament can speak to us in metaphorical terms as well as literal. With all of this spinning around my head, I can't help but picture the story in Genesis with the idea of first sin in the Garden causing the fall of man. Although we can't ever go back in time and undue the "fall" of a person, we can move forward without spreading the hatred that is extended outward because of it and possibly start working with others on an individual basis to reduce the pain in the lives of people who are experiencing it. Although I don't think it's a healthy goal to try and revert back to the foolishness of childhood antics (aimlessly running through a fountain), I believe we all need to take each other a little less seriously, have fun, and constantly try to extend our love to those who it's not easy to love.
Thank for reading this long, random post. Feel free to leave your comments.
Tough Decisions
Life was a lot simpler a few weeks ago. I had spent the past 5 years studying for tests, volunteering in and around the health care system, and traveling the world trying to get myself into a good medical school which would allow me to defer my matriculation for 2 years while I went to the Peace Corps. Although my initial desire to go to South America hadn't materialized, I welcomed the opportunity and challenge of going to NW Africa to serve my 2 year commitment through the Peace Corps. Just two weeks ago everything had come together and I had a plan: I was leaving for the Mauritania on June 17th and getting back to start medical school at USF in August 2011.
However, a few weeks ago UF College of Medicine contacted me to let me know that I had been offered a spot in the class of 2009. Considering that I had already been told by some UF COM staff that they weren't going to let me defer for the Peace Corps and considering I had already committed to USF, the emailed notification of acceptance did little more than cause me to raise my eyebrows as I glanced it over. When I went in to let the UF admissions staff know that I would be unable to accept the position in their class the following day, the director of the admissions office informed me that they would now seriously consider a deferral request from me for the Peace Corps and that my commitment to USF wasn't as binding or significant as I had made it out to be in my mind.
I spent the next several days mulling the decision over in my head. I already had my mind set on attending USF and it took me a few days of thought and prayer to even seriously start looking at UF again as a viable option for me. I had spent the past 4 months since committing to USF trashing UF and convincing myself it wasn't the place for me: I needed a change of scenery, it would be good to broaden my academic horizons, my success as a doctor isn't about medical school rankings, my medical experiences being limited to Shands would give me a narrow perspective on practicing health care, etc. It took a lot of phone calls, meetings, and casual conversations for me to realize what even really matter most to me in the decision. It wasn't until I spoke with my family, friends, and the people affiliated with UF/Shands that I understood how much I wanted to remain close to my family and that the change I desired will still there for me at UF because of how different things will likely be after coming back from 2 years with the Peace Corps.
On Friday May 29th, I went to UF and gave them the paperwork and deposit that was required for them to consider my request for deferral. I anxiously awaited the news and finally, on Friday June 5th just 10 days before my scheduled departure for Mauritania, I got a letter in the mail confirming that they had granted me a 2 year deferral for the Peace Corps... Awesome feeling, amazing day...
Leaving the medical school decision behind me, I continued to get ready for my trip to Mauritania. Every day I spent time buying little things here and there, trying to gain as much weight as possible, practicing my French, and progressively saying goodbye to friends as they left town. Last night, June 8th i.e. less than 1 week before I was leaving for Staging, I got a call a Peace Corps representative letting me know that the trip to Mauritania had been delayed for the entire group of 60+ volunteers because the Mauritanian government hadn't approved any Peace Corps visas. The representative informed me that due to political turmoil surrounding the upcoming mid-July elections they haven't been approving any visas for some time now, but that the Peace Corps had hoped to get their visas through due to their good relationship with the government. A week before the trip was set to start and no visas yet processed, they finally felt it was time to postpone the trip. Although the Peace Corps person I talked to on the phone didn't give me any exact date, I heard from other future volunteers that they were hoping for an August 11th departure. We'll see! In the meantime, I'm going to try to meet up with Amy, the UF Peace Corps recruiter, and see if I can get nominated for a second program just in case this August departure date gets delayed even further... I'll keep you all posted as I hear things. I hope all is well!
However, a few weeks ago UF College of Medicine contacted me to let me know that I had been offered a spot in the class of 2009. Considering that I had already been told by some UF COM staff that they weren't going to let me defer for the Peace Corps and considering I had already committed to USF, the emailed notification of acceptance did little more than cause me to raise my eyebrows as I glanced it over. When I went in to let the UF admissions staff know that I would be unable to accept the position in their class the following day, the director of the admissions office informed me that they would now seriously consider a deferral request from me for the Peace Corps and that my commitment to USF wasn't as binding or significant as I had made it out to be in my mind.
I spent the next several days mulling the decision over in my head. I already had my mind set on attending USF and it took me a few days of thought and prayer to even seriously start looking at UF again as a viable option for me. I had spent the past 4 months since committing to USF trashing UF and convincing myself it wasn't the place for me: I needed a change of scenery, it would be good to broaden my academic horizons, my success as a doctor isn't about medical school rankings, my medical experiences being limited to Shands would give me a narrow perspective on practicing health care, etc. It took a lot of phone calls, meetings, and casual conversations for me to realize what even really matter most to me in the decision. It wasn't until I spoke with my family, friends, and the people affiliated with UF/Shands that I understood how much I wanted to remain close to my family and that the change I desired will still there for me at UF because of how different things will likely be after coming back from 2 years with the Peace Corps.
On Friday May 29th, I went to UF and gave them the paperwork and deposit that was required for them to consider my request for deferral. I anxiously awaited the news and finally, on Friday June 5th just 10 days before my scheduled departure for Mauritania, I got a letter in the mail confirming that they had granted me a 2 year deferral for the Peace Corps... Awesome feeling, amazing day...
Leaving the medical school decision behind me, I continued to get ready for my trip to Mauritania. Every day I spent time buying little things here and there, trying to gain as much weight as possible, practicing my French, and progressively saying goodbye to friends as they left town. Last night, June 8th i.e. less than 1 week before I was leaving for Staging, I got a call a Peace Corps representative letting me know that the trip to Mauritania had been delayed for the entire group of 60+ volunteers because the Mauritanian government hadn't approved any Peace Corps visas. The representative informed me that due to political turmoil surrounding the upcoming mid-July elections they haven't been approving any visas for some time now, but that the Peace Corps had hoped to get their visas through due to their good relationship with the government. A week before the trip was set to start and no visas yet processed, they finally felt it was time to postpone the trip. Although the Peace Corps person I talked to on the phone didn't give me any exact date, I heard from other future volunteers that they were hoping for an August 11th departure. We'll see! In the meantime, I'm going to try to meet up with Amy, the UF Peace Corps recruiter, and see if I can get nominated for a second program just in case this August departure date gets delayed even further... I'll keep you all posted as I hear things. I hope all is well!
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