ACCEPTED!!! COLORADO!!!

I got into Colorado! I'm going to be a doctor! I'm going to be a doctor! The feeling of finally getting into the first medical school, after months and months - or even years and years - of driving toward that goal, is a feeling nothing short of euphoric. Like when I cut my thumb and had to go to the emergency room when I was 8 years old, it took a little while for me to move beyond the shock of reality. I'm going to be a doctor!

The acceptance came by e-mail. Yes, medical school admissions offices have entered the 21st century and send out acceptance letters by e-mail, now. This does nothing to help quell the rapidly growing epidemic of compulsive e-mail checking, a condition from which I continue to suffer. My excitement after the Colorado interview fed into this compulsion, even though I didn't rationally expect a decision so soon after interviewing. Still, I woke up Friday morning, February 13th, five days after interview day at Colorado, thinking to myself, "Maybe today..."

The subject read "Congratulations..." and then there was lots of shouting and jumping up and down. My parents got the first phone call. My voice was unexpectedly calm when I told them the big news. In my defense, I was still in shock. My boss, who has been so supportive of me throughout the application process, got the second call. I spent the next hour or so calling my family, friends, and mentors. I am fortunate to have a whole host people supporting me through this arduous and emotionally taxing process of applying to medical school.

When I finally left for work, my head was still up in the clouds. In the car, alone with only NPR and my thoughts to listen to, I finally had time to process what had just happened. While Carl Kassell talked about failing banks and default mortgages, I laughed aloud in bubbly disbelief that I had really, really gotten into medical school. I even fought back happy tears.

The entire day was a breathless celebration: phone calls, e-mails, and exclamation points. That's as it should be on the day when you get into medical school.