Break. Burn. End

This week went by pretty smooth until Monday. On Monday, I found out that I would not be continuing on in the ISM program next year.

This honestly came as a shock to me. In retrospect I do feel I was a little overconfident but my reasoning behind this was simple: I had given it my all throughout the year. In my head, there did not seem a reason for me not to get into the program. But after reevaluating myself, there were things that could have gone better. The primary reason I credited was the last minute mentor situation. Despite the mentor situation being out of my hands, it definitely made my ISM experience weaker than my peers. Had I settled and taken a pediatrician as a mentor, rather than a pediatric surgeon, my experience as a surgeon may have been weaken but my experience as an ISM student may have been heightened.have been rejected by things in the past. Many things in fact: officer elections, Health Science II, internships, volunteer programs etc. But for some reason, this stung more than others. But as always, you have to pick yourself up and keep moving.

Despite the heartbreak I have with not continuing this program, I am still so grateful for what I have and what is coming fro me. I still have the reset of the year ahead of me and there is still so much left. I have learned so much from the program even thus far and truly enjoyed coming to class, interviews, mentor visits, and other ISM related activities.This program meant a lot to me, so to even be accepted the first time is something that I continue to be grateful for. In the end, I learned that sometimes despite the saying hard work reaps success, this is not going to always be true. And rather than cry about it, learn from your mistakes and evolve as professional and as a person. I’m not saying that I have the level of maturity right now to be completely fine with not getting into the program, but I hope to eventually gain this as time goes on. Eventually more and better opportunities will come my way. I just need to have an open mind to receive them.