Letter to Jay

Dear Jay,

where do I even begin? What to say and what to leave out? There's so much I want to say but can't possible relay. You are the best friend anyone could've asked for. You're my rock, my sister, my partner in all things whacky. You've been the greatest thing that ever happened to me in med school. I wouldn't have survived all these years without you. God brought you to Oman, to this specific college for me, and I could never thank Him enough for the gift he's given me. 

What I really want to say to you is that you're my hero. I don't think you realize how strong you are. I don't think you realize how much all your friends admire your determination, even though there have been a dozen ways the universe has stood in your way. You're a fighter, you never give up and if anyone can fight and get through the tough patches, it's you! I truly believe God has GREAT things in store for you. You will become someone amazing, and you'll forget all the minute mishaps that happened along the way because they were worth it. You are someone great as it is, but you're destined for so much more than you can possibly imagine.

Have faith in yourself and have faith in God, because with that you'll go so far. I can see it now, your name in lights and the biggest goofiest smile on your face. If I can envision it, then you sure as hell better envision it! 

Love you to the heavens and back,
Your sister, partner in crime and whack job,
B

The Finish Line

It's almost here. That finish line I've been waiting for the last 7 years. But you know what's funny? I'm not ready. Here I thought that when the day finally comes I'd be looking at the dorms and college, giving it the ultimate "Piss Off! I finally pulled through!" Oddly enough, I'm not feeling it just yet. Less than a month left and I'm going to miss it all.

You start realizing that you're going to miss the miserable looking dorm corridors. You're going to miss those weird fights you get into with the anonymous girl who keeps switching on the corridor lights in the middle of the night when you've OBVIOUSLY switched them off for bed time! (yes, I still live by a bed time!). The horrid bathroom stalls and showers, yeaaaaah, no you won't miss those; but you'll miss the IDEA of them. You begin to see how nice some of the admin people are. And for some odd reason, you begin to really get along with your doctors as if they were long time colleagues. You'll miss those box sized rooms you've lived in for years, the place where you nested and called home. The 4 walled prison that became your safe haven, and that bed that made you sleep like the dead because you always came back exhausted. Most importantly, you'll miss having to live next to your friends 24/7, like a sorority (minus the partying and the fun). You'll even miss the petty girl drama that drove you UP the wall. You'll miss having people that are living the same stress you're in, and get your weird jokes and comments because they GET you! You'll miss it all, even if you started your journey saying "no way jose!"

And there is just one thing med school hasn't prepared you for. They never rehabilitate you into getting back to "normal society". They lock you up in a campus full of future doctors, run by doctors and taught by doctors. The only outside interaction you have are with patients, who talk to you seeking answers because you're a DOCTOR! I mean, who'll get the witty medical jokes I make at dinner parties? No one...if only my friends were around. That's the one thing they haven't taught us. We become so self absorbed with our medical life, we forget there are people who lead normal lives, that have normal human conversations (what's that life like by the way? Enlighten me please?)

All I'm trying to say is that, I'm excited, I'm nervous, I'm a mixed being of emotions honestly. I will no longer call myself a student. I know most of the people around me have stopped being students years ago, but I'm just getting there. 12 years of school and then 7 years of med school, that's a lot of years of being a student. Even if I'm a junior in the medical field, I'm no longer a student. I'll have grown up responsibilities (oh God I sound like a child! But I'm not! I swear! I'm almost 25!). But all in all, it's a new beginning. A whole new start. A doctor at long last *inshallah* Who'd have thought I'd finally be here, finally looking at that glorious finish line?!

#Batch2015

I Wish I Was Literature

I wish my body was a library, protecting my organs as if they were novels, maps, encyclopedias and scripts. A library in where my biological machinery give rise to a wondrous tale.
I wish the blood that courses through me is made of words, traveling within my veins like sentences stringing together to create a story. 
I wish the oxygen I inhale is a group of letters, and as they pass through my trachea and into my lungs chapters begin to form. 
I wish the carbon dioxide I exhale becomes vivid plots, characters and metaphors readers can love.
I wish the random yawns and breaths I take add punctuation and finesse to my story.  
I wish I was literature; something you are unable to put down and when I end, you wonder if a part of you has forever left.

Rereading the Harry Potter series for the gazillionth time sparked something inside of me I thought I had lost. There are some books that take you beyond your imagination and bring you back to what you love the most. This picture and Harry Potter are the inspiration to this piece.