I'll be honest, it has been a high-stress six months for us in regards to medical school applications. Things haven't panned out the way we would have hoped. So far, Sam has been rejected from two schools and is still waiting to hear back from 10+ more. He hasn't be offered any interviews yet, which has been discouraging for both of us. The interview season goes until the end of February, so there is still some time.
At this point, we are just trying to make plans the best we can for whatever happens. It has been really hard for me to deal with so much unknown! I think October was the hardest month for me personally. Around that time, I finally came to terms with the fact that we have been prayerful and faithful through this process, and the Lord is not going to let us down. I know that things will work out the way that is best for our family! That may mean starting medical school this upcoming fall, or it may mean applying again next year (or going a different direction altogether). I have faith that the Lord knows all and will lead and guide us as we rely on Him.
If Sam does get in somewhere this year, we will most likely move to our new home (Florida, Arizona, New York, Missouri, etc.) in August. If Sam doesn't get in this year, he will retake the MCAT this March, begin the application process again, graduate from BYU in April, and apply for full-time jobs to fill his "gap year."
There are a few things that we feel would make a big difference in his application if we do end up needing to applying again including, improving his MCAT score (which was good but not a stand-out score), getting the applications in earlier, adding more clinical experience, shadowing hours, and volunteering to his application, and applying to a broader range of schools. He will also most-likely apply to D.O. schools (Doctor of Osteopathy) in addition to M.D. schools if he needs to apply next year. His first choice is M.D., but applying to both will increase his chances of getting in, and at the end of the day an education at a D.O. school can lead to the same kind of career as an M.D. school (from what we understand).
Thankfully, through these months of waiting and stressing (and mostly not hearing anything back from any of the schools!) we have had our little Claire bear to keep us happy and laughing. She is the light of our life, and we love her so much. Here is a little snap-shot of what are days look like together in January 2016:
- Claire generally sleeps in until about 8:00 these days. I LOVE it. I am very much a late to bed, late to rise girl. I usually just get up when she gets up. Poor Sam doesn't get to sleep in often. He is usually up by 6 or 6:30 as he likes to workout and read scriptures before he heads off for the day. Most days he leaves around 8:10 to catch the bus, so we spend a few minutes together before he goes and usually get to have a quick family prayer. Claire is so cute and good about folding her arms, closing her eyes, and saying amen. Sometimes she will even request "prayers."
- After Sam heads off to school, I feed Claire a quick breakfast (lately it's vanilla yogurt and 1/2 a banana) and get ready to go running. (She also drinks a sippy cup of milk when she first wakes up.) Depending on the weather, I either take Claire in the stroller with me running (not often these days), take her to my parents' house, or take her to the PG Rec Center with me. She actually loves the little gym day-care they have there, which is so nice! I usually run 4 miles or do some kind of workout for about 40-45 minutes. My day is so much happier when I fit this in!
- After I workout, Claire and I come home and eat breakfast together (her 2nd breakfast/snack). She is obsessed with the little "Cutie" oranges lately and loves to help me peel them, so we usually share two of those and have some scrambled eggs. Then, I shower and get ready for the day while Claire plays in her toy room and/or pulls everything out of the bathroom drawers and cupboards....It's usually the latter.
- Then, I let Claire choose something to do at home or we go run errands or play with friends. Lately, she loves to read books and color pictures. We do both of those things pretty much every day. She is really good at holding crayons, and we are pretty sure she is left-handed. (From the beginning, I have tried putting things in her right hand, but she always switches it to the left.)
- Around 12:30 or so, I give Claire a snack/lunch and put her down for a nap. On good days, she sleeps for 2-3 hours, but sometimes it's just an hour. After her nap, we hang out/go doing something fun/run errands.
- We head home for dinner around 6:15 (if we're not already there), and Sam is generally home by 6:40. Claire gets SO excited when Daddy comes home.
- After dinner, we either go for a walk or just play around the house until 7:30 or 8 and then start bedtime. Claire's bedtime routine is the same as it's been for a long time: bath, jammies/lotion/diaper with A&D ointment, books (usually Brown Bear & My Goodnight Book), prayers, and song ("I am a Child of God"). She usually goes to bed around 8:30 or 9 and sleeps until 8:00 or so the next morning.
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