Abby preparing for the the next phase of life

This week, the clinic was getting audited, so we had to help prepare for that all week. Therefore, I didn’t get to do too much shadowing, but we did have a big emergency on Tuesday. On our way back from tea time, we were told there was a resuscitation in the emergency department. The majority of the patients that I have seen are either adults or teenagers, so I was not expecting to walk into a tiny 6-week old infant lying on the hospital bed. I was still in shock as I observed all of the doctors doing everything they could to resuscitate this baby who had come in with no pulse. I was so shocked, that when they were putting the infant’s clothes back on, I couldn’t process that it was gone. I had known that there was a possibility I would have my first experience with patient death, but never did I think it would be with an infant. It was a hard day for me, but I am very lucky to have Marita, who made herself available for me to talk to.

Beyond that, it’s been a pretty dull week for me. I started getting sick on Wednesday and it hit harder Thursday. I pretty much didn’t leave bed Thursday, Friday, or Saturday besides when we went to The Old BiscuitMill Saturday morning. I’m not sure if I’ve written about this before, but it’s one of my favorite places. It has a huge food market, which is basically all I dream about in life. It honestly takes me 30 minutes to decide what to eat each time I go, but this time I got Dim Sum that was amazing. 

They also have a lot of cool shops and stands, so I end up spending money whenever I go. This time was particularly great, because I found a dress for graduation! Now that we’re about halfway through the semester, graduation is becoming a bigger reality for me. Finding the dress was both nostalgic and a reality check for me, but it’s one less thing I need to stress about when I get home.

 Sometimes it’s weird being one of the only seniors on the trip because it seems like everyone else is worried about what classes they’re taking next year, where they’re going to live, and how they can apply this trip to the rest of college. But for me, I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do after graduation as well as trying to make sure everything for graduation is all set, including buying my cap and gown and securing enough graduation tickets. However, it has been a good time for me to reflect back on when I was a senior graduating from high school and has allowed me to really appreciate all that I’ve done and who I’ve become in the past four years. I also appreciate how much more prepared I am at this time to handle a big life transition and to approach the unknown. I used to need everything in my life to be planned out and secured, but now I’m going with the flow and seeing what opportunities arise. I’m definitely a lot more okay with graduating now, and I think separating myself from Storrs this semester has helped me with that.  I’ve also learned a lot on this trip, such as cooking for myself, living with others, balancing work, school and life, and working through my problems without having to call my parents. It’s been a great transition for me to start the next phase of my life and I’m forever grateful that I was able to come on this trip. I also interviewed on Friday to give the student commencement speech at my graduation, so I’m very excited about that. Even if I’m not chosen, I’m really honored to have been nominated, so we’ll see what happens!