It Begins!

Actually, it began a year ago, but I felt that the school wasn't a great fit. Who wants to hang out with people who are no what they seem? I understand that I will be encountering all kinds of people, but in such a high pressure situation, where my personality totally changed, I needed to get out of the situation. I am usually a very talkative and upbeat person. I do get sad and frustrated with myself, but as most people will tell you I bounce back quite quickly, in fact my parents think I should wallow in my failures more than I do. I can't do that, if I do, I'm not going to move forward.

So that brings us to today. I am getting all the paperwork in order to attend Saint James School of Medicine. Watch out world, Lucy is back in the medical school game. I'm loving it despite the fact that there are so many things I have to get back in order to travel to Bonaire. What exactly do I need to have turned in before even thinking about getting on a plane to Bonaire? Well, here we go, hopefully this will be helpful to the future Saint James students.

1. A notarized and apostilled copy of your birth certificate. 
• For me being born in California, I had to request a certified copy from the State of California to be sent to me, then I have to send that to the Secretary of State of California. Fun times, as of right now, I am still waiting for my birth certificate to show up.
2. A notarized and apostilled statement that I am single and have never been married. 
3. A notarized copy of my passport. I thought I was going to have problems with that one, but luckily the State of Washington is pretty nice, since they do certify passport copies.
4. A letter from your insurance company that states they will cover you for emergency services while you are in Bonaire.
5. As of today a detailed bank statement that states that you have at least $7,000 in your bank account. Thank you Bank of Mom and Dad for your kind donation.
6. This one I have been waiting to do since it cannot be older than 2 months when I arrive to Bonaire, a letter from the police stating I have no criminal background.
7. This one I have also been waiting on for the same reason as above, a letter from my physician on my physician's letter head that I am healthy enough to attend school.

Fun times, along with that I am trying to secure student loans and doing an MBA on top of getting an MD, the next 16 months are going to be awesome. A lot of hard work, but definitely rewarding. I can't wait to get started. Books for the most part are here. Stethoscope packed, blood pressure cuff ordered, clothing also in the process of getting packed.

There are also lots of other exciting things leading up to the big trip to Bonaire. My friend's wedding on July 15, which ironically is also the date that all my immigration paperwork and tuition are do, so I suppose the partying and friends are going to be my reward. Also, a trip to San Diego may be in the works before I start being an IMG MD!