I graduated last Sunday. Week One of my “post-grad” (that is an odd term to use. It makes me feel like I need to have transformed into a functional and responsible adult by now) life is now under my belt, and has consisted of the following:
- I’ve spent time outside almost everyday (equipped with my trusty sunscreen bottle, obviously). My skin is starting to show signs that there might actually be melanin somewhere deep down in there, which is promising, given its current translucent glow.
- In a desire to read more, I rummaged around in old piles of books and came across The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. A philosophy-heavy 700-pager is probably not the easiest way to re-introduce myself to reading for pleasure, but I tend to live my life by the “Go Big or Go Home” method. So, here we are. I’m 50 pages in. Pray for me.
- I’m halfway through a two-week bartending school course. If you like to drink margaritas or LITs or any sort of martini ever created, I’m your girl. Currently working on convincing managers that a 22-year-old without previous work experience in a bar and with a penchant for pretending she’s a chemist while mixing drinks is a worthy hire. Help.
- Looking at apartments in Chicago??? At least, doing the best that I can via the interwebs. This point brings me to an important question for all of you grad and/or med students who are going before me: should I look for a roommate or go for something like a studio apartment? 1-bedroom places are far too expensive, so those are out. Studios are pretty cool, given that (a) the absence of a bedroom wall takes about $300/month off of the price and (b) that I really don’t care if my living room and my bedroom are in the same space. Doing the math on what I’ve found around Loyola, the price of sharing a 2-bedroom is within $100/month of the price of having a studio to myself. So there’s that. Opinions welcome.
- Hanging out with my dog. He’s 25 pounds and white and fluffy and one of my absolute favorite parts about being back in my parents’ house. He only likes cuddling on his own terms, and he loves to put his gross, slimy toys on my feet and wonder why I push them away. It’s true love.
- Starting to put together a personal statement for med school. I have a general idea what kind of underlying structure I want to give it and where I want it to go, but it is faaaar from polished at this point. This will be a continuous work in progress for the near future.
- Working out religiously because my best friend’s wedding is two weeks from today and my maid of honor dress is…um…quite fitted. And I bought it in October. I’ve partaken in one or two stress-driven beers since October. I’m not saying I expect an “I lost a million pounds!” transformation by the end of the month, but 5ish pounds off in a few weeks would be ideal, given the dress situation. Many thanks to my fellow blogger, Z, for her post-MCAT workout regimen here. 🙂
Getting to the M.D. 