Fist pump like a Champ.

I spent June 13th to 20th in New Jersey. That's right folks, home of Jersey Shore. However, Jersey to me is more of my summer home because I've spent my summers there my whole life. When I was younger, I'd go for months at a time, but it gradually decreased as my cousins (who live there) and I got older. I'm the oldest cousin on both sides. The defacto role model (obvs). Haha, I probably shouldn't flatter myself. Anyway, I'm 19, Ayesha is 18, and Nisha is 15. We have always called ourselves the Krazy Kousins. With "K's" because it adds more character.

Ayesha graduated high school. Still can't believe it's been a year since I graduated highschool, and to make matters worse, we are now BOTH collegiate! This blows my mind, considering I remember making mush stew in the backyard.

I went to Jersey to see her graduate. She goes to a Health magnet school called Academy for Allied Health Sciences. Approximate size of graduating class: 60. Crazy! Multiply that by 11 and get the size of my graduating class at Walton. Shout out, Raiders Class of 09. Anyway, graduation was on Friday. And school was every day for Ayesh and Nish, so I spent my days with a friend of my aunt's, Dr.Monteiro.

I knocked on Dr.Monteiro's door every morning at 7:45 for four days. Then, we'd drive to Newark, where she worked at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She's an associate professor there and a Pediatric Gastroenterologist. Legit.
I shadowed her. Basically what this means is I was a student observer, and that's how she introduced me to her patients.
I got to see her perform an endoscopy and a biopsy of the esophagus. That was way cool. She told me to turn to the wall if I got squeamish. Surprisingly, I wasn't squeamish at all. I was just so excited and impressed, there was no room to be squeamish. The only time I felt slightly anxious was when she removed a feeding tube from a 5 year old. It really wasn't that complicated and kind of just pulled out without any discomfort to the patient, but there was all this mucous and stuff. I won't go into details. Haha. Anyway for the most part, I would sit in with her as she talked to patients who had been referred to her. Problems were usually constipation, acid reflux, Crohn's disease, metabolism issues, and things like this. I learned really interesting things and I loved being around the kids. Also, there was a huge spanish-speaking population in Newark, so it was great to be able to use my spanish skills. Dr.Monteiro spoke it pretty well. Shows how important it is to know Spanish as a physician.
My four days with her cemented my plans of going into Pediatrics. I most definitely will be a Pediatrician. Whether or not I want to specialize is another story, though. It's just hard to think that far ahead. The life of a Medical student, as most know, is not an easy one.
4 years undergrad + 4 years Medical school + 3 years residency = Family Practitioner/Pediatrician.
Specialist? Add another 3 years. Surgery? Lord, add some more.

It's overwhelming, yes, but I know I want to do it. I can't see my life spent any other way.

Ayesha's graduation was adorable. Small and sweet. The speeches were a little overdramatic and summoned a few eye-rolls, but it's tough to write a good speech that everyone loves. So, I'll cut them a little bit of slack. There were a lot of tears on her part and that of her sister. I didn't cry, of course, because it didn't make a difference to me. We've spent our whole lives apart, most of the time. Even though she's one of the closest people to me, I only see her once a year. Twice at most.
So, yeah. Her graduation wasn't too emotional for me, but it did call for reflection on my behalf. This past year and how quickly it's gone by. How much I loved high school and how much I love UGA. Sometimes, I think about what my life would be if I were at another school. But, UGA is such a good match for me. I'm proud to be a Georgia Bulldawg.

Glory, glory!