Who Am I?

I grew up as a nefarious troublemaker, always guided through life by music and the pursuit of self-actualization. I’ve gone through various phases, transitions, and stages of growth during the past few years, resulting in me becoming the man I am today.

During my early college years, I began writing about music because I really had no one else to talk to about my passion. After linking up with Total Frat Move columnist and fellow collegiate boss, Hans Dix, before my senior year, I started writing about boozing, picking up girls, and other various sorts of foolery at his site, The College Player.

Because I’ve graduated from college and I’m in medical school, I’ve entered a new phase in life which doesn’t revolve around girls and drinking, so I can no longer write about those subjects. Instead, I’ll be writing about various topics that interest me, namely music. Dominated by hipsters, most music journalism is incredibly pretentious and hive minded. I hope to introduce my readers to new music & ideas in a fashion that won’t make it seem like you need black-rimmed glasses and a latte in hand to understand.

In addition to my rants and raves about music, I’ll be using this blog to document the mental triathlon known as medical school.

These accounts reflect my personal experiences – the experiences of your former college idiot, current med student, day drinking enthusiast, with an aptitude for academics and a penchant for reckless behavior.  I am not a super-nerd who spent his college days holed up in the library constantly with my face buried in books.  I partied, I bartended, I chased girls, and I utilized my precious college years in the best way possible, savoring the splendor of youth while buckling down and killing exams when I needed to.

Why am I here? 

I was not forced by parental pressure or enamored with the prestige or money that comes with a medical degree. I decided on medicine based on three all-encompassing factors.

1.  Being a physician, or rather, being a GOOD physician, entails my biggest personal strengths and virtues:  academic intelligence, empathy, interpersonal skills, maniacal work ethic, and as gut-wrenchingly cheesy as it sounds, a passion to help others.  Unless we’re talking about starting a band or my childhood dream of being a professional baseball player, no other profession ever made sense.

2.  I chose medical school because of my inherent interest in the sciences. My favorite subjects were always biology and writing. And as you can see, I will incorporate both of these interests into my life. Since I was in high school, I always had a fascination with the human body. Whether it was researching the mechanisms of creatine supplementation in weight training, reading up on the pharmacology of MDMA, or attempting to understand the complex workings of the human endocrine system, the science of the human body has captivated my attention.

While everyone has different strengths, I cannot imagine myself spending my college years studying business, endlessly working through math classes, or chasing some irrelevant degree that would’ve resulted in zero job opportunities.  So, I declared my major as biology, aced my science classes, and followed the path towards medicine.

3.  Money, of course. I’m not an incredibly materialistic person and I don’t need a Ferrari in the garage to feel satisfied with myself. But I like to travel, dress well, and eat well.  I also plan to have kids someday and I want to give them the best life possible. Here’s my go-to response to this type of question: I’m not in it for the money, but I wouldn’t be in it without the money. Medical school and residency are too damn hard and time consuming for me to emerge with anything less than a 250k+ yearly salary when I’m finally done.

How Did I Get Here?

My path to medical school was traditional, although unorthodox at times.  I went to a large state university and majored in biology.  I had a close to a 4.0 GPA after my first two years and earned a full scholarship.  I joined a premedical fraternity, shadowed two doctors, and worked as a research assistant in a microbiology lab for one semester, which isn’t shit compared to most applicants.

During my third year, I embraced the hedonism of my fleeting collegiate years, turned 21, started bartending, drank like J.R. Smith after the Cavs won the finals, and skipped the majority of my classes. My GPA took a nosedive and I withdrew from my already minimal extra-curricular activities, and suddenly I had put myself in a not-so-great position. As such, I maniacally studied for the MCAT (Medical School Admissions Test), killed it, which pretty much wrote me a golden ticket for admittance.

During my senior year, I kept “decent” grades but didn’t apply. I had become consumed with developing myself and exploring my interests, to the point where I didn’t think I could see myself as a med student immediately following college graduation. I had decided to take a year off to party, to write, to bartend, and to improve my resume.

However, after a tumultuous, soul-searching winter, I haphazardly decided to apply to one school, the only one that was still accepting applications in my state. I finally got my application submitted a mere two weeks before the deadline. I was told that because I was applying so late, with such a meager application, that I had no chance. Despite this, I received an interview invite while wasted in Atlantic City.  I interviewed in March and was told that since I had applied so late, the class was full, but I’d be placed on the wait-list if I interviewed well.  I did in fact interview well and was placed on the waitlist.  On an afternoon in early May while I was bartending, I received a call from the dean, who extended an invitation to attend their medical school.

After I hung up the phone, joy swept throughout my body. I called my parents, my girl, and texted my friends. I took a shot of Jamo, went outside to smoke and bask in the beauty of the moment, and came inside to take another shot.  A realization hit me that instead of the school-free, fun-filled year of partying and writing that I had been anticipating, I’d be starting the hardest phase of my life on July 5th. And to that, I took another shot, and here I am.

Going Forward

So far, medical school has had ups & downs and everything in between. I greatly look forward to getting back to writing and documenting this experience. Enjoy.