"We enter the world alone and we leave it alone. And everything that happens in between, we owe it to our self to find a little company" - Meredith

I thought that Grey's quote was appropriate for the last couple of days.... as I've been "reconnecting" with my medical school life (minus the school part).

Yesterday, M and I went shopping and followed it up with a Grey's Anatomy marathon. It's funny to watch what LITERALLY seems like ourselves played out in Meredith & Christina. Gave lots of laughs and lots of girl time - both of which were desperately needed.

Today, I met with my buddies... both my M3 buddy and my M1 buddy. It's kind of weird (and nice!) to be sandwiched in now, but parts of me are thinking "when did I get enough authority to give anybody advice?" Hopefully I'll be able to be half of the M2 buddy that mine has been - I really couldn't have asked for a better mentor along the way. Seemed like everytime I was falling apart, she just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And catching up today, I've realized that we will be lifelong friends.... which leads me to the real reason for this post.

It's hard to believe that it's been a year already... a full year in the bank. I remember meeting C (my M3 buddy) when I was the brand-new M1 and she was an M2... and I remember other older med students giving me advice. My mom mentioned something similar as she's been in the healthcare field for 25+ years . One piece of advice in particular stuck out from everyone... "you'll make friends here that you'll never forget. When you stand over a cadaver for the first time, when you see the inside of a body... when you take care of your first patient, when you LOSE your first patient... people who aren't here can't understand that. The people who ARE here will give you strength."

And boy, is that true! You draw on each other, cry with each other, laugh with each other... and in the end, you grow - as friends, as individuals, and as doctors-in-training. It's a privilege to walk beside these people I humbly am blessed to call my friends here, and cannot wait to call on them as colleagues. As we begin a new year, with new friends and new places to be (and undoubtedly many new challenges), I find myself much less afraid of what it brings - because I know we're all in this together.

So best of luck to the M4's as they finish up ERAS, M3's as they get the hang of rotations, us as we prepare to finish our classroom lives and STEP, and the M1's as they join us on this journey. It's going to be an AMAZING year. I can't wait to get started :)

(By the way, first PIG meeting Sept 2: BE THERE!!!)