My First Semester. Diagnosis? Success.

Sorry in advance. I have more boring recap stuff. I promise this blog isn't going to be a straight up journalistic travelogue. As mentioned previously, I'm thinking that it will fall more a long the lines of "Nate's observations about medical school from his Mormonesque perspective." I'm pretty sure Mormonesque is not a word, but I needed to use it, so I invented it. Anyways, that's the plan for the blog. That being said, I can't just jump right in without any context, right? No no no. That would be irresponsible. That's why I started off with a post on my life history. And also why I'm recapping my first semester. Context. And while I can't even begin to explain the depth, joys, challenges, hilarity, and meaning of my first semester experiences, here's a quick look back.

In July, I went on a crazy roadtrip with my friend, Dave, to get my car from Provo, Utah (I graduated from BYU in April) to Charlottesville, Virginia (First day of med school was August 2). Below is a map of our route. We took the scenic route (And sometimes not so scenic route. North Dakota, I'm lookin' at you!) See facebook for further photographic evidence of our adventure.

In August, I got my white coat at the aptly named white coat ceremony. I almost didn't show up to class after that. I mean, once you have the white coat, what else do you need, right? Oh wait. An education, maybe. 

I somehow survived the nitty gritty basic science coursework (biochemistry, molecular biology, etc). Having never had biochemistry made for a tough semester. Abusing whiteboards on a regular basis was the only way I survived. The second picture is me sitting in class. Can you find me??

I also had the opportunity to volunteer on the first aid crew for cross-country races at the beautiful Panorama Farms just outside of Charlottesville. Imma be straight with you. Any time spend outside of the library during med school is a dream come true. This was no exception.

In October, I went on a five-day cruise to the Bahamas over. We got a full week off at UVa for fall break, and I wanted to take advantage of it. I went with a classmate and two other friends. Favorite parts: eating fresh coconuts, snorkeling with stingrays, and ordering extra chocolate lava cake at every meal on the cruise ship.

Another highlight was that I got to class every day with all of my incredible classmates. I have no idea how UVa did such a fantastic job of putting together my class, but I'm thrilled to be with these people. Everyone is brilliant. And good looking. And athletic, musically gifted, multilingual, etc. And, most importantly, everyone of my classmates is a good person. I wouldn't say that unless I meant it. I'm incredibly lucky to be around these people every day.

In October, I volunteering as a kid-scarer at the UVa Med Boo House. Every year, the first year medical students set up a haunted house at the Charlottesville Boys & Girls Club. It was fun (Well...fun slash traumatizing) for the kids and even more fun for us.

In November, our entire class celebrated Mustache Movember. Before class, felt stick-on mustaches were distributed to everyone who wanted one. The result was priceless. Ever try keeping a straight face while a female classmate with a handlebar mustache answers a question in class on the nuances of herpes treatment? Yeah, not possible. I tried and failed.

In December, my team made it to the semi finals of the medical school football league playoffs. I was lucky enough to play quarterback, fulfilling a lifelong desire to play quarterback that began the first time I played Madden 99'.

Later in December, I went to my former best friend's wedding. He has a new best friend named Cristyann and she's much more attractive than I am. They were married in San Diego in the Mormon temple there. It's even more gorgeous inside than it is outside. Here are a few pictures, followed by a good little video that explains why we build temples.

Well that's about it. In summary, my first semester was tough, but great. I love UVa Med, and I love living in Charlottesville! It really is an incredible place to be. Don't believe me? Here are a few pictures to convince you otherwise. See you next post!

The History of My Life, 1988-Present

For those of you who don't know me well and/or don't know me at all, I figured I'd start my blog off with an introductory post (Check!) and then a post about me (which is what you're reading right this second) and then a post about my first semester of med school (pending).

As much as possible, I'm going to try to use pictures and videos to get my point across. A picture is worth a thousand words, and in med school, you don't have time to write a thousand words. Plus, I'm sure all of you people are way too busy to be reading that much anyways. So using pictures/videos works out well for both of us. That being said, here are some pictures from the past 24 years. Hopefully, they give you an idea of who I am and what I'm about. Disclaimer: I don't remember what was going on in half these pictures. The captions may or may not be possibly/probably/likely inaccurate. Here we go.

I was born (no picture available).

Then I dressed up as a super hero with my sister. To answer your question, I'm the one on the left.

And then I went to school on the first day

And then I sat down in field because I was tired

And then I chaperoned my little brother, Ryan, while he rode a horse

And then I went to school on the first day again (Wardrobe credit: Old Navy and Gap)

And then I was the fourth best player on my middle school basketball team (which is a pretty freaking awesome accomplishment when you're 4'7")

And then I went to school on the first day again and again (when you want to become a doctor, you have a lot of first days of school)

And then I stood on some stairs with a pirate (but I was the only one who was excited)

And then I took this sweet glamor shot (I'm obviously going to look into modeling if med school doesn't work out)

And then I committed a felony on a roller coaster

But I still graduated from high school!

And then I used my degree to figure out how to get stuck in a laundry dryer

And then I went on a Mormon mission to Samara, Russia

And I ice-fished on the Volga River while not drinking vodka

And sometimes I shoveled a little snow

And then I came home and made some friends

And got married and had a baby

Just kidding. I didn't. I can't remember what was going on in this picture, but I am neither a husband nor a baby daddy. Buttttttt, I did get to drive an 89' Cadillac while wearing aviators

And I hugged a giant cow

And I touched a camel's butt

And stole someone's crutches

And strangled a duck

Ok...this isn't going well. I better wrap this up. I also graduated from BYU!

And started medical school at UVa!

As you can see, it's been an eventful 24 years. Hopefully, you feel like you know me a little better. If not, keep reading. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Next stop on the blog train: First semester of med school.