Alright, so "perplexing" might not be the right adjective to use here. Actually, to say that this was a "perplexing conclusion" might be a bit of a euphemism .Guys, this was an utterly disappointing, completely aggravating, drownyoursorrowsinapintofbenandjerry's conclusion, not a perplexing one. And as I was sitting here with my consolatory pint of B&J (you thought I was joking?) I decided, what better way to lighten my spirits than to hit up the blogosphere, and just hash it out.
There may be some of you thinking: "What the heck is wrong with this girl, how on earth is medicine anything like solitaire?" To you individuals, I double-dare you to go engage in a game of computer solitaire right now, lose on purpose, and then come back and tell me that the message in the resulting window does not apply directly to most of life's trials. Literally the popup box reads; "There are no more possible moves. What do you want to do?" Choices- "End game", or "Return and Try Again." ...Seriously? Those Microsoft Programmers must obviously had some crazy insight. It's like they knew that after meeting some completely demoralizing barrier in life, the first stage of the moping process would unfailingly involve Ben and Jerry's icecream and countless rounds of the game solitaire (with a name like that, it is specifically engineered to be played during bouts of depression) during which the victim would eventually lose, and be accosted with the blasted popup message, causing them to actually have to evaluate their current situation instead of continue in the moping process. Darn those crafty Microsofters.
I got to about five solitaire wins (each one was a mini victory in my heart) before finally meeting the interrogative: What do you want to do? "There are no more possible moves. What do you want to do?" And after recieving what seemed like a week full of bad news concerning my internship search, the "End game" option was looking pretty appealing.
For those of you who are unaware, on my recent trip to Ireland, I fell pretty thoroughly in love with the country, and decided to begin my search for a medical Internship in Dublin. Starry-eyed and energetic, I was determined to find any way to jumpstart my medical career in the city of Dublin, which I loved so much. However, it seems that Asclepius--Greek god of medicine--did not agree with this plan of action, because every single medical path I tried to chase into Ireland, ended in a severe roadblock. Finding a way to intern at a hospital that is in a foreign country and continent, can be a convoluted process; and after receiving a final email from my hospital of choice, confirming my fears about the likelihood of me attaining a position; I was eager to commit myself an assuaging week of icecream therapy. So you can imagine my dismay when that stupid Solitaire pop-up disrupted my funk and forced me to reason. In my search for an interning position in Dublin, there were no more possible moves. What did I want to do? Should I give up searching for an internship? Afterall, it's not like interning is a prerequisite for medical school acceptance. In fact, most medical students probably never completed any kind of field experience before applying (and being accepted) to a med school. Why should I try and surpass the standard set by students who went through the medical circuit before me? The answer is simply: because I am never satisfied. I cannot rest easily having accomplished only the mediocre when I know that true greatness lies waiting if i just push forward. And so, as I stared at the Solitaire screen, wanting so badly to hit "End Game", I knew that the only real option was to "Return and Try Again."
So do you still doubt that losing at Solitaire can ingeniously relate to medicine? If you do, then you're probably one of those people who don't believe in Global Warming either, so I don't really know what to tell you buddy. At least, there is a little philistine pleasure in knowing that all brave souls who endeavor into medicine, or the sciences in general, eventually find themselves stonewalled by the same message: "There are no more possible moves. What do you want to do?" Whether you become someone like Kevin Pho, or Bruce A. Beutler depends entirely on whether you chose to "End Game", or "Return and Try Again."
No comments:
Post a Comment