Dreams

Yesterday morning I bolted upright from a dream at 4 a.m.

"OH MY GOD!  I missed the last day of medical school!"

In my dream, I was a student and I had forgotten to get up for the last day of classes, which was yesterday.  Of course, as dreams are, it was confusing, because at the same time I was saying, "Why didn't Ally text me?!"  In my continuing confusion, I noticed that my phone had been put on silent and I said, "Oh, no! I left the phone on silent!  That's why she didn't text me!"  Then the fog started to clear, the panic receded, and I went back to sleep 'til 5. 

The second-year students have the month of February "off" (I can feel Ally's hands coming through my screen right now, trying to shake me and say, "Off?!  Off?!  Are you NUTS?!" though she would never do such a thing.) to study for, and then take, the medical board exam.  Following that, they will enter their clerkships in clinical rotations.  Or something like that.  It's all pretty much Greek to me.  But what I do know is, I WILL NOT BE GOING WITH.

Damn. 

There will be some lectures and meetings that I will cover for Ally into the future for a while, but I have come to feel like a part of the class, and the students have treated me as such.  I'm gonna miss them.  Big time. 

If life had been different (like, 178 degrees different), I would have/should have gone to medical school back in the day.  I had the smarts, I had the grades, I had the class standing, I had ... well, everything except any sort of guidance and support, both parental and in the schools.  I am the classic case of "fell between the cracks."  So life handed me this opportunity in my late '40s.  It's been such a gift.  So maybe I didn't fall through the cracks after all.

But anyway:  Pardon me while I go find a corner, my blankie, and my thumb. It's time for a good pout.  

Will everyone please join me in shouting:

Best of luck on the exam, Ally! 

Comments

[Kristen]

Go Ally!!

[Carole]

I hate those kind of dreams. I keep thinking I'm too old to have them but I still do when I'm stressed. Best of luck to Ally and to you, too, Norma, as your sort through your options and decide what comes next.

[gayle]

I fell through the cracks, too.
Good for Ally, for not falling through. Go, girl!

[Leslie]

As one crack dweller to another: Why don't you start now? You'll certainly ace most of the 3 semesters - may even be given credit if you just take the tests -- after all, Norma, you have been taking notes-PLUS.

Then you could take care of David in his dotage...

[Jennifer]

Good luck Ally. BTW - where should I send the chocolate?

[Ally]

Thanks everyone! In a few hours I will be officially done with the "Foundations" part of med school (minus the boards, of course)... can't wait to start the "real" part! :-)

We'll miss you too Norma. I don't think you fell through the cracks... you just went on a different path, and I'm so thankful for it!

[margene]

Best of luck to Ally and to you. What's next?

[Brenda]

Good luck Ally!

Norma, you should consider going back to school now. I went to PA school (kind of "medical school lite") - when I was 39. Now is the time.

[Joansie]

Same thing happened to me, Norma. I had the grades, etc. but no real support or guidance. Hope to see you around here at the university real soon.

[elizabeth a airhart]

GOOD LUCK ALLY
drop us all a note now and again

time off for our leader alhoa swimsuits

[Kate]

GO ALLY GO!!!!

We need more Grrl power in medicine!!

[Renee]

Best of luck, Ally!
I coulda, woulda, shoulda too... hate that 20/20 hind sight, it's a kick in the butt.

[Cynthia]

Good luck, Ally. And good luck to you too, Norma! As someone already said, you did not fall through the cracks. I'm not going to tell you what to do, go to school, do this, do that. You'll figure out what's best for you. But if it's support and encouragement you need when you've made a choice, I'm your 'go to' girl!! Hugs all around.

[Cheryl S.]

Good luck to Ally - and unlike her, you DO have February "off".
Yippee!

[KittyMommy]

Oh man, I have a version of that dream regularly. I dream that I finished my graduate program except for the final deposit of my dissertation to the graduate college and I keep missing the final deposit deadline semester after semester. Fortunately to my (iffy at best) mental health, I didn't start having this dream until after I finished my degree (final deposit and all). Still, I HATE that dream!

[Roxie]

Norma, you knock my socks off! Enjoy your pout. You've earned it. At least your arm will have a chance to heal. What's next?

[claudia]

Transitions are hard.

You will always be Dr. Norma to me.

[Marianne]

You can still do it. You can! Good luck Ally!

[Tressa in NC]

BREAK A LEG, ALLY!

[Seanna Lea]

I don't have dreams like that very often. Usually for me they only happen if I go to bed early, and nowadays I only have them about race events. Like missing the start of a race or forgetting to pay my race fee.

Even for a little thing they can cause great alarm and confusion!

[kmkat]

Identify with Ally much there, Norma? :-)

Go, Ally!!!

[Doris]

BEST OF LUCK ALLY! Shouted it out loud and clear...

[AnnaMarie]

You should go back to school if you really want to. It's not too late.

I've tagged you on my blog for a Meme.... honestly I can't think of any reason you might be interested but you are so entertaining it would be interesting to see what you consider odd about yourself!

[Cookie]

Good luck, Ally!

[Manise]

I second Carole!

[Cathy-Cate]

Hey, Ally, pace yourself over the next month for Boards/Step I -- remember, it's testing 2 years' worth of stuff, and you can only re-cram a certain amount in a month, it's about what you've learned since day 1. It's OK! Set yourself goals for what you're going to do every day then take a break. Or two.

That day, remember there will be questions that are WAY out in left field, and some you think you should know that you aren't sure of. It'll be fine. You'll still pass. And I expect, with the kind of help you've gotten this year, and the kind of student it sounds like you are: you'll not only pass, you'll do well (but the test has to be super-hard to stratify out all the bright people, so it may seem like you didn't do well when you leave.) Again: work hard, take a little time for relaxation, and all will be well. Trust me. (Been there!) ;-)

Cathy

[Lucia]

Good luck, Ally!

I could have been a doctor, lawyer, Indian chief... I coulda been a contenda. The gig I actually landed has its moments, though.

[Marcia]

I had dreams of medical school but was told, in those days, that I should think about nursing. I didn't. I now regret both decisions. Not that I haven't done my share of amateur "surgery" around here.....

[Jan]

Good luck, Ally!

Go Norma!!!

[Carolyn]

Good luck, Ally. Also, it ain't over til' it's over !!!

[Sue]

Rock it out, Ally!