They're gonna let me be a doctor?!

I spent the entire summer after graduation puttering around Columbus, teaching a few MCAT prep classes, getting away when I could, and being as lazy as possible-- the entire time reading the exciting adventures of my friends, and eagerly waiting for my life to change in some way.

At this moment I am still living in the same apartment that I have for the past two years, but I am really excited to move on Friday into a cute town house in Harrison West (a small neighborhood west of Victorian Village, on the other side of Batelle from campus) with a friend who is starting Pharmacy school and (strangely) the daughter of the academic director of my first two years of medical school who is finishing her Masters in Public Policy. (Fun Fact 1: Both of my roommates are alumni of Hilliard-Davidson High School. Fun Fact 2: Nissa (public policy masters) took a dance class with James Knight in which they performed a song from Aladdin... guess who was the only boy in the class and, therefore, Aladdin?! She remembers this and has recently given him crap about it. Awesome.)

August 10th started my adventure in medical school. The first week was orientation, but this orientation is nothing like the undergraduate orientation that so many of you previously worked to make. For starters, there are no cheesy games, ice breakers, or really any attention to group dynamics as a whole. The word "professionalism" replaces the phrase "get involved," and we can all legally drink so social lubricants frequently aided the process of meeting the class. I am attending one of the larger medical schools in the country, with 226 in my class and 800+ in all four years.

Somehow a class of 226 felt larger at first than undergraduate at Ohio State felt; it is possible to meet and know the names of 226 people, so of course I started out by placing this expectation upon myself... I quickly let that one go.

Orientation was non-stop sessions and socializing, staying out too late and getting the fun out of our systems before classes started last Monday. Highlight of orientation was definitely the "White Coat Ceremony" (Picture above with my parents, who drove from Maryland to see it). I took my first oath into the ideals of the profession and was "cloaked" with the sign of our profession-- the white coat. In a few weeks I'll have my name embroidered in it, and will look dangerously close to someone who should know what she is doing...

We start with 12 weeks of Anatomy-- learn the entire human body and how it develops. Aside from the terror of being too stupid to handle all of this, one of the more jarring parts of Anatomy is our lab. Yes, human cadaver dissection accompanies the book studies. Yes, I will spare you all details of my interactions with Grace, as I have named her (I got a "her").

After a few hours of lecture in the morning I either head to anatomy lab or the library, where I have taken up a partial residence. Thompson library is open and completely amazing. The opening party was this past Saturday, to which my friend Alex too me as her "date". Spending a Saturday night in the library sounds bad, but when there's an open bar, it's quite the opposite!

One of my classmates aptly described our workload as if we had a final every day. It feels like a constant finals week (except you also have to attend class, lab and the occasional afternoon session). The first week was pretty grueling. I would study for hours and go to sleep feeling prepared for the next day, but, without fail, by the time I woke up I had magically gotten behind in the material. Today was one of the first days that I actually started to feel better about my prospects of survival. I'm beginning to expect the amount of studying that is necessary, my endurance in mental attention is increasing, and I've been pleasantly surprised that I frequently know answers to my classmates' questions.

Being at Ohio State has certainly added to my comfort level. Last night we had a "Dinner with the Deans" and hospital leadership (many of whom taught me in the classes for my major). The greeting I got from the man who oversees the 600+ residents in the OSU Hospital system was a high five and yelling (in a lecture hall) "Welcome to the team!". It is nice to already have strong connections with my faculty (and to run into the occasional Stater in the library) to make it all easier to handle.

With that, I must return to learning the geography of nerves in the forearm (partay!)

at jon's nagging (and its about time)...

Hey all-
Glad to here so many things are going well for you and that we've settled (somewhat) gracefully into our new post-grad lives! I've been in Dayton now for a week and a half and at my new job just as long. I really like the new job... everyone is awesome and I've been getting to do a lot of training to meet other new people at the base and get acquainted to my unit. Some interesting notes… 1) I get paid to work out 3 hours a week so I’ve decided that’s worth a commitment to hit the gym… 2) I’m the youngest in my engineering unit by about 15 years and the only female… 3) my townhouse is so cute and deserves some visitors!

I added a picture of my place. The other photo is my brother Craig’s new beagle puppy, ten weeks old, that I babysat the last couple weeks. Her name is Maya, and she’s incredibly cuddly and adorable when she’s not biting everything in sight. I hope she still remembers me when I go back… I’ve never had a puppy before and I’m not sure how that’ll work!

I’ll be in Cbus this coming weekend for summer graduation (my brother) and at least Homecoming weekend, not sure what else. It’ll be depend on traveling for the AF and some family stuff.

Also, send me your addresses so I can send you some mail!

looooove, emeyer

I Really Am In An Alternate Reality

Hello All,

Hope all is going well. I have a few things to contribute.

1. Who will be in Columbus for the USC game? My dad won the Alumni Lottery for the USC game, and since the game is on the 12th, and my birthday is the 13th, he lovingly gave me a ticket. I also finally got time off granted. I hope to see some of you there!

2. I live with 195 sorority women. I have been told that two of the sororities I have are the "top" or "snobbiest." Believe me, I can tell. These women are crazy. Most are very nice. Some I wonder how they are able to function in this world.

3. On Saturday, at 2:30 pm, while I was sitting at our check-in desk for move in, in the same polo shirt that I had to wear from Thursday to Sunday and had to pay 1.50/time to wash it three times, I saw two women decked out for the evening. At two thirty in the afternoon. On Sunday, at 2:15 pm, when I was back at the check in desk, I see the same two women come back in, hair all over the place, makeup smeared all over their faces, and their dresses and their heels still on from 2:30 pm the day before. I had a nice laugh. They looked slightly embarrased. Maybe proud. Unknown, there was too much runny makeup to really see what their true expressions might have been. (PS, I was wearing a polo shirt and khaki pants, two things I hate more than anything in this world. It comes from having to wear a uniform for 13 years of grade and high school. So you can tell how excited I must have been this past weekend!!!!)

4. Yesterday, I was walking behind two women, and another woman was walking in our direction. The two in front of me stop abruptly to greet their friend. The friend yells, "OMG YOU ARE SO SMALL!" Small girl replies "OMG YOUR HAIR IS SO BLONDE!" Blonde friend "Yeah, its like totally blonde." Small girl "Yeah. Love us bitch." Blonde Friend "Totally Love us bitch." It legitimately happened. This truly is my kind of place.

It actually isn't as bad as I have made it seem. I actually like it a lot. I start class tomorrow. I am excited for them, they should be pretty interesting.

Hope all of you are doing well. Miss you all!

What's new in the AK

Hey from the great white north!

I'm really starting to feel like a local here in Sitka, Alaska. I know many of the streets, I know some people pretty well, I've done a lot of the things you're "supposed" to do, and - most importantly - I own a pair of Xtratufs. EVERYONE here has the same exact pair of boots, Xtratufs. They're even in the same color, brown and tan, because that's the only option. If you don't have them on, it's obvious you're not a local. People even wear them out to the bar.

Another funny thing about clothes - people wear the same outfit for days in a row. Everyone showers daily because they all smell like fish, but they just throw the same clothes on for about two-three days. I'm not sure if I'm going to get to this point, but if I do, please stop me when I get home!!

I have done a lot of really cool things since I've been here. I've gone hiking up a mountain which was insanely beautiful and stayed overnight in a remote floathouse that had no electricity or running water. We had to collect wood from the forest during low tide to make a fire and boil ocean water. I feel pretty resourceful! I've also gone kayaking a few times already. Kayaking in the ocean around a bunch of sea lions... there's really nothing like it. One time we stopped off at the causeways. This is a place that was used during WWII as a bunker. The rainforest is overgrowing the bunkers, but you can still hike around the little island and investigate. It's neat to see something so historical that hasn't been touched by tourism at all.

I have also gone out fishing with an Alaska fisherman and a friend. We fished the "cheater" way with a sockeye hook. There is no bait involved, you just go out into the ocean near the shore and toss the hook out hoping to just snag a fish and reel it in. Once you reel it in (this is going to get graphic... get ready), you jab it with a big metal hook then hit it with a wooden club until it's dead. Fishing is pretty bloody!! We caught some nice salmon but that's not what the real fishermen are after... the salmon are simply bait for the halibut. So, once you catch about four salmon, you cut off the head and tail then cut the rest into slices. The slices are then put onto hooks for the skate. The skate is a 160 ft line dropped into the ocean with bait attached. Halibut then come to eat the bait and end up getting hooked. Fisherman reel in these skates the next day and hopefully have a big, hundred pound halibut attached! When I was fishing we unfortunately didn't reel in a halibut because there was a ton of sea lion around and they eat the halibut before it gets pulled into the boat. It's a sad day for fishermen (everyone here actually hates the sea lions), but it was really neat to see for me! The sea lions were doing really Sea World like tricks like flipping on their sides and jumping in unison. They celebrated snatching our halibut by tossing the fish parts around back and forth to each other.

The bears around here have been a big focus of the town the past couple weeks. They're apparently more aggressive than ever because it hasn't rained and the salmon aren't coming up the streams as quickly. A few people have had bear run-ins. People aren't really going out hiking as much. I had my very own bear experience to share. I stayed in a cabin one night out at this campgrounds where a sow and two cubs live. We went out to look for them from this bear lookout and saw them. It was sooo cool to see! We didn't think we would have any troubles at our cabin, though. Funny us. So, we're in the middle of the woods, pitch black with really no moon and definitely no electricity. We just had our campfire. We kept hearing these weird noises and we eventually stopped to really listen. We decided it was a bear in the creek that was about 25ft from us and ran into the cabin. We got brave and came back out but we kept hearing the noise. This very tough, very stereotypical Alaska fisherman friend of ours decided to go investigate. He took bear mase and went down into the creek. A few minutes later he came back and said he thought the noise was just salmon jumping in the shallow creek. A bit later we heard the noise again and thought that it really sounded like a bear. This guy, out to prove us wrong, went down to look again. ...The scariest thing to experience is the toughest guy you've ever met running full speed toward you screaming "Run! Bear! Into the cabin!" Needless to say, we all went running into the cabin. The bear didn't come up after us, but we did now know we had a scary neighbor next to us the whole time. We even had fish with us, so we were lucky the bear didn't come up. It was pretty crazy at the time, but now I have a cool bear story!

I'm enjoying my job very much so far, but I'm excited for what is to come. I have just been working in the office of the school preparing for the teachers and kids and doing paperwork. I keep hearing how cool the kids are though. They come from really remote places, many without running water. It's going to be an interesting adjustment for many of them. I'm a little worried about discrimination. I've heard some of them have a hard time with white people and nearly all of them have a habit of being very quiet and not looking people in the eyes. It gets better with time I guess, but for a while I think I'll have a hard time getting through to them. I'm excited to learn from them though. I think they're really going to have some amazing stories and experiences. I get my first taste this Thursday when I will spend 48 hours straight in the school - office/training in the day then chaperoning the kids two nights in a row. Should be crazy!

Things I've learned:

- To commercially prepare a fish: turn the fish over and cut from the butthole up to the neck. Remove the eggs/sperm and cut out the liver. Then cut out the gills because those are the first things to go bad. Lastly, pack with ice.

- Bear mase is not bear spray. You can't spray it to prevent bears, you spray it if the bear gets dangerously close. Once you spray, you have to leave the area because with time it attracts bears.

- If you're ever trapped in an avalanche, the hardest thing about climbing out is figuring out what way is up. Just make an air pocket then light a match (which you should have stored right on the front of you) and see which way the flame goes.

- Black bears are virtually dead when they hibernate. You can crawl into their cave and pull their hair and they won't do anything about it. Brown bears, on the other hand, will eat you alive.

- The word "eskimo" is like saying "colored people" - it's an outdated and bad term. "Inuit" was the next step from "eskimo", but now that is outdated too. The term to use is "native Alaskans."
- ALL of Alaska has the same area code: 907. In Sitka, your number can be 907-966-#### or 907-747-####. So, when people give you their number they say "6-####" or "7-####". Five digits!

As with last time, please let me know what is going on with you. I want to hear your good stories too! I definitely miss home, but I'm really starting to feel like this is home now, so I need to keep informed of what's going on in the Lower 48!

I attached a few pictures. The first is from my hike and the second is one of the harbors.

Love from AK,

Katie

I'M SO WET! Celebrating 1 Year in the 'Ville

I visited Nashville this weekend and was thinking about you all, so I figured I'd give an update and some entertaining stories. It's great to hear about everyone's adventures in post-grad life.

Today was a very wet one in Louisville. If six inches in 90 minutes doesn't leave you dripping, I don't know what will. Luckily, I live and work on high ground, so I didn't have any trouble aside from a brief power outage. There was some significant flooding and damage downtown and around U of L's campus, but I think everything has calmed down tonight.

Work is going well. I was in the highest performance bracket for one year evaluation and have moved from refrigerators to the exciting world of top-load washing machines. This is my latest geek topic, so let me know if you want to talk washers or laundry... Last week was the end of summer semester for Georgia Tech and I'm proud to announce I aced my wind turbine class putting me 20% done with grad school rocking a 4.0.

Mom and Dad Berger came to visit last week and send their love to you all. They came down with my Uncle Dan and Aunt Chris (you might have helped moved furniture for her hair shop at South 40 2008). We enjoyed pre-game dollar beers before the Louisville Bats take on the Toledo Mudhens (we left early for the bar because it was raining), then spent a day touring and tasting at 4 distilleries and 2 wineries. Apparently Kentucky has equivalent vineyard conditions to California, Spain, France, and Italy, but the vines were all bulldozed during prohibition to capitalize on tobacco crops. I'm excited about the resurgence of wine country and would be happy to share my favorites or the scenic drive if you're ever in town!

This weekend I visited high school friends in Nashville and relived some great memories at Downtown bars, the Parthenon, the Opryland Hotel, and the Pancake Pantry. I once again enjoyed the Santa Fe pancakes with Fremont Heinz ketchup on my home fries. We visited the Parthenon at night, which had been rented for a reception - Athena looks even more majestic when "Don'tcha" is being played in her presence. We also checked out the farmer's market, library, big band dancing in the park, the library, and the Loveless Cafe (home of biscuits, pie, and all that is fried).

I'll close with a drunk story for James' sake. A couple of weekends I went to a wedding for one of my friends from work. His parents are both OSU alums and I've known him for about 5 years from co-oping. My mission was to try my luck with his older sister. Unfortunately an open bar left me unable to tell the difference between the older sister and the 18-year old younger twin sisters (all blond curly hair). Needless to say, I didn't get very far. For all the future brides, please put your bride's maids in different dresses or find a way to clearly differentiate them - I feel I can safely speak for James and myself when I say we'd appreciate it.