Happy New Year guys! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and you’re ready for all of the great things 2018 has in store!
I spent the last day of 2017 ice skating with my boyfriend and working on this post, even though I probably should have been studying. I had so much fun though, so no regrets.
Overall, 2017 was a great year for me. I experienced a great deal of personal growth and I love that I am continuing to grow into the woman I want to become. I travelled, started med school, made new friends, achieved some personal goals, and started this blog. I know most people hate hearing people say things like “new year, new me” or talk about how they are going to lose weight as one of their resolutions, but I believe it is important to set goals for yourself. The first day of the new year is a good day to start, so I’m sharing some of my goals for 2018 with you guys!
1. Prioritizing my mental and physical health. Med school can easily stop you from doing things that keep you healthy. It’s so ironic that we are training to become physicians and somehow our health and well-being is often the first thing to take a backseat, especially when an exam is coming up. Towards the end of 2017, I learned the importance of unplugging: deleting social media apps and turning off my phone during study sessions. I also became more aware of my limits when it comes to studying. I find that after six hours of studying, I need to be away from my books and just do something not related to academics (usually Netflix, Youtube or blogging). I want to get even better at this in 2018.
2. Body positivity. I have talked about my fitness journey in a previous post , but it’s definitely an on-going process. The holidays were a time of overeating and no exercise that left me feeling pretty sluggish, but the main thing I want work on is cutting out negative self-talk. I want to acknowledge that I don’t have to be perfect and I’ll do what I can with a busy schedule to stay fit. I will work on becoming the best version of myself and not try to look like anyone else
3. Be the best student I can be. As we all know, school-life balance is not an easy task. There is always a topic to learn or small details that need to be memorized, but my focus will be improving my time-management skills and long term memory. I don’t want to just know stuff the exam- I want to really understand and internalize the material.
4. Find a mentor. Mentorship is important for everyone, whether you are a medical student or not. Most of us will have multiple people that guide us over the course of our careers. I’ve met some great physicians while shadowing, but it’s not always easy to find someone that you want to be your adviser. I want to start forming meaningful relationships with more people in the positions that I hope to hold in the future.
5. Find a summer research project. The summer after first year is one of the best times to conduct or start a research project because you don’t have any classes or major academic responsibilities. I’m still trying to figure out what to do, so I’ll be applying to a few programs and looking around school for possible projects.
6. Produce informative and interesting content. I started this blog to share my journey and educate anyone who wants to go into medicine, especially any minorities who may feel like this is unattainable for them. I want it to be a resource for anyone out there to learn from my mistakes or take an idea that worked for me and see if it works for them too. I don’t have all the answers, but I can share my experience. I hope you all have enjoyed it so far!
If you haven’t already, take some time to write down your goals so they are concrete. Try to have some form of accountability such as a partner or app that keeps you in check (for example, I use MyFitnessPal for my fitness related goals). The time to start working on your goals is now.
If you’re reading this, 2018 is your year! Do everything in your power to make it a great one.
Happy New Year again everyone!
