Christmas Present 2011

Last year, for Christmas, I took a big piece of butcher paper and mapped out my options. This year, I was accepted to the prestigious Columbia University premedical post baccalaureate program. Wow, I got into Columbia! Now I could go to New York in two weeks and start going to the oldest and best program in the nation, with direct linkages to the nation’s top medical schools—if I really wanted to. Why the note of hesitation? Columbia would involve picking up and moving to a new city—when, due to previous moves, I am no longer accepted as a resident in any state! And it would involve burying myself in debt-- Columbia’s is the most expensive program in the nation, with linkages to the most expensive medical schools in the nation. That’s fine, I’ll just plan on making tons of money or I’ll go to the military. But is that why I started this journey? Do I want to be limited to the rat race of expensive medicine living in expensive places? Good thing I visited some doctor and med school friends in Detroit before I came, all of whom warned me not to get into too much debt and all of whom emphasized that it is not the program but the MCAT scores, and later on the med. school scores, that count. One laughed hysterically at me when I mentioned Columbia’s pre- medical price tag—about $100,000 When I started this journey, I wanted to be a meaningful part of a community. I wanted to have the skills to help people practically, and I wanted to be financially sound. I kept thinking of my grandfather, a family practitioner in a small Iowa town. When I think about going to New York in January, my stomach just begins twisting—and it’s not from Christmas cooking. For now, therefore, I am going to South Dakota with my grandparents. It is where I can take the classes I need for one tenth of the tuition costs at Columbia. It is where I can shadow doctors, work, and even be part of the Dakota Sunshine Singers—who sing oldies at different nursing homes. I am still applying to Johns Hopkins and am considering Columbia, If they’ll accept my excuse for deferment, and if I can afford the $500 for holding my place, that is.