Spring Break/My 25th Birthday Celebration was superb! Two friends from NY and another from ATL flew into Dayton. My boyfriend drove in from Indy and one of my linesisters (she told me she had an AMA conference and so would be busy…fooled me so well smh lol) who attends OSU COM all surprised me and stayed in my house. Literally, my house was full to the max capacity but it ended up being non-stop fun. The first activity was dinner at De’Lish, then afterward we went out to the club (had an absolute ball!). On Saturday they surprised me with Paintballing! It was exhilarating and nerve wrecking at the same time! By the end of the day I was in so much pain and traumatized, so much so, that I couldn’t complete the last game….my nerves were shot… just couldn’t do it any longer. Neither could the rest of the girls…we readily waved our white flags. Then my friends told me they were surprising me with homemade dinner so they needed my boyfriend to keep me out of my house for about 6 hrs….that wasn’t a typo btw… we had to be gone for 6 hrs…I wasn’t allowed back until about 8:30-9:00pm. I had no idea what Jared and I were to do for so long…but this is what we ended up doing 1. Did laundry from the paintball expedition 2. Had Chipotle 3. Saw ‘Oz: The Great & Powerful’ ( I loved it, Jared hated it lol)…finally it was 9 and we headed back to my house. I ran into my neighbor on the way in and he says, “Hey Topaz, sure have a lot of folks in there”…I’m like huh??? Anyway walk in and SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!! Classmates, linesister, friends…my house decorated with streamers, balloons, signs, homemade food, champagne…all of a sudden I’m toasting…I even had a moment and broke out a tear…I was absolutely overwhelmed with how much work my bff’s put into making my birthday special! That weekend was one for the books!
Spring break ends. Endocrinology class begins. Study. Study. Study.
Then about a 2 weeks later I head to the Student National Medical Association’s (SNMA) Annual Medical Education Conference (AMEC) in Louisville, KY, hosted by the University of Louisville SOM. I didn’t know what to expect out of Louisville or this conference as a candidate. First thing Thursday morning, I made my first presentation and addressed questions from the BOD, then later that evening my boyfriend (my helper for the weekend hehe) and I went to each Regional meeting room to present and answer questions. It was truly a test of endurance as we went to all 10 regional meeting rooms located on 2 floors of the Galt House Hotel. Whew! I was exhausted. Here come Friday morning presenting to the House of Delegates, which consists of representatives from each medical school. It was at this time the entire election changed for me as I now had an opponent. Someone was nominated and ran from the floor. The day before I had a few areas I wanted to improve on so I asked God to help me to be able to speak to the HOD with eloquent skill and with purposeful execution. I also prayed to remain calm and to enjoy the moment. Success! I felt I nailed that HOD session and was satisfied with my improved performance. I was also assured that the membership and the HOD of the SNMA would make the right decision and vote for a President-Elect that they believed was best for the job. With that in mind I looked forward to attending sessions and enjoying the rest of AMEC2013. The next evening, on Saturday night at the very end of the Board of Directors Banquet the election decisions were announced….::::drum roll please::::…… and I won! I am officially the 2013-2014 President-Elect of the SNMA and will serve as the 2014-2015 National President. All my hard work paid off and I made sure to enjoy my victorious evening as bright and early the next morning I was attending my first BOD meeting as a bonafide board member.
I would be remiss if I didn’t make you all aware of the tremendous support I received from my school when I informed them of my intent of running for President-Elect. The Dean of Student Affairs gave me his support and instructed me how to move forward with clerkships if I were to be elected. The Office of Advancement at WSU even made 300 flyers detailing my platform for me. Knowing I had the support of my medical school was really a major factor in determining if I would run… so A BIG THANK YOU TO WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY BOONSHOFT SCHOOL OF MEDICINE!
Returned back to Dayton…took the Endocrine final and 2 missed quizzes. PASS! For the record the 2 days of studying on my own without my study buddies was NOT FUN. But with the help of the man upstairs I successfully completed the Endocrine course.
Also when I returned to Dayton I feverishly completed my poster for the WSU Research Symposium, with the help of my research advisor and M3 colleague that brought me on to the project. This was my first opportunity presenting research and I was very excited to begin gaining experience presenting scholarly work. I really do look forward to presenting at next year’s symposium and continuing my research.
This was a long post…I know. That just goes to show how crazily amazing and busy the rest of March was. I’m nothing but smiles and so pumped to complete the last 2 courses of my M2 year and then…dum dum dummmm….Step 1 of the Boards!
Until next time, Enjoy!