I am a biologist, a medical humanist, a lover of literature, and an aspiring veterinarian. Boom! If I had to make a 5 second commercial for myself, that would be it. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about myself lately, because I’ve just come to the end of the harrowing process that is applying to veterinary school. At least some of my hard work has paid off, because I was recently admitted to veterinary school. Somehow, I was chosen to fill one of 125 seats at my school out of 1,100 applications. I’m very proud of that accomplishment, and I finally feel comfortable giving myself a little pat on the back. Just a little one, though.

Let’s revisit my dreadful first sentence. That punchy, calculated statement is the kind of product that has been my singular focus for a very long time. That’s all well and good, but it gives the impression that I’m nothing but a very serious person with tunnel vision. I am serious, but I also need time to explore what’s around me in an unstructured way. I don’t want my every waking thought to be probing and purpose-driven. Sometimes I like to think and act without a particular goal in mind.

That’s where this project comes in. In a few short months, I will be leaving behind the training ground of my undergraduate biology program for a graduate program in my dream career field. My education will, gladly, be a huge part of my existence for the next few years. I also hope to find something creative and engaging to take the place of my current studies in English, writing, and the medical humanities. Science is my first love, but the humanities are just as vital to my existence.

I’ll leave you with something that I jotted down on Monday morning, about an hour after receiving my acceptance call.

Six years ago, I sat in physics class as a junior in high school and tried to ignore what was going on, because I was so incredibly bored. I had just started reading “Out of Africa,” and all I wanted to do was keep reading until there was nothing left to read. It intoxicated me right from the start, and somehow I knew that if my own passions and emotions could ever match what was written in that book, I would be doing something right. On Friday, I walked in the doors of Penn Vet for an admissions interview, and right in the middle of the process, I suddenly thought: “Here I am, where I ought to be.” That sentence struck me when I read it six years ago, and I finally understood what it meant, because I was experiencing it. This morning, I got a call from my interviewer telling me that I’ve been accepted. And now I’m sitting in a microbiology lecture in the second to last quarter of my senior year in college, trying to ignore what’s going on because I’m bored. But that’s ok, because now I know that I’m doing something right. I couldn’t be more excited to begin this new journey.

So, there you have it. I hope you’ll join me as I begin this new phase in my life, and share the things that keep me happy and grounded.