Rant #1

So I don't generally consider myself an angry person and I like to think I've got as much holiday cheer as the next normal-happy-it's-Christmas-but-not-obsessive-about-it gal. But lately I've found my jaws clenching more and I think I've developed a permanent scowl. Or maybe it's just my inner Temple eyebrows coming out. Or maybe it's because SGU has once again proved that incompetence and beaurocratic administration go hand in hand.

Israel has now completed his first two years of medical school and we packed up all (well most, but that rant comes later) our stuff and were happily anticipating our next 2 years doing clinical rotations on the mainland. We had been given a list of hospitals we could do rotations at and turned in our first, second and third choices. I was pretty confident we would get Michigan because we had been told families and people from that area would be given first priority and we had written a long letter detailing the reasons for our choice.

But SGU always does the unexpected. This time that meant assigning all 30 people who requested MI into the 12 available spots. Hmmm...does this strike anyone as odd? Instead of placing the 3 families requesting MI and 9 others and placing everyone else in 2nd or 3rd choice hospitals, they nullify any "priority" and tell us that whoever passes the USMLE first gets a spot. So now 30 students have to find a balance between hurrying to take the exam (and possibly either failing outright or getting a poor score which affects future residency options) to secure a rotations spot and taking the time to study thoroughly to ensure a better score (and possibly being too late to get a spot). Ridiculous.

So we all wrote long angy letters--including me the non-student. I talked about the mechanics in moving a family as opposed to a single student including difficulty in securing housing, schooling, and plane fare. I mean, we can't wait till April to discover where we're going in May. It just doesn't work. And we just can't afford to live in NY or NJ. I really laid on the guilt trip in my letter while being respectful and understanding.

As of yet, we have not received any response. So Iz will study and take the test as originally planned and we'll see what happens. I'll try to reserve Keahi a spot in Joshie's (his friend from 1st term) school and hope we get to go to Michigan after all. We've heard from an SGA officer that they're still giving families preference even though they haven't officially announced it. My question is why not do it officially?

Well, that's SGU for you. Or perhaps it's all educational institutions. You tell me, is my situation unique? Misery loves company so share yours with me.

The Big 29

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I suppose we can blame my advancing years for this one.

I don't know why we wait for the beginning of a new decade to call it big. Every birthday should be THE BIG______. I suppose birthdays are a good thing because it makes you take stock of your life thus far and decide what to do with the remainder of it--yes, the remainder is an acknowledgement that life is finite and the older we get the closer to the end we get, but it doesn't have to be a downer. It's a time to be more self-aware, be grateful for blessings, and, of course, eat cake. Which brings me to the highlight of my birthday this year.

I'm talking about 2 layers of luscious chocolate cake embedded with junior mints and mint chocolate wafer cookies lovingly wrapped around a thick layer of chocolate ice cream and completely drenched in my newest obsession: mint chocolate frosting from the Baking Illustrated cookbook. Mmmmmm. Mountains of chocolaty goodness.

With cake like this who wants to take time to look inward in search of one's hidden self or worry about all the things left to be accomplished? I say, dig in and be grateful for a wonderful husband who always takes birthday cake duties seriously.