My Step 2 story. Let me tell you it.
I had to go to Philadelphia on Wednesday to take a pretend-to-be-empathetic-to-fake-patients exam.
(7:46:04 PM) me: hiiii
(7:46:12 PM) Val: CONGRATS!!!!!!!
(7:46:17 PM) me: LOL
(7:46:22 PM) me: oh, what a day
(7:46:25 PM) Val: i hear you had a STRESSFUL morning getting there!~
(7:46:35 PM) me: haha word travels fast in these parts!
(7:47:02 PM) Val: haha, it does
(7:47:04 PM) Val: but i dont know details
(7:47:06 PM) Val: what happened?!
(7:47:10 PM) me: you know that board in penn station that shows all the trains departing?
(7:47:15 PM) Val: yep
(7:47:30 PM) me: i walked up the steps from the A into that lobby
(7:47:35 PM) me: and the entire board said
(7:47:36 PM) me: DELAYED
(7:48:17 PM) me: and right on cue, they made an announcement being like "blah blah no trains leaving new york penn station for an indefinite amount of time due to blah blah blah"
(7:48:25 PM) Val: !!
(7:48:29 PM) me: i missed the rest because i became hysterically deaf and blind
(7:48:32 PM) me: not really
(7:48:41 PM) me: but i actually thought iw as going to die
(7:48:52 PM) Val: omg, i don't blame you
(7:49:21 PM) me: the last time i felt like that was when someone swerved in front of me like 3 mo after i'd gotten my license and the car shuddered from the super duper anti lock brakes
(7:49:27 PM) me: except life doesn't have anti lock brakes!
(7:50:06 PM) me: so yeah, i spent a lot of time running around like a crazy lady, on the phone with my parents who were googling alternative routes to philly
(7:50:18 PM) me: and the funny thing is
(7:50:31 PM) me: i wasn't so much concerned about the possibility of having to reschedule
(7:50:50 PM) me: but i was like "what am i going to tell dean mellman!!"
(7:51:05 PM) Val: oh no!
(7:51:08 PM) Val: it's so true, though
(7:51:23 PM) Val: seeing disappointment in her eyes is sooooooo gutwrenching
(7:51:28 PM) me: i know!!!
(7:51:52 PM) me: but anyway
(7:52:14 PM) me: my train started boarding
(7:52:24 PM) me: so i was like AHHHH i'm just gonna get on
(7:52:35 PM) Val: wait, how did it start boarding if it was delayed?
(7:52:49 PM) me: someone said they were going to start releasing teh trains
(7:52:55 PM) me: they were boarding them all
(7:53:01 PM) me: it was like mad rush
(7:53:20 PM) me: but then we sat there in the dark underground
(7:53:26 PM) me: while i continued to flip out
(7:53:47 PM) me: and i finally found the conductor, who was super rude
(7:54:06 PM) me: and then i had a mini breakdown and hid at the end of teh car and cried for like 10 minutes
(7:54:12 PM) me: by which time the train started moving
(7:54:15 PM) me: (power of tears!)
(7:55:02 PM) Val: hahahah
(7:55:07 PM) me: they were pretty good, actually, they made up most of the time
(7:55:11 PM) me: i was like 5 min late
(7:55:20 PM) Val: wow, SOOOO stressful, though!
(7:55:23 PM) me: omg yes
(7:55:51 PM) Val: and like why do the conductors need to be rude on top of that
(7:55:55 PM) me: seriously
(7:56:10 PM) me: like, i understand that they must have been dealing with stressed out customers all morning
(7:56:57 PM) me: but it's like us dealing with stressed out/sick patients
(7:57:10 PM) Val: exactly
(7:57:27 PM) Val: (though i became a bit short with one of my patients the other day...)
(7:57:35 PM) me: yeah i did that too once
(7:57:45 PM) me: i felt bad about it
(7:57:49 PM) Val: but OTHERWISE, we're SUPER nice
(7:57:51 PM) Val: i KNOW
(7:57:54 PM) Val: i went back and apologized
(7:58:05 PM) Val: and he was like "wait, when did you yell at me?"
(7:58:10 PM) me: hahaha awww
(7:58:19 PM) Val: i hated him, though
(7:58:23 PM) Val: but agh, at least you DID IT
(7:58:28 PM) me: i know
(7:58:35 PM) me: after that morning
(7:58:41 PM) me: the exam was a breeze
It was quite fun, once I got in the swing of things. And then yesterday I took the written portion of the boards (back to back, baby!), which was much more straightforward than Step 1. I am notoriously bad at judging my performance on these things, however.
Who cares, though? I'm on my year off at last! Boxing away all my medical books was bittersweet. I bought too many novels at the Strand to compensate. (What else is new?)
(7:46:04 PM) me: hiiii
(7:46:12 PM) Val: CONGRATS!!!!!!!
(7:46:17 PM) me: LOL
(7:46:22 PM) me: oh, what a day
(7:46:25 PM) Val: i hear you had a STRESSFUL morning getting there!~
(7:46:35 PM) me: haha word travels fast in these parts!
(7:47:02 PM) Val: haha, it does
(7:47:04 PM) Val: but i dont know details
(7:47:06 PM) Val: what happened?!
(7:47:10 PM) me: you know that board in penn station that shows all the trains departing?
(7:47:15 PM) Val: yep
(7:47:30 PM) me: i walked up the steps from the A into that lobby
(7:47:35 PM) me: and the entire board said
(7:47:36 PM) me: DELAYED
(7:48:17 PM) me: and right on cue, they made an announcement being like "blah blah no trains leaving new york penn station for an indefinite amount of time due to blah blah blah"
(7:48:25 PM) Val: !!
(7:48:29 PM) me: i missed the rest because i became hysterically deaf and blind
(7:48:32 PM) me: not really
(7:48:41 PM) me: but i actually thought iw as going to die
(7:48:52 PM) Val: omg, i don't blame you
(7:49:21 PM) me: the last time i felt like that was when someone swerved in front of me like 3 mo after i'd gotten my license and the car shuddered from the super duper anti lock brakes
(7:49:27 PM) me: except life doesn't have anti lock brakes!
(7:50:06 PM) me: so yeah, i spent a lot of time running around like a crazy lady, on the phone with my parents who were googling alternative routes to philly
(7:50:18 PM) me: and the funny thing is
(7:50:31 PM) me: i wasn't so much concerned about the possibility of having to reschedule
(7:50:50 PM) me: but i was like "what am i going to tell dean mellman!!"
(7:51:05 PM) Val: oh no!
(7:51:08 PM) Val: it's so true, though
(7:51:23 PM) Val: seeing disappointment in her eyes is sooooooo gutwrenching
(7:51:28 PM) me: i know!!!
(7:51:52 PM) me: but anyway
(7:52:14 PM) me: my train started boarding
(7:52:24 PM) me: so i was like AHHHH i'm just gonna get on
(7:52:35 PM) Val: wait, how did it start boarding if it was delayed?
(7:52:49 PM) me: someone said they were going to start releasing teh trains
(7:52:55 PM) me: they were boarding them all
(7:53:01 PM) me: it was like mad rush
(7:53:20 PM) me: but then we sat there in the dark underground
(7:53:26 PM) me: while i continued to flip out
(7:53:47 PM) me: and i finally found the conductor, who was super rude
(7:54:06 PM) me: and then i had a mini breakdown and hid at the end of teh car and cried for like 10 minutes
(7:54:12 PM) me: by which time the train started moving
(7:54:15 PM) me: (power of tears!)
(7:55:02 PM) Val: hahahah
(7:55:07 PM) me: they were pretty good, actually, they made up most of the time
(7:55:11 PM) me: i was like 5 min late
(7:55:20 PM) Val: wow, SOOOO stressful, though!
(7:55:23 PM) me: omg yes
(7:55:51 PM) Val: and like why do the conductors need to be rude on top of that
(7:55:55 PM) me: seriously
(7:56:10 PM) me: like, i understand that they must have been dealing with stressed out customers all morning
(7:56:57 PM) me: but it's like us dealing with stressed out/sick patients
(7:57:10 PM) Val: exactly
(7:57:27 PM) Val: (though i became a bit short with one of my patients the other day...)
(7:57:35 PM) me: yeah i did that too once
(7:57:45 PM) me: i felt bad about it
(7:57:49 PM) Val: but OTHERWISE, we're SUPER nice
(7:57:51 PM) Val: i KNOW
(7:57:54 PM) Val: i went back and apologized
(7:58:05 PM) Val: and he was like "wait, when did you yell at me?"
(7:58:10 PM) me: hahaha awww
(7:58:19 PM) Val: i hated him, though
(7:58:23 PM) Val: but agh, at least you DID IT
(7:58:28 PM) me: i know
(7:58:35 PM) me: after that morning
(7:58:41 PM) me: the exam was a breeze
It was quite fun, once I got in the swing of things. And then yesterday I took the written portion of the boards (back to back, baby!), which was much more straightforward than Step 1. I am notoriously bad at judging my performance on these things, however.
Who cares, though? I'm on my year off at last! Boxing away all my medical books was bittersweet. I bought too many novels at the Strand to compensate. (What else is new?)