Two thoughts

Well hello!

Amid the hustle and bustle of studying, lectures, and required events, the little things to make life run still must happen. Laundry needs to be done; food needs to be bought. I’ve been doing all of my grocery shopping at Meijer, my mainstay from my time at Hope. At Hope everything was so convenient. At every block there wasn’t a stoplight; pedestrians didn’t haphazardly decide to walk out into the middle of the street; hills didn’t make biking to another place an intense workout. (This isn’t to say that I don’t like Ann Arbor – I love it – it just takes more time, effort, and frustration to get anywhere. Everything, regardless of distance, is twenty minutes away.)

During my first few weeks here I was glued to my GPS; I would ride my bike, holding onto the handlebars with one hand and in the other hold up my phone, receiving directions to wherever I was going. I’ve been weaning myself off of the directions: I can proudly say that I navigated to Meijer without any electronic assistance. (Side note: I need to make only two turns to get to Meijer. Yes, I am directionally challenged.)

During my drive, not using my GPS, riding with the windows down, listening to John Mayer, I thought to myself: “This feels normal.” It was the first time in the first three weeks that I felt like I was going about a normal rhythm of life, not embarking on a quest with an unsure ending. It hit me: I am going to be in Ann Arbor for the next four years; I am here for the long haul.

Yesterday I went to play soccer with the other medical students. After the rainstorm hit, the sky cleared up and the afternoon was an absolute peach. 75 degrees and blue skies. It was a great time – two hours of running around and chasing a ball is strangely therapeutic. We played at Mitchell fields, which is located right next to the helipad for the hospital. During the two hour period during which we were playing soccer helicopters landed at least 10-15 times.

Myself and many of my classmates continued to run around, chasing the ball, while this occurred, not stopping to think about the reality of what was happening: someone needed help so desperately that they had to be flown to the University Hospital. The situation was almost ironic; we continued to play soccer while someone was nearly dying. Leisure and death, side by side.

As I was faced with this juxtaposition, I had another big thought: all of the people playing soccer will be saving lives someday. All of the people in our class are going to become a doctor, and we are going to be the people waiting for the helicopter to arrive, rather than the people playing soccer next to the helipad.

On an aside, I’m going to a Demolition Derby on Tuesday – it’s going to be a great time!