So I know it was someone from WashU, and likely someone living in Olin. Anyone want to fess up?

Subject: [Neogrotesque] Hello.
Name: Sarah Strange
Site URL: sarahstrange.net

Message:

Do you believe in God? I wanted to know since some of your sites seemed erm, you know…and I wanted to let you know Jesus loves you and if you dont believe in God I want you to go to heaven!

Love, Sarah.

I must admit that I’m mildly amused and perhaps, also mildly offended. I never saw any of my sites as seeming “erm, you know…,” whatever that means. Some of my designs are admittedly a bit dark or edgy, but I’ve never made anything particularly offensive, in my opinion. Either way, webdesign is only a hobby, and those that find my work offensive undoubtedly have the option not to visit my sites.

To be honest, I never understood religion. I’m technically a Chinese immigrant (though very much assimilated), and really, questions of faith were never raised in my household. As such, I was never conditioned to believe in any such thing as “God,” and nothing has ever convinced me to since then. On a good day, I consider myself agnostic; on a day like today, when I want to distance myself as much these religious fanatics as possible, I’m happy to accept the title of “raving atheist.” Irrationality knows no bounds.

Admittedly, I don’t update Crazed System as much as used to. I do, however, still consider it (and more importantly, Mija and Hideko) to be my present life on the internet. Here’s to many more years!

That was when I discovered Metropolis (Met, as we called it). At one point, my post-count here was well over 2000, and I was proud of it, too. I think I was even a moderator at one point. My best friends at the time were Jamie and Casey. I looked up to Yukie and her co-admins a great deal, and was overjoyed when Yukie asked me to affiliate with her site. I don’t know why I drifted away from the Met crowd– maybe it was because my interests changed. I actually tried to re-register there recently, though it looks like the script glitched. I wonder if any of my old friends are still around…

Even more embarrassing, however, was the fact that I had taken up RPing. I discovered online RPs via Yahoo! Groups, and eventually found one to call my own. Naturally, I played Hotaru, but, perhaps due to my lack of creativity, I also played a whole slew of original Hotaru look-a-likes (long lost twin sisters and the like). I don’t remember what our group called ourselves, but it was probably the first true internet “clique” that I became a member of. We were all internet newbies, with our ugly websites and our Yahoo! Messenger accounts. We actually grew quite close, and I remember many a late-night conversation with Sara, who played Usagi, or Val, who played Haruka.

When I was 12, Pokemon was a big deal and I, embarrassingly enough, was a huge fan. One day, my father, for whatever reason, decided that it was time I signed up for my own email address. Thus, he eagerly shoved Yahoo! in my face and insisted that I set up an account. Soon afterward, with my newly created Yahoo! username on hand, I discovered the Yahoo! chatrooms and the unexpectedly large Pokemon fanbase that populated them. I don’t remember much of the experience, except that it did wonders for the speed at which I would eventually be able to type. One thing led to another and, soon enough, I had installed Yahoo! Messenger and was chatting regularly with a handful of online friends over IM. Thinking back, this probably wasn’t the safest way for a 12-year-old to pass her time, what with all the “internet predators” out there, but I suppose I lucked out as nothing ever happened to me.

I’ll be starting medical school in the fall, which is notoriously time-consuming. Will I be able to find the time to continue maintaining my websites? Will I be able to contend with all those up-and-coming 13-year-olds? I wonder if, by the time I start residency, I’ll still have the energy to keep updating.

For all the soggy graduation caps, muddy high heels, and wet hair, we did get our diplomas–which I guess is what really matters. Bachelor of Science in Biological Chemistry. It has a nice ring to it doesn’t it? My mother took some pictures, which I’ll post if I ever get my hands on them. Too bad I didn’t manage to smuggle my camera in underneath my gown xD

Edit: Picture posted!

Even though the AMCAS application didn’t officially open until sometime in May, and couldn’t be submitted until the beginning of June, I started working on it much earlier. My adviser insisted that we submit drafts of our essays at the beginning of April, and I stayed up all night working to make their deadline. Even though I had a great GPA and MCAT score, I felt like my application was weak in terms of extracurricular involvement. I actually wavered quite a bit between applying right away or waiting a year and trying to strengthen my application a bit more in the interim. Somehow, I fell into applying this year and trying my luck.

The process itself was nerve-wracking like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Initially, I had more success than I ever dreamed of, receiving interviews from the likes of Johns Hopkins, Yale, and Washington University in St. Louis. On October 15, 2008, I got my first acceptance: University of Michigan. I had interviewed at Michigan extremely early, and I knew that they would be sending out acceptances at midnight on October 15th. So I waited by my computer patiently, hoping for an email with good news. Midnight came, and no email. I checked the forums at SDN, and other Michigan applicants were announcing their acceptances. I resigned myself to a rejection or, at best, a place on the waitlist. At 12:40am, an email popped into my inbox. I was in! It was an amazing feeling.

As the weeks went by, I learned that I had been rejected from most of the big name schools that had gotten my hopes up so much when they invited me to interview. Of course, I was grateful for the acceptances I did receive, but the weeks in April and May were hard as the rejection letters piled up. I also discovered that I had been waitlisted at WashU, my top choice.

As May 15th approached, I was having an incredibly hard time making my decision. On the one hand, I had the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. It was a great school that gave me a lot of scholarship money. The only problem was that, since I attended the UofC for college, I really didn’t want to stick around on the same campus for medical school. Then there was Michigan. I really wanted to go to Michgan, but they gave me almost nothing in the way of financial aid, and I couldn’t justify going there over taking Pritzker’s hefty scholarship money. Also under consideration was the Baylor College of Medicine: an amazing school in a decent location with cheap-ish tuition. I still couldn’t justify spending the extra money. I went, though reluctantly, with Pritzker, but secretly hoped that WashU would come through for me in the end.

On June 1, 2009, WashU did come through for me. I was ecstatic! I had always heard people saying things like: “you’ll end up where you belong” or “things have a funny way of working out in the end” about applying to medical school, but I never really believed it until now. I’m extremely grateful for how my application cycle has turned out, and I couldn’t be happier. So my advice for anyone thinking about medical school: don’t worry too much! Hang in there and don’t lose hope!

If you want a closer look at my application process, check out my MDApplicants.com profile.