“Soooo, what are you actually doing now?”
This is the number one question I have been getting for the past year.
Not a lot of people know where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing, or who I’ve been talking to for the past 365+ days. And that’s because I pretty much disappeared from the rest of the world for a while. Like I mentioned before, even though sometimes I hated it, I definitely needed that time and space. Even when people asked, I never fully explained what I was doing. Sometimes they wouldn’t understand, others would become worried, or a few people would try to talk me out of it. Quite frankly, I just didn’t think it was everyone’s business and didn’t want to get even more stressed out by having to explain myself to anyone!
But, it’s over now and I’m ready to answer all those questions if you don’t already know! Basically, my gap year wasn’t the usual working to gain experience or traveling around the world kind of gap year
Instead, in short, during my gap year I’ve basically lived at Starbucks and Calibre Coffee, stared at my computer screen all day, and have scarred my face with acne that doesn’t seem to want to go away–with some fun in between all of that as well!
And now the long version:
Even though I graduated last year (April 2017), it didn’t really feel like I graduated until this past April. Because of my rollercoaster of a ride during undergrad, I had some serious work to catch up on. That serious work basically determined how my future would play out.
I have always been passionate about health and human rights. But there isn’t a straightforward path that would let me combine both–I would either have to become a doctor or a lawyer. And obviously I wasn’t okay with that.
So, I decided to be that crazy girl who wanted to apply to dual law and medicine programs–cause why only choose one ridiculously hard thing to do at a time, right? Well I stuck with it and that’s why this past year has been so stressful (BUT I definitely don’t regret it–I’ll explain later on).
I made this decision during my senior year of undergrad; so when my second semester came around, I was not living my life like a regular senior. Instead, I was taking 21 credits, trying to finish my premedical requirements, and studying for the MCAT.
As soon as I graduated, in May, I enrolled in three more premed classes online (physics, chemistry, and physiology–woo fun times!) at different schools. At the same time, I attempted to keep studying for the MCAT and started medical school applications.
Then June came around and it was time to take the MCAT!!! I spent a few days in a hotel in the city and took the MCAT for an entire day (worst testing experience of my life I think).
Right after, I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up a bottle of wine, got some carry out Thai food, walked back to my hotel room and spent the night watching a Bollywood movie to take my mind off of the misery I just went through.
But, it wasn’t time to fully relax just yet! The next day I had an exam for one of my online classes, so it was back to studying and taking more exams. Throughout June, I continued to finish up my classes and complete my applications for MD and DO programs.
And then in July, I was finally done (for like a few weeks!). On July 1st, I was finishing up some last minute touches on my personal statement. Being the procrastinator that I am, I clicked submit right before I boarded the plane to go to Vegas for 4th of July! For three days, I was able to just take in the nice weather, refreshing pool parties, and good times with some of the most amazing people I know!
For the rest of July, I took a little break from my crazy plan so I could go to Washington DC and Ohio for family commitments.
But as soon as all of that ended, it was back to reality. I was registered to take the September LSAT and I hadn’t even started studying at that point. What made it even better was that secondaries for med schools started coming in around the same time!!
So until September 15, I was juggling secondary med school apps with LSAT studying. And once again, on September 16th, as soon as I finished the LSAT (which was also a horrible experience), I went home, turned on a Bollywood movie, drank my wine and ate my Thai food to celebrate (or cry, I can’t remember) 🙂
A few days later, I took my next break and went to San Fransisco for a few days to visit two of my friends who work out there now. Once that refreshing little vacation ended, it was back to studying. I didn’t feel confident about the LSAT I took, so I registered for the December one. And this time I studied A LOT.
I took the December 4th LSAT (which went amazingly better) and then the next day I started my law school applications. I really wanted to go back to school this year, so I applied to 40 (yes, I know crazy once again) schools. I got fee waivers for almost all of those schools though, so it wasn’t as expensive as it seems. But, it was very time consuming!
2018 started, and I was still finishing law school applications. I finally finished in mid January–a week before I was going to India with my mom!
And then the hard work finally started paying off. Just a few days before our flight, I received my first acceptance letter. Since my family is ridiculously cute, we went to Anna Shea to celebrate with some wine and cheese 😋😋
I was in India for about 3 weeks, and almost every other day, I was hearing back from more schools. This was not something I was used to or was expecting–but it was an amazing feeling! Being surrounded by my mom, grandparents, and other family members while receiving such good news made me feel even more blessed and certain that all my effort was worth it!
Of course there were rejections that I received as well. However, I’ve learned to handle rejections a lot better than I used to. Before I would cry and think about it over and over again. However, I now take a moment to reflect and be a little sad; but then I become motivated to work even harder for another opportunity. I had so much to be grateful for; so every time I received a rejection email, I would read over it, take a deep breath, close the tab and then concentrate more on an an essay or any supplemental thing I had to do for another school.
And that made such a difference on how I handled this application process!
I received good news from more than half of the schools I applied to and I couldn’t be happier! There are moments where I wish I heard back from other schools as well, but I’m a firm believer in things happening for a reason–so I continue to remain grateful and optimistic about my future!
Since then, I narrowed it down to my top 5 schools, visited those schools, have taken a trip to San Antonio with my dad, started working at a nonprofit, and began focusing more on this blog (posts about India and some of these experiences will be coming soon)!
After visiting schools, making pros and cons lists, and my dad making a complex objective point value chart, I finally made a decision.
Now for the big exciting news….I committed to…Washington University School of Law!!!
In the fall, I will be moving to St Louis, MO to attend one of the best law schools in our nation and I am beyond excited for this new chapter of my life!
So you must be wondering, what happened to the whole med school thing?! Well, it is not off the table yet. WashU is a top school in multiple disciplines, including medicine and public health. During my first few months at WashU, I plan on speaking more with various faculty members in health and law. I hope to discover whether my career goals–of working with international human rights with an emphasis on providing global healthcare–aligns more with public health or medicine. If it ends up being public health, I will apply for the MPH program at WashU, and will finish my dual JD/MPH in 4 years. If it is in fact medicine, I will finish up my JD, work for a while, and will go back for a medical degree if needed.
So no I don’t regret this past year. Spending all of that time on med school and law school applications did not go to waste. I have received numerous acceptances, incredible scholarship offers, and encouraging words from admission committees as a result!
I based my final decision on personal reasons, scholarships, rankings, and how the campuses/communities felt. WashU became an obvious (even though it took me forever to decide) winner based on all of those factors. And I’d like to take this moment to thank my family and friends for supporting me through this “crazy” journey of mine.
I have never worked as hard as I did this past year, and that’s a huge reason I’m writing this post right now. This post isn’t meant for me to brag (I’m proud, but I hate when people brag about things so hopefully this isn’t coming off like that!). Instead, I want to show people that whatever you set out to do is possible!
In a past post, I wrote about how I thought I would never get into a good grad school because of my undergrad gpa. I proved myself wrong.
I called myself crazy for wanting to do health and law because people said I have to choose one or the other. I’m not crazy–it’s possible.
While studying, I thought about whether it will be worth it and whether I would even be smart enough to go through with it. It was worth it and I believe in myself more than ever now.
I set a goal for myself, did not tell many people about it, stayed committed to it, put in hard work, and am now continuously seeing myself accomplish that goal with amazing results. I am nowhere near my final outcome of this particular goal, but the path to get there is looking bright so far!
It’s your life, and only you can control the decisions you make.
Stick to what you set out to do. It may take a while and it will definitely involve multiple instances of falling. But how you react to those obstacles determines the final outcome.
So don’t be afraid to have “crazy” dreams. Don’t listen to others when they say you can’t do something. Don’t be afraid to listen to yourself. Do what YOU want to do.
Trust me, it is one of the greatest feelings in the world. ❤
