Crunching Leaves

Autumn is here. Getting away from San Francisco reminded me about the seasons and the leaves with all their color changes--yellow, red, orange, brown.

As I ran around my neighborhood, I crunched the leaves that had fallen and blanketed the side walk. It took me back to the days of childhood. When I was younger, I would help my dad rake the leaves into nice neat piles before jumping on the piles and recreating the mess we had just cleaned. The good old days.

I had my first extended vacation of third year over the last two weeks. During the first week, I made a trip to Chicago for my brother's wedding. After the wedding, I came back to Davis to spend a week with my family.

It was so refreshing to get away from the medical world with all its differentials and histories for a short time to spend time with family and friends.

It's very simple to get completely consumed and to forget your human world. I had an amazing time at the wedding; it was so nice to be leave the medical student role behind temporarily to live life as a daughter, sister, friend and photographer.

As the old saying goes, "all good things comes to an end." And so too, does my vacation.

Despite having to give up unstructured days and three square meals, I am ready to return after a short hiatus. Being away has made me realize how much purpose I have as a medical student. There certainly are days when you feel inadequate and wonder if you will ever move forward. There is so much learning to be done, but you realize that you have come so far and and are moving ahead, albeit with small steps.

And each day is a gift that gets you a little closer...

I return to San Francisco today and the world of pediatrics. I move from the world of urgent care to the pediatric wards. There are four more weeks left in the rotation.

Hopefully, there will be time to crunch leaves during the next couple of weeks.