Geneticist crossing the Tight Rope

"Are you a geneticist?" asked the lady working in the registrar's office.

"No, I am a medical student." I replied.

I finally picked up my diploma. I graduated in June 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in genetics. The piece of paper bearing the gold University of California seal sums up my four year education in a few black lines on a thick piece of paper with some signatures from people I will never meet in my life. Amazing how my diploma is the only official proof I have that I actually went to college for the last four years.

I remember studying genetics but I can't really recall what I studied. I do remember taking a myriad of classes that spanned the biological sciences, physical and molecular biology disciplines. And somehow this magical combination gives me the right to call myself a genetics graduate. For what it's worth- I'll take the title and run (since now I'm knee deep in an entirely different world where I have yet to figure out what I will end up with aside from the two letters at the end of my name in four years).

As I think back to my experiences as a pre-med genetics major, I remember the stress of school and the pleasure of everything that was non-school. It was like a being in a circus, where you are constantly balancing 10 things while walking on a tight rope surrounded by hundreds of others. Every moment you look around just to make sure you are inching forward and making progress to this destination that is so far from reach. There are times when you plummet and there are times when you want to jump and escape. And somehow you keep getting closer and closer, your balance improves, and before you know it- you've arrived (only to start the balancing act all over again in medical school).

When I was an undergraduate, I was surrounded by science majors and pre-meds. There is something about the pre-med culture that is quite odd; it's culture that lends itself to bringing out the best and worst in people. You see deep kindness for society and a competitive edge in some, especially at a UC, where it's all about the survival of the fittest with a large student body and limited resources. Arguably, most disciplines foster similar tendencies, when there are so few coveted spots and such high demand. It's the idea of supply and demand- applied.

Having been a pre-med peer advisor during my last year, I have seen it all and I spent a few hours yesterday addressing questions from pre-med students in the same room that I used to hold workshops and advising sessions. It was like walking down memory lane; I felt so much older (or maybe the students just looked so much younger).

The tables have turned; I am no longer a pre-med student; I am a medical student that is supposed to have the answers to all those burning questions: "what do medical schools look for in an applicant, how do you set yourself apart from other pre-meds, what does it take to get into UCSF, what do they want, is research necessary, etc." And I had forgeten about all of it, until I got the same battery of questions.

I am just eight monthes removed from college, and now students seek answers from me (as if I somehow know anymore than what I knew as a pre-med student). I still shudder when I get the questions about "what are they looking for?" when I have no idea who "they" really are? I do have an insider's perspective (being a medical student) and I do have the battle scars from my pre-med journey. And it's worth sharing to help others during their formative pre-med years. I remember learning from other medical students and it's my turn to give back.

I have my opinions and I have my theories, but in the end- we must make our own decisions (and my opinion is only an opinion). In the end, we must all walk the tight rope on our own.

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Image: "Tight Rope." http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/19/13/23111319.jpg