This past semester, I've been trying to find a balance--between doing things I enjoy and things I dislike and learning when to work and when to relax. Excuse the cliche, but it feels like I'm rolling down a hill in a snowball, gathering momentum and rolling faster and faster with each turn. I feel like with every new responsibility I take on or with every challenge I overcome, things go faster in both a good and a bad way. The good thing about all this energy is the new opportunities they bring. For example, in Medlife, we are planning multiple fundraisers including a 5K and a percentage day at the local frozen yogurt place. We are working on expansion, talking to local newspapers for publicity and working on hosting the Southeastern Medlife Conference in August. At the same time, we are training new officers and transitioning the board. This is all really awesome and has opened so many doors for everyone involved. On the other hand, this crazy snowball burns. Sometimes, I get lost in the logistics and feel jaded about the future. I want to focus my efforts on global health and service, but all of the details and planning that goes into every event almost makes me yearn for the systematic consistency of wet lab research. I know my passion is not in the laboratory, but sometimes, I wonder if being in global health is any different. Yes, we are more directly working on improving people's health, but we can never get away from some basic evils (fundraising and the like).
To tell the truth, I feel like I have never truly worked hard in college until this semester. Math3500 was definitely a difficult class that I spent hours on, but the way I worked at it does not even come close to how I work at Biochemistry and Genetics now. For the first time, I feel eager to learn, not just to get it over with and add a credit to my records but to truly get something from the experience. The more I study about how our bodies metabolize nutrients or how gene function is studied using E. Coli organisms the more interesting it all is and the more worthwhile learning becomes. It's crazy that I've never felt this way about learning, but it's a good thing. In the end, I still have to work on that time management stuff...
About the title of this post: I am planning a trip to Peru by myself, so I feel rather nervous. I don't really feel like elaborating right now, but I hope it all works out.
