1) Finding several caring mentors amongst the faculty and a plethora of inspiring and kind peers.
2) A schedule that while quite busy has allowed sufficient time for me to keep up to some degree several activities that I most enjoy (exercise, cooking, and a little reading and journaling)
3) The opportunity to get away from the books and actually help people! Highlights include working at several student run clinics for the uninsured and helping provide vaccinations at a mass H1N1 clinic.
Bonus items: Harvesting apples from the copious apple trees in my neighborhood, great biking and skiing, and being able to use my truck for more freezer space because it is so cold!
For the Holidays we had two weeks off and I spent all of it back in WA with family and friends. My brothers and I had a blast climbing trees, making and throwing spears, trail running, damming a small stream with sticks and leaves, and shooting lego launchers. The highlight was a trip to the WA coast where we constructed a huge log fort to "resist" the ocean! See pics below:
(Our builder team minus me. Yes, with only 5 people we lifted all those logs into position:)
(The three brothers and the sea.)
Now I am back in Madison. We just started up the second semester and from what I've seen so far it looks to be another action-packed round of learning. The big news this time around is we started anatomy and today I was introduced to my team's cadaver. Let's just say it's probably best you're not sitting next to me right now as the smell just wouldn't come off in the shower... Just kidding, the odor isn't that bad as they use different chemicals than in the past and the room is very well ventilated.
Wishing you all the best in 2010,
Michael
