Hi Helen, thank you very much for being so open and helpful! Being older, single, etc, I'm wondering what kind of support network you have and what you do when things get very stressful. I sometimes feel I dont fit in with trads due to age difference as well and potentially going to somewhere new and different might be tough. What are your thoughts?
For me, the good news is that I was accepted to a school one hour from the home I own and have lived in my whole life. I was happy to be able to stay in the living situation that I am used to. The bad part (and I have mentioned this earlier in this thread) is that living so far from campus puts a crimp in your social life with classmates. I'm just not around in the evenings for things. I try to occasionally stay around in the evenings for social stuff but if classes end at 2 PM, I'm not likely to want to stick around until 8 PM to go out.
I don't mind that my classmates are younger. I think it is, generally speaking, invigorating to be around younger people. However, drinking is a big deal, at least at my school, and I'm not likely to participate in events that focus around EtOH (though I don't mean to imply that every social event is drinking, just a lot of them).
Unfortunately for me, I don't have much family left in the area. My parents are deceased. I talk to my siblings on the phone a lot. Otherwise, I would have to admit I am pretty lacking in the social support department. Medical school is hard and it is stressful. It would really have been nice to have more social support this past year but it is what it is. On the other hand, you have to spend so much time alone studying I think that everyone starts feeling more isolated. On top of that, you will find that friends and family no longer understand your day to day life anymore. They think they do, but they don't. They don't understand that if you don't study all day every day for the next two weeks you won't pass your next big exam. This isolates you even further.
Here are my recommendations:
--I would recommend living close to campus, if you can, preferably even in apartments where there are lots of other medical students.
--I also recommend pets, regular exercise, and a good antidepressant!