Does anyone really know what they're doing?

[luxetvoluptas]

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[Anomandaris]

This is me. My goal is to get down the hall to the light at the end where a wizened old man or lady is smiling and gazing at me over their half-mooned spectacles. In their hand is a hallowed envelope with what I've been working towards for the past 10 years. Inside the envelope is a single leaf of slightly stiff cardstock with the words "Congratulations! We are glad to inform you that you have been accepted to XYZ school".

Now if I could just figure out how to get out of this loop and actually down the hall...

EDIT: Couldn't get the gif to post properly. I don't even have any idea what I'm doing here on SDN...

EDIT2: Okay I guess that works... This is reinforces the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing...

 

[BecauseTheInternet]

I feel like very few people actually have the luxury of knowing where they are going, before actually having a confirmation. The rest of us just have to go with the flow, and hope for the best. The uncertainty of this process is cruel, but if it were an academically/mentally easy process, way more people would do it. It's frustrating, but I'm just trying to trust the process!

 

[Spinach Dip]

I'm terrified because I have no idea what I'm doing, no idea where I'm going, and it seems like everyone else does. Do you ever figure it out?

I'd like to figure it out before I retire, but even that might be a stretch.

 

[MisterFutu]

Each and every one of us here will die, including our family members, friends, and the people that are passing by. We will all fade away. We are but dust going back to dust. The fool, the wise, the rich, and the poor, all of us, we are all on this same crazy boat called life. We are on a rock that is suspended in space, a speck within a speck within a speck. We are all delusional, some closer to the truth than others. With that being said, cherish the moments, love one another, and examine what really matters to you on an individual basis. To an extent, what matters is a figment of our imagination, and with our degree of volition, we have the capability to change it. As time goes on we will have different ideas and perspectives; and through time, the concept of death will surely be knocking on our door faster. What we want now may change later. Nevertheless, for me, I think the priorities I would hold onto if I had a week to live are the values I should stick with despite the fluctuating bias of my emotions and mental state. Ghandi said live as if you will die the next day, learn as if you will live forever. Be the best person you can be for yourself, and for others. My first priority is my relationship with Jesus(as I do not like to mess around with eternity) and second my family and friends. I want to live a life without regret, decrease the probability of unnecessary suffering, and increase fulfillment.

 

[Lucca]

Nah tbh. I take it day by day. I know I want to do science, I know I want to do medicine. I'll try to do both as best I can.

 

[Spector1]

me neither but I know that I work hard and that's gotten me through enough challenges in life.

 

[Meeehai]

Each and every one of us here will die, including our family members, friends, and the people that are passing by. We will all fade away. We are but dust going back to dust. The fool, the wise, the rich, and the poor, all of us, we are all on this same crazy boat called life. We are on a rock that is suspended in space, a speck within a speck within a speck. We are all delusional, some closer to the truth than others. With that being said, cherish the moments, love one another, and examine what really matters to you on an individual basis. To an extent, what matters is a figment of our imagination, and with our degree of volition, we have the capability to change it. As time goes on we will have different ideas and perspectives; and through time, the concept of death will surely be knocking on our door faster. What we want now may change later. Nevertheless, for me, I think the priorities I would hold onto if I had a week to live are the values I should stick with despite the fluctuating bias of my emotions and mental state. Ghandi said live as if you will die the next day, learn as if you will live forever. Be the best person you can be for yourself, and for others. My first priority is my relationship with Jesus(as I do not like to mess around with eternity) and second my family and friends. I want to live a life without regret, decrease the probability of unnecessary suffering, and increase fulfillment.

Not me, I'm immortal.

 

[Doudline]

“It is because Humanity has never known where it was going that it has been able to find its way.” Oscar Wilde

 

[CardiologyPrincess]

^ Me IRL

I'm terrified because I have no idea what I'm doing, no idea where I'm going, and it seems like everyone else does. Do you ever figure it out?

Haha ahhhh no. Just riding the waves until graduating

 

[Strigon]

We're just making it up as we go.

 

[PREMEDitated22]

For me personally trusting in the Lord takes that anxiety away. I don't have to know everything because he is leading the way. I can truly relax and be confident in my future. And he does things better than I ever could, so things always always turn out good even when they start bad.

 

[pageantry]

The only thing that keeps me from freaking out (most of the time) is knowing that I still can control my attitude and what I offer the situations I find myself in.

 

[moisne]

No.

 

[Holmwood]

I'm terrified because I have no idea what I'm doing, no idea where I'm going, and it seems like everyone else does. Do you ever figure it out?

I think you're having an existential crisis.


Also, I think I know what I'm going to do today...

 

[Hospitalized]

My semester, pretty much.

 

[Donald Juan]

I'm drinking a beer right now because getting day drunk after morning rounding seems acceptable. In about an hour, I'm going to be drinking beer at a bar while eating hot wings and watching football trying to forget all the existential bs I just read.

That's what I'm doing and where I'm going.

 

[Dr_OneDay]

Thought I knew where I was going as undergrad, but turns out I was going in wrong direction.

Re routing myself ( GPA) during gap year.

 

[whatever5]

I know exactly what I'm doing. I do have trouble understanding why I'm doing it, at times.

 

[Hospitalized]

I am retiring and I still have no idea. I have been very successful in a variety of endeavors yet feel utterly lost and purposeless. I keep doing the same things and ultimately making the same mistakes over and over again, like a lifetime of reincarnation, living my errors over and over. Been a week of hell for me, dealing with the same internal crap that I thought back in college. Its like jumping off the Empire State Building and about the 50th floor saying "so far so good" but you always smack into the hard concrete. Optimists believe this is the best possible world; Pessimists fear this is true.

Life sometimes just sucks.

Besides that Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?

I got sad just reading that, mostly because I can relate to it and I'm not even "old" yet.

 

[Ad2b]

I wake up each day, put one foot on the floor, put the other one down next to it and wonder what the day will bring.

 

[luxetvoluptas]

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[luxetvoluptas]

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[Ad2b]

Everyone thinks I have it together and I don't.

With all the compassion and empathy I can put in pixels on a screen, please go to your school's counseling department. All the pressure you are feeling, all the weight - they can help you learn to cope. There is no need to continue feeling like you do.

Sending good vibes your way

 

[solitarius]

Nope.

But here's my game plan:
- Learn as much as I can w/o overdoing it.
- Resist martyr syndrome: P = MD
- Harshly Blow off immature, hi drama classmates
- Avoid dating / hooking up w/ classmates
- Find specialty I can tolerate

 

[pageantry]

Just from a personnel perspective, find something more than just tolerate; 20 years from now you will still need challenges

Conferences help me with this, can't recommend them enough (speaking of being around happy enthusiastic colleagues). Seeing MDs and MD/Ph.Ds presenting on a topic you all like is so refreshing.

 

[frosted_flake]

Yeah, I'd say that's about right. I'm depressed and overwhelmed at the thought of everything I have to do and there's that little voice in the back of my head that keeps whispering "give up, do something easy." I haven't made any friends yet and it's just really really hard. I'm ****ing terrified that I'm not going to make it. Everyone thinks I have it together and I don't.

Yep....

 

[Hospitalized]

Yeah, I'd say that's about right. I'm depressed and overwhelmed at the thought of everything I have to do and there's that little voice in the back of my head that keeps whispering "give up, do something easy." I haven't made any friends yet and it's just really really hard. I'm ****ing terrified that I'm not going to make it. Everyone thinks I have it together and I don't.

If it makes you feel any better, I get the same thoughts. Aside from the friends part I'd say I'm very similar to you. Additionally, seeing my friends struggle intermittently helps keep things in perspective. I only have a year of school and the MCAT left, I have a ton of clinical experience, and an overall solid application (I feel). Yet still, some of my grades are a little lower this semester despite a lot of effort, and I can't help but feel like things aren't going my way and I'll end up failing when it comes to the time to submit my final application.

I think the fear of failure is what keeps me going, though. If it wasn't hard, I wouldn't do it. The thought that I might fail scares me, but at the same time I need that kind of motivation to keep improving myself as an individual, and student. I absolutely could coast through my classes and settle for a career outside of medical school. But, I want to give myself a shot to get in. If I fail, at least I'll be able to say I gave it my best.

Also, I have family and friends around me who have very high expectations of me, particularly because I have a sibling enrolled in medical school at this time. It is not only expected that I get in, but also that I do it without fault (e.g retake the MCAT, extra gap year, etc.).

 

[wavvvvvves123]

I'm drinking a beer right now because getting day drunk after morning rounding seems acceptable. In about an hour, I'm going to be drinking beer at a bar while eating hot wings and watching football trying to forget all the existential bs I just read.

That's what I'm doing and where I'm going.

Lol

 

[wavvvvvves123]

Nope.

But here's my game plan:
- Learn as much as I can w/o overdoing it.
- Resist martyr syndrome: P = MD
- Harshly Blow off immature, hi drama classmates
- Avoid dating / hooking up w/ classmates
- Find specialty I can tolerate

"Avoid dating/hooking up w/ classmates". what do you mean? are you already in a committed relationship or is your class size so small that it's too uncomfortable to date within it? or do you just not wanna date a fellow med student haha

 

[solitarius]

"Avoid dating/hooking up w/ classmates". what do you mean? are you already in a committed relationship or is your class size so small that it's too uncomfortable to date within it? or do you just not wanna date a fellow med student haha

Class size is too small ~ 100 people.
Type A personalities: women here are lining up their ducks
A lot have the classic shy nerdy personality
Then you have the high drama peeps who act like we're still in high school