I felt guilty for oversleeping and not going to the Food Bank for my two hour volunteer work. I went to Woodbury Commons and tried to shop for clothes that suited my taste. I was looking for a denim casual jacket, two collared shirts, preferably of orange or yellow color, and boxers. I spent $12 on food there and burned a ton of calories from walking around for about five hours. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything of my liking. I felt like a Harvard admissions officer futilely searching for the student that would best fit their University. I arrived home with my feet sore.
Restlessness as I mentioned in my previous post has characterized my days. I can't believe that in fifteen days or so, I'll be about 1,000 miles south of home. I talked to my dad today, and he told me students go to college for different purposes. One person's purpose may be to have the time of their lives at college by trying to have the most fun as possible, while another's may be to study hard to go to a medical school. No one's purpose is right, but my purpose is the latter. That's not saying I'm not entitled to fun, but my focus should be geared towards academia. Call me a geek, but hopefully I'll be having a secure future. That way, I can raise a, hopefully,happier family, have the resources to fund passions I enjoy, like filmmaking, travel all around the world, and have the resources and time to discover new hobbies and passions. Though colleges seemed to desire students with unique extracurricular activities and leadership positions, medical schools admissions emphasizes higher GPAs and MCATS because these credentials shows students have what it takes to study complex ideas and knowledge at medical school. One article I read regarding the medical school admissions process estimated that a student's GPA and MCAT accounted for roughly 80% of his credentials. A former study couch potato, I used to think of extracurriculars and volunteer opportunities as more important to me than studying, but now I'm realizing studying and maintaining good grades is my utmost priority at college. Hopefully, I'll have time to socialize and attend dances too. I hope I make friends who share the same values as me and who like me for who I am. I used to, and honestly still am but not as much, get jealous of people who got better grades than me or participated more in class. But talking with my dad, I realized my purpose in getting good grades has changed. Whereas in middle school, my insecure self tried to get high grades so I could prove that I was smarter and hence a better person than others, now I try to get high grades so I could get a better chance at getting accepted to a medical school. My middle school assumptions that getting better grades equaled being smarter and a better person was erroneous. After all, good grades correlates more with hard work rather than IQ and just because someone has better grades than another, doesn't make he or she better than him or her. In fact, everyone's equal and no one's better than another because no is perfect- everyone is good at something and bad at something else. I should study hard for the Aleks chemistry modules and prepare in advance before college because frankly working hard towards medical school begins now. And at college, I set a goal of getting a 4.0GPA.
At college, my dad advised me that I join one club and one federal work study that involves community service because I will have arrived at Emory and trying to settle in. He suggested that I expand my involvements after I have begun feeling settled in. Though I initially disagreed, learning that I could join clubs during a semester and not just at the beginning, made me heed his advice. What's the club I should join though? Something I will love, hopefully. Film? Maybe. Dance? Maybe. Argentine Tango sounds sensual. Acting? Who knows? Singing? eh... I'll just sing on my own.
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