Hello, friends!
Here’s my story in a nutshell: my name’s Sonika, and I’m a senior at Union
College (Schenectady, NY) studying Biology and Music in the Leadership in
Medicine (LIM) program. This fall, I’m going to be studying abroad at the National University of Ireland, Galway. This
joint-degree “straight med” program is the main reason I’m going abroad at
all…but more on that later. First, a few tidbits about me:
- On
location, location, location: until
I got to Union, I’d always lived in and around urban areas, so that’s
always been my comfort zone – I’m very much a “city kid” at heart.
The peace and quiet of central New York, however, has been growing on me
over the past three years, and I fall more in love with it every
day. Given how strongly I’m affected by “place”, I’m curious about
how living in Galway –
albeit for four months – will shape me.
- On
being an ISFJ:
I’m no social butterfly, but that’s fine with me, as the relatively few
relationships I have – with God, family, and friends alike – are really close
ones. I often self-evaluate in terms of these relationships,
especially since I tend to take care of (read: mother) the people in my
own support system.[1] So
I expect that being distanced[2] from
said support system will take a considerable toll on me. I wonder
if/how being abroad will teach me how to reach outward for new
relationships, as well as how to reach inward for an even better grasp on
my own emotions...
- More
on being an ISFJ:
I’m a planner. I like to control, organize, and
schedule/color-code/outline whenever possible (hence the bullet points in
this post, incidentally). It follows, then, that I am generally
spooked by the unknown. It doesn’t matter, in other words, that I’m
perfectly comfortable with travel; if that travel is taking me to a place
where I don’t know exactly what to expect, I’m going to be considerably
jittery about it.[3] I’d be quite pleased if the
only thing I learned from my term abroad – which will undoubtedly serve me
with one new experience after another – was how to relax a little.[4]
That’s an adequate sketch
for an introductory post; future posts will likely fill in the gaps. To
end, let me backtrack for a moment, though, and tie up a few loose ends:
- Why
am I going abroad at all?
Because I have to.[5]
The LIM program, you see, has an “international experience”
requirement. And why’s that, you ask? Because “the medicine of
the new millennium will require physicians to understand medicine not only
as the application of biomedical science to the art of healing, but also
as a socioeconomic and cultural institution. It will require cosmopolitan leaders with a broad international
perspective –
physicians who are not only dedicated to caring for their patients, but
who are willing to confront the complex bioethical problems facing
contemporary medicine.”[6] I
must develop into a well-rounded physician from my program directors’
perspective…and a well-rounded person,
from my own. And travel, living independently, being encouraged to
explore who you are so you can explore your world…these are all the kinds
of things that I hear will “round a person out”, so to speak.
- Why
blog about it? Two
reasons:
- I’m an internal processor.[7] If I’m writing
about something, be it in a blog, letter, journal, song, whatever…that
means I’m dealing with (and possibly, learning from and about) it.
A dear friend recently commented to me, “Sonika, you are no passive
observer of life.” I’m inclined to agree with him; I am, by nature,
the kind of person who feels deeply (no matter what the
emotion). And this explains why I write quite as much as I do:
everyone needs an outlet.
- This will be an easy way for me
to update family and friends…as well as stay accountable to them (and
myself, now that I’m thinking about it). When I come home, I want
to be able to look back and say with confidence that I grew, that those
four months meant something…that I’m different, somehow, because I went abroad.
I’m closing in on three
weeks until I leave, friends, and am not entirely sure about where this blog is
going to go. Actually, I’m not entirely sure about where I’m going to go. Time
will tell, and I’ll write about as much of it as I can. In the meantime,
is there anything here that you identify with? Anything you want to
respond to? Anything specific that you want to hear more about? Any
questions you have? I’d love to hear from you…
Sonika
P.S. As if Neil from “White
Collar” couldn’t get any more adorable…apparently, he can sing![8]
[1] This isn’t the best pattern, true, but it is what I do naturally.
[2] To be clear, I’m referring here to physical distance. Yes, Skype and Facebook will be very helpful to me
in this arena, but physical nearness (for me) is very important.
[3] Yeah, I realize I’ll have to get over this at some point…but no
one grows up overnight, right? I’m working on it…
[4] In fact, now that I’m thinking about it, I’m pretty sure my
friends would like to see me learn to relax, too…
[5] Ah, it sounds lame, I know, but I’d rather be honest than paint
myself as a perfect student. I am, at my core, a creature of comfort, of
familiarity and routine and hugs. Especially hugs. I like those.
[7] Is this a weakness? I used to think so…but have recently
been growing into an acceptance of this being the way that I operate. The
people who really matter in my life accept it, so I say: why shouldn’t I?
[8] Among the many reasons for which my sister is awesome, one is that
she gave me this link. We may have
vastly different musical tastes, but we’re definitely on the same wavelength
when it comes to Matt Bomer.
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