Well I knew the day would eventually come, but didn't think it would seem this quick! I write this now from a hotel room in Toronto after arriving earlier this evening form Ottawa. This is leg one of my journey to SK. Tomorrow I board my 0600 flight from Toronto to Miami and then hop on another flight to SK soon after. Unfortunately, over the past two weeks I have been watching a few Tropical Storms / Hurricanes passing though the islands which always pose a threat to travel planes / life in general. SK seems to be in the clear at this point, but storms are on their way to Florida. Fingers crossed that I can get through Miami without any hassle. I'm pretty confident that there will be no problem. Thinking back, arriving a single day before I need to be at school was a little tight. If I thought a bit more about it, I might have given myself a buffer day or two more. But no regrets. The extra time gave me the opportunity to have a few more hours with friends and family who I will not be seeing for quite some time.
Right now, I am filled with 85% excitement, 5% nerves and 10% sadness / angst. Excitement is an obvious and expected feeling. Nerves are also quite expected. The sadness / angst is not necessarily negative, it simply stems from the idea that I am leaving behind many people that I care about. Up until this point, I have lived my life in Ottawa with only a few journeys here and there. The thought that Ottawa was always where I would return gave me comfort. My home was a very familiar place. This is not so much the case for me anymore. After tonight, my new home will be in SK and after that in the states. I think about this now and have a bit of sadness, but I know that the feeling will pass. I will always miss my people and my doggy, but at the end of the day, the world is a pretty small place. There is no location you cannot get to within a day. While this is true, my one word of advice from this post is to make sure you are mentally prepared to leave. What I mean by this is to make sure you're excitement level is higher then all other emotion levels:P I made sure that in the last month of being at home, I spent as much time with the people around me as I could. The worst thing that I could imagine is starting something as involved as med school is a new country when your not 100% ready to do so. If your feeling like your being forced or rushed to prepare, or that the potential impending departure date is causing too much anxiety, then it is not the time to go. When you arrive on the island to start school you should have no regrets about anything. I am honestly very happy with how things were left off at home as well as with my mental preparedness moving forward. I'm not saying you should have zero butterflies or that you shouldn't be nervous at all, because that isn't normal.. Everyone is different. If I had never spent time away from home, I would most definitely be more nervous moving my life to a new place. All I want to get across is to make sure you're happy because when school starts you have to be ready. If you feel your going to be unhappy there is no shame is moving your start date to a later intake to ensure everything is in order before you leave. The reality of the situation is that once you depart, you life changes. For most, this is not just another stepping stone to an unknown destination. It is a means to a career that you will have for the rest of your days. So wherever this journey leads you, you must be prepared to follow it and at times chase it to places you never thought it would take you. But this is all the fun:) New experiences, new adventures. Lets be honest, if you weren't up for a little adventure you likely wouldn't be studying medicine in SK! So please make sure you're in a happy place before starting on this journey.
For my family and friends, I will miss you eternally. I have been honoured and touched by all the support and well wishes from everyone. Over the course of the summer, I have had to say goodbye to many people and while I have not been able to personally spend time with everyone, if your reading this, please know that you're awesome and I am honoured to have connected with you. I hope to make you all proud and will keep in touch as best as I can. Best of luck to all my friend and family going on to do amazing things.
One more word of advice, don't leave packing to the last minute.. Not worth the stress.. Figuring out all that you need is a daunting task. Also, this is not the time to impress everyone with your ability to pack everything into one small bag. I tried and learned that it won't work:P Pay the extra baggage costs and bring as many bags as you will need!
Off to bed. Have to be up at 4am... Will post tomorrow about the arrival!
Cheers,
Mike
Right now, I am filled with 85% excitement, 5% nerves and 10% sadness / angst. Excitement is an obvious and expected feeling. Nerves are also quite expected. The sadness / angst is not necessarily negative, it simply stems from the idea that I am leaving behind many people that I care about. Up until this point, I have lived my life in Ottawa with only a few journeys here and there. The thought that Ottawa was always where I would return gave me comfort. My home was a very familiar place. This is not so much the case for me anymore. After tonight, my new home will be in SK and after that in the states. I think about this now and have a bit of sadness, but I know that the feeling will pass. I will always miss my people and my doggy, but at the end of the day, the world is a pretty small place. There is no location you cannot get to within a day. While this is true, my one word of advice from this post is to make sure you are mentally prepared to leave. What I mean by this is to make sure you're excitement level is higher then all other emotion levels:P I made sure that in the last month of being at home, I spent as much time with the people around me as I could. The worst thing that I could imagine is starting something as involved as med school is a new country when your not 100% ready to do so. If your feeling like your being forced or rushed to prepare, or that the potential impending departure date is causing too much anxiety, then it is not the time to go. When you arrive on the island to start school you should have no regrets about anything. I am honestly very happy with how things were left off at home as well as with my mental preparedness moving forward. I'm not saying you should have zero butterflies or that you shouldn't be nervous at all, because that isn't normal.. Everyone is different. If I had never spent time away from home, I would most definitely be more nervous moving my life to a new place. All I want to get across is to make sure you're happy because when school starts you have to be ready. If you feel your going to be unhappy there is no shame is moving your start date to a later intake to ensure everything is in order before you leave. The reality of the situation is that once you depart, you life changes. For most, this is not just another stepping stone to an unknown destination. It is a means to a career that you will have for the rest of your days. So wherever this journey leads you, you must be prepared to follow it and at times chase it to places you never thought it would take you. But this is all the fun:) New experiences, new adventures. Lets be honest, if you weren't up for a little adventure you likely wouldn't be studying medicine in SK! So please make sure you're in a happy place before starting on this journey.
For my family and friends, I will miss you eternally. I have been honoured and touched by all the support and well wishes from everyone. Over the course of the summer, I have had to say goodbye to many people and while I have not been able to personally spend time with everyone, if your reading this, please know that you're awesome and I am honoured to have connected with you. I hope to make you all proud and will keep in touch as best as I can. Best of luck to all my friend and family going on to do amazing things.
One more word of advice, don't leave packing to the last minute.. Not worth the stress.. Figuring out all that you need is a daunting task. Also, this is not the time to impress everyone with your ability to pack everything into one small bag. I tried and learned that it won't work:P Pay the extra baggage costs and bring as many bags as you will need!
Off to bed. Have to be up at 4am... Will post tomorrow about the arrival!
Cheers,
Mike