Derek and I flew out to Richmond, Virginia on Sunday night for Derek's interview for medical school. We met up with my old roommate Rochelle Flanigan and spent the night at her house. We were both excited for a break from the everyday rigors of our life, we're so tired of working and waiting to hear back from medical school. We flew in at night, so we didn't get to see much but the airport. Rochelle lives near the city, it pretty much looks like every other big city-lots of lights on sky high towers.
The following day we spent the morning and afternoon with Rochelle and her cute kiddos. Rochelle was my roommate my first year in college, the last time I saw her was before my mission farewell 6 years ago so we had a lot to catch up on. The town she lived in was influenced by the Colonial period. It was neat to see how different the homes were, they were tall and narrow, the road was cobblestone. I think of the movie "Pride & Prejudice", the beautiful dresses, the horse drawn carriages and their British accents.
Rochelle lent us her car, a luxurious a Volkswagen Jetta (compared to our car anyway). The seats were so comfortable, they were also heated! The car made our 3 hour drive were pretty comfortable. Before we left, Jamie (Rochelle's husband) told me there was nothing but bigots and malnutritioned children in West Virginia. His comment freaked me out but Jamie has always been a jokester, good thing I was able to see for myself that his comment was not true. If I could explain West Virginia in one word would be "hospitable". Everyone was so nice, I felt at home (minus the southern accent of course).
We visited the local museum and spoke to several locals. It was neat to learn about the local history, Derek's favorite part was the 58 lb gun used in the Civil War. Our tour guide Edna (what a southern name) even gave us her personal phone number to call her if Derek is accepted. She has connections to local housing.
West Virginia is beautiful.
On the day of the interview we were of course we were frazzled with nervousness. Derek and I had spent the night before in the hot tub reviewing potential questions. He tossed and turned most the night thinking of possible responses. At the admissions office, everyone was so nice, I've never seen so much energy and excitement come from a receptionist. The applicants from the city (most came from the East coast) thought she was unreal, having visited bigger cities I can see why they thought that.
We were taken on a tour of the school. It as freezing. I was impressed with their facilities, they had a room full of cadavers. Each cadaver has a pump so the fumes don't kill the med students because they spend so much time studying the cadavers. We interrupted students dissecting an optic nerve...I wanted to leave the room because it still stunk despite the suction tubes but I was getting a kick out of people assuming that I was the token brown girl applying to medical school. I think that experience inspired me to donate my body to science. I can't wait to tell my mom about that, she will freak out ( it's taboo in Tongan culture...or maybe just her culture).
I asked the tour guide about employment opportunities, he said " In a small town, you just have to take what you can get"...I guess I have to humble myself and work for Arby's...better yet Walmart. Lewisburg is small enough to not have any public transportation, not even taxis but big enough to have a Walmart. If or when Derek gets accepted, I will start sending out resumes right away. I'm determined to utilize the Bachelor's degree that I'm still paying for.
6 of the 8 students interviewing were women and they all looked so young. 3,000 people submitted application and West Virginia College of Osteopathic Medical School will be accepting 300 students this year. We've been praying like crazy, we want to get accepted this year, we're tired of wait lists and waiting to hear back from medical schools. Derek felt the interview went well, we don't want to get our hopes like we did last year. We will hear back from the school in a couple weeks, Tuesday will be the earliest.
We're both so exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. We estimated that 30 hours of the trip was spent traveling to Virgina, from Virginia to West Virginia. Our flight home was 12 hrs counting the lay overs, right after the flight I had to rush home, shower and teach my Spanish Home buyer class at work. I didn't return home until 9:30pm. We're still recuperating, we just barley picked up our dog, we missed him so much but we haven't bothered to unpack.
We appreciate all the support, many of our friends and family prayed for us, several attended the temple with us before we left. We are so thankful for such great people in our lives.
P. S. Pictures will be posted later...I'm too exhausted right now.
