The New Year

I know this blog is a little late in coming, it is March afterall, but Im a firm believer of the saying "better now than never". The past couple of months have brought about some important changes in our lives. I left my job at Macys to possibly pursue a Masters degree. Once I realized that getting a Masters in Teaching in New Jersey is very different and difficult than I thought it would be, another job seemed the logical choice. The university near our home (Monmouth University) decided that some of my courses from my under grad were not good enough, so naturally I had to appeal that decision. But all of that paperwork, transcripts and emailing takes time. Getting a Masters degree is something that is personally very important to me, so whether I pursue this dream now or later (once we know for sure where Kamron will be doing residency) is not that pertinent.

In the meantime, I had gotten a callback from a bank that I had applied to when we first moved here, almost 6 months ago. I had a friend who had worked in a bank back in California and I had heard that bank jobs are reliable, good paying and offer good benefits. The bank I had applied to as a teller is PNC. Unfortunately, for all you West coasters out there, you probably have never heard of this bank. PNC is located in various states along the East Coast as well as in the North East (Chicago, Ohio, etc). I ended up getting hired for a teller position part-time. This company not only offered an incredible wage, and benefits if I so chose, but the position is only 20 hrs a week, which is very beneficial to me as I enjoy being a housewive also...hehe. I started a week ago and am still learning and being mentored. I enjoy it and I think it is a good job to keep whether we move for residency or not.

About this same time we also learned that it is possible for Kamron to do one of his rotations back in California, near our hometown. We also learned that Kamron CAN apply to residency programs in California, even in Fresno. We were very excited for this, as we had previously thought that going back to California would be an impossibility until after residency. The rotation wouldnt be until next January and it would be a good chance for both of us to spend some quality time in our home state and with our family and friends. Until then, going back to visit is going to be difficult, not only because of my job but also because of Kamron's busy schedule with Step 2 of his board exams coming up.

The life of a medical student and his family (wives, children, parents, etc) is a very uncertain and difficult one. Moving around a lot and not knowing where you will be next or what the future holds is a very stressful thing. We dont know where we are going next, where we will start our family. Because of this I dont know if I should go back for my degree now, or when we are settled. Do we want to start all over again in a new place? Is it worth it?  Starting all over again with a new home, new furniture, new friends and new jobs/roles is never easy. To say that we underestimated the difficulty of the med school journey would be a severe understatement. But at the same time, isn't it these uncertainties, this sense of adventure and achievement that makes life interesting and gives us the experiences that make us who we are. To say that I have not had an interesting and exciting experience through this all would be a lie. Through all the difficulty and emotional suffering (not being surrounded by any friends or family), it has been one amazing, exciting and beneficial journey. I would not take back one second of it, not one, all of our time in Grenada included. Because when I am old, grey and predictable, I know I will look back at this time in our life and think, "that was so great. That was the best time of my life and because of that I am who I am today."