Be the best YOU can be

It's easy to get competitive, it's especially easy for ME to get competitive, prior athletics has engrained that streak in me for life, thus I refrain from silly games like yatzee, in which I have no control over the outcome and don't want to embarrass myself when I get overly competitive...I think I made my sister cry when she was 4 over a game of yatzee. Fortunately, college turned me into a technically-trained track athlete, a sport in which winning is  important, but secondary to whether or not you performed your best. Who cares if you win a bunch of javelin competitions throwing 140 feet when you can really throw 150. Track helped me learn that the most vital competition is the one with yourself. All other forms of competition are secondary.

Why this point now? In med school it's easy to slip into the mindset of "well I'm studying as much as Bobby", or "oh I got that random question right while Sally missed it, thus I know more than Sally", or as is often the case, "Bobby and Sally know all this stuff and I'm scrambling!". But these thoughts miss the purpose of med school. Med school is about making you the best physician you can be, instilling a strong work ethic, dedication to the sick, and a solid medical knowledge base. It's about YOU, your mind, your study habits, your humility and your care for patients. It ain't about anybody else. Whenever I focus on this, I find studying to be less stressful, classes more enjoyable, my peers more interesting and less formidable. Being the best I can be is much less stressful than being the best Stanford medical student, or the best surgeon, or the best javelin thrower, and probably makes all these things much more obtainable. So that's my lesson from today: Be the best YOU can be. It'll take you anywhere you want.


As for the rest of my life, here are some random updates:

• It's been raining for 2 straight days -my car is flooding!
  
• In anatomy today we opened the cranial cavity, which means I held a brain in my hands this afternoon. It was incredible, I am so thankful for anatomy, it gives you an understanding for the human body that is extraordinary.  
• My family leaves for Paris tomorrow morning!
• I'm going to be directing Stanford Med's SWEAT outdoor orientation program for the incoming class, along with my partner in crime, Erick, it's going to be a blast!