2022 in review
Do you believe in fate?
I do. Especially in moments like this: writing my highly anticipated first blog post in the final days of 2022. There is a distinct literary quality about the end. The imagery conjured by words like dusk, sunset, and twilight. Perhaps it’s the Freudian drive towards death, Thanatos. Perhaps it’s because you have to be at the end, looking back, to connect the dots and trace the steps of your journey. In the spirit of reflection, let us look back at some highlights of 2022.
2022 has been another capricious year. Much has changed. Given this is a personal blog and not a newspaper of record, I will limit this post to discussing personal achievements in 2022, rather than major social, political, and economic developments.
January was an exciting time. I received invitations to interview at three Ontario medical schools. The demands of school balanced my preparation for medical school interviews, making the months of January through April feel like a blur.
January was also exciting because I was moving ahead with another longtime dream. When I made the decision to go to the University of Toronto for my post-secondary studies, I simultaneously decided that I wanted to study abroad. I had stayed in Toronto my entire life, and a strange sense of inertia was telling me that I needed to leave the Toronto bubble. I needed to see the world. Studying abroad was the ideal opportunity to accomplish that goal. Experiencing a different environment while being bankrolled by the University of Toronto? I couldn’t say no. After making a last minute change to my ranked list of study abroad institutions, I was nominated to the Excellence Research Internship Program at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Although I was no stranger to videoconference technology after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a unique experience corresponding with prospective supervisors in Switzerland from my home in Toronto. With the support of my research supervisor, I wrote my third (and first successful) research proposal, helping me secure funding from the ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship, an initiative of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation.
April was bittersweet. After writing my final exams, I said farewell to my friends from Toronto and flew off to Switzerland to begin my research project jointly funded by the ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship, the Excellence Research Internship program and the University of Toronto. At the conclusion of my research experience, I wrote a testimonial for the ThinkSwiss program. Among my favourite lines: “As I unpack my gains, literally and metaphorically, over the next couple of weeks, my growth as a researcher and person will become only more apparent.” and “Their diverse backgrounds have lent valuable perspective to my experiences.” In the second snippet, “their” refers to the people I met in Switzerland, like my supportive lab mates and fellow EPFL Excellence Research Internship Program, ThinkSwiss and EPFL Summer in the Lab interns. I am proud to call them my colleagues, companions, and friends.
May was a big month. The second Tuesday of May is known as results day for Ontario medical school applicants, as first round offers of admission are released on that day. On May 10, 2022, the second Tuesday of May, I was accepted to the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University and Queen’s University School of Medicine. I am filled with gratitude for all the people who have supported my path to medicine. My heartfelt thanks to my references and verifiers, as well as the members of my community who have made me into the person I am today.
In August, I returned to Canada and prepared to start medical school at Queen’s University. With the fresh start at Queen’s came the end of my time at the University of Toronto. My time at the University of Toronto may not have been perfect, but it has certainly been formative. Many of my friends are now University of Toronto alumni, I forged a special connection with the governance of the Faculty of Arts & Science and the student life of Innis College, and my Winter 2022 grades were the strongest sign yet of my enduring scholastic achievement. In other words, I would like to think that I left the University of Toronto on a high note.
In contrast, I had a rocky start at Queen’s, owing largely to a surgery with significant complications which took me out of school for two weeks. I am so grateful to my family for helping me during my recovery and enduring my pain-induced shenanigans. Despite the hit to my health, I persevered at Queen’s and managed to pass all my coursework (except for the first MEDS110: Human Structure and Function test). I also joined the Queen’s University Board of Trustees, elected from and by the internal stakeholders of graduate and professional students, and attended my first meetings in late September.
In October, I went on a trip to Washington, D.C. My travel was to deliver a talk on Bond Across the Pond: How would you strengthen research connections between Switzerland and the USA? The irony of a Canadian travelling to the United States to answer that question is not lost on me. The event was fantastic though. It was a night of meeting with the Swiss Ambassador, acquaintances I met in Switzerland, peers from the 2022 cohort of ThinkSwiss interns, ThinkSwiss alumni, Swiss National Science Foundation fellows, Fulbright scholars, and friends of the program.
In November, I celebrated my birthday in Kingston with some of my amazing classmates. I am humbled to be part of such an incredible group of people.
Happy 2023!