What Lights Me Up
“I think healthcare is so important, especially for women and girls in parts of the world that don’t have access to it. I’d like to make a difference as a doctor someday, but there’s not much opportunity to learn about that work in school.”
My Day at EXPLO
Morning Huddle
7:45 AM
My RAs wake us up every morning with a playlist of all of our favorite songs. I like getting to hear what kind of music all of my friends listen to.
Breakfast
8:00 AM
I filled my plate with french toast sticks and blueberries and sat with my friend, who showed me the brand that she created and was going to present in Marketing and Advertising today. It was actually really interesting. People are doing such cool stuff here.
Medical Specialties
Periods 1 + 2
9:15 AM
Today, we visited a medical simulation lab. It’s where people train on these high-tech robots like mannequins. They’re kind of weird. They talk. Have heartbeats. It’s set up just like a hospital.I got to practice placing an IV line. It was harder than I thought, but Gabe, my partner, was somehow able to do it right away. Maybe it’s because his mom’s a doctor. But I picked up intubation really quickly. When the Instructor came over and asked for a read-out on vitals, I beat Gabe to it! They also had these virtual reality systems. It’s like we are actually doing medicine!
Lunch
12:00 PM
Stacey and I went back to the dorms for a few minutes to change out of our scrubs. Then we headed to the dining hall. As usual, Stacey got a gigantic salad. I grabbed a turkey burger and green beans. I know, green beans. What can I say?
Medical Specialties
Period 3
1:15 PM
A neurologist came to class to show us how to read MRI and CT scans of brains. It took awhile, but then I really started seeing all sorts of things. Lesions. Possible tumors. Calcium deposits. I’m really starting to feel like medicine could be my thing.
Check-In
2:40 PM
The whole camp played a few rounds of Taylor Swift trivia while we waited for everyone to check in. My roommate won, and she got a really cool “#1 Swiftie” pin.
Clubs, Leagues,
+ Activities
2:45 PM
I started a parliamentary debate club with Stacey, Cab, and Marcus. Jo is our faculty advisor. She debates in college. We were able to get a bunch of people to join us. Jo’s helping us with this kind of debate, which is really different than anything I’ve ever done. You get points for dealing with hecklers!
Flex Time
4:15 PM
Some of us went into the Ville. Erin dared me to try sushi and I did. I actually liked it!
Dinner
5:45 PM
I wasn’t super hungry after eating all that sushi, but I always have room for the dining hall’s strawberry shortcake and whipped cream.
Check-In
6:45 PM
Roberto and Marcus are working on creating a comic together, so they spent the check-in sketching out some of the panels. They like to bounce ideas off of me, and I love helping come up with dialog.
Evening Event
7:00 PM
Tonight was the 4th of July party. Ilena is from Poland, and Giselle is from France, and we had to explain what this whole July 4 thing is about. We did some fireworks face painting, did this crazy fireworks thing with bubble wrap, got some snacks, and headed to the dance. I’m a terrible dancer, but here, it doesn’t matter. No one cares what you look like on the dance floor.
Dorm Check-In
9:15 PM
We always end the night with some sort of activity that my RA comes up with. Tonight, she rolled a huge piece of paper out on the floor, and we each got to draw something that represents us. She’s going to hang it on the wall tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the finished mural.
