ADEEB: Winter Vacation

I had a stress-free and food-filled winter vacation that allowed me to excel in three important aspects of my non-student oriented life.

The first (most time consuming and grueling) endeavor was to catch up on the TV shows that I’d been missing out on. This was made possible by an abundance of snacks and unlimited rentals from Hollywood video – an 8 minute walk from my house

If you have not watched LOST….you must take a moment to decide whether or not you want to. The pros to watching it is that it is an amazing show that will captivate you and play with your emotions. The con is that you will not want to leave the house and will be forced to watch one episode after another – regardless of hygiene, prior commitments, or time constraints. I was bound to watching 48 episodes. It was beautiful.

The picture says it all

Who doesn’t dream of having super powers? That’s right, everyone does. That’s why HEROES caught my attention. Though the acting is sub-par, the storyline is decent. Season 2 wasn’t all that it could’ve been (due to the writer’s strike I hear), but they make up for it in season 3.

I also had the urge to re-watch the Lord of The Rings Trilogy. This time I went all out and watched the extended versions. I found that the beautiful scenery really lends itself to being great movies to watch in the morning while eating breakfast. Granted, the scenery outside my window isn’t half bad either….but there are no hobbits, dwarves, or elves in Savannah.

My second and third goals are a little more musically oriented. I like to think that I can take a stab at playing the guitar from time to time. During my weeks off, I wanted to finish learning a piece on the guitar that I had spent some time on earlier. After 6 weeks and some change, I finally finished. It’s called ‘Song for Stephen’ and it’s by ‘Antoine Dufour’. I’m not as flawless as him, but you can check out what it’s supposed to sound like on the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgsB_xA2G0I

Finally, I wanted a djembe (If you say ‘djembe’ fast enough, people think you’re saying ‘gym bag’). I had bought one a year ago and was trying to teach myself how to play by watching youtube videos. Although I had gotten decent at it, I lost motivation because the djembe I bought was half the size of a normal one, if that. Now, I’ve got everything at my disposal to rock out, all I need is some time set aside to practice.

A djembe

Overall, I would rate it as an extremely relaxing break. Maybe a bit too relaxing. Now, with the start of a new year, I have newfound willpower to achieve some resolutions that I’m setting for myself. I guess we’ll see if I actually achieve them in the next installment of le blog.

ADEEB: I’ll Be Your Tour Guide

And so medical school began with orientation. It was at this time that we learned the demographics of our class, one of which was our age range. Our class began the year with students as young as 20 and as ‘mature’ as 35. Why do I bring this up? It is because well within the first week of school I was found out as being the youngest in our class. For any of you prospective students, who might be able to fill my role next year, let me advise you to embrace this privilege. Two weeks into orientation, this 21st birthday of mine (August 9th – for any of you who want to wish me happy birthday next year) was the perfect excuse for any and all to get together under one roof and celebrate.

Yup, that’s me. By my chalkboard. Now you might be thinking, “hmmm, was this before he drank lots of alcohol legally?” Let me take this moment to appease your qualms. I don’t drink, but I did enjoy an unhealthy Red Bull and lots of ice water. The night went well, songs were sung, dances were danced, and I then stepped into the world of maturity and wisdom. Well, not exactly.

Now you must be thinking to yourself “He’s so young. Why is he holding his stomach in this picture? Is he made of magic?” To both of your questions, I answer “yes”.

As for my age, I had no control over it. I was born in India, 2 years after which I moved to a tiny island in the Philippines called Pohnpei. It was there that the school system was loosely regulated and I was tossed into first grade without looking back. I moved back to India when I was 4 years old and then came to the U.S. at the supple age of 9. The culture shock at the time was stunning, but that is a story for another time. Anyhow, I grew up in Savannah Georgia, went to school at Georgia Tech, received a paper that said I had studied biology, and then found myself in the picture above.

Since everyone is up to speed, let me tell you who I am now. What I love to do at the moment, among other things, are playing guitar, watching youtube videos, and finding amazing (jammin’) music [note: an abnormally high percentage of this music is provided by my brother who, in addition to being handsome and charismatic might also be blackmailing me – explaining why I’ve typed this out]. This being said, I’ll try to leave you with a gem of a video once in a while. It’s impossible to pick among the tons of amazing videos, but this month, I’ll leave you with Cadbury chocolate.

Finally, let me assure you that you’re in good hands. Over the next couple of months, the other bloggers and I will give you a sneak peek into our minds – as well as the world of student life at Emory. Before leaving you, let me at least answer a simple question. Why Emory? The reason is simple. It’s absolutely beautiful. I’m not speaking solely of the new building, gorgeous weather, and amazing scenery. What truly grasped my attention was the welcoming character and humility of the students, the revolutionary mindset and student concern found in the administration, and the energizing curriculum. Well……the reason isn’t that simple after all, because I could go on and on. Maybe if I see you around on your interview day I’ll give you more details.