For a very long time growing up I wanted to go to med school. Somewhere along the way, I changed my mind. I think, essentially I chickened out. I decided I wouldn’t be able to do it, it was too much responsibility, too demanding, I would probably not get into med school anyway*, and could I really deal with everything being a doctor entails? I considered several other majors after that, math, computer science, and I finally decided on English.

I never regretted that choice but part of me kind of regrets not having stuck with wanting to go to med school, that I would have at least tried. I would not drop everything now to do med school, and I am sure it is possible to find a job I will enjoy as much now, but especially lately, I often wonder about this. That is mainly because one of my roommates is in med school, and my buildings is surrounded by hospital buildings [the university hospital]** so it is kind of ever-present in my life.

And that lead me to think that after I graduate, I would like to do a job that has an impact on people’s lives, I want to work with people, not really just sit in front of a computer screen all day. Some kind of social job. I am not sure if that will be possible, but I do want to try.

* But the reality is that many students, my roommate included, had a worse GPA in high school than I did, and he got into med school, and not just any but Heidelberg [which is considered one of the best of the country]. I always thought that unless you essentially had a 4.0 GPA there was no way you’d get into med school [here you start med-school right away, there is no pre-med].

** My roommates and me always joke that if one of us manages to injure themselves at home, at least the ER is right next door.

I may have mentioned before that there is the possibility I might get to go to New York City for a week early next year. Well, that possibility is pretty much definitely happening. And today, while sitting in class, instead of doodling, I started making a shopping list for NYC. Because who knows when I will get another chance to go to the States. By the time I will be going [mid-March] it will be almost four years since the last time.

The first [and only] time I went to NYC was in May 2005. At the end of my year of living in the States I went on a three-week trip along the east coast, starting in Boston and moving down to DC. I spent nine days in NYC and while I wouldn’t want to live there it was really a great city to visit, and I am looking forward to going again. Here are some pictures of my trip.

Chinatown.

Abercrombie ad with a yummy guy on 5th Avenue.

Me on Brooklyn Bridge.

Times Square (this is the picture I used in my blog header).

Statue of Liberty.

At a Yankees Game.

Coney Island.

Downtown Manhattan from the Empire State Building.

St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Central Park.

Being that this is an excursion with the English Department, a lot of program will be decided by the organizer, I know we will be seeing plays [mostly off-broadway] on most nights, and there will probably also be some daytime activities that have to do with theater and literature, but I think we will also get some time to venture out to do our thing and if nothing changes about the dates, I will also be leaving a couple of days early to have those days to myself. So, any suggestions what I should see? What I miss the first time around? Any insider tips? And where should I go shopping? And anyone who wants to meet up with me?

One thing I may want to do is go to/up the Statue of Liberty because that is something I didn’t do last time. I just took the picture from the ferry going to Staten Island. Also, any tips for places outside Manhattan? I barely left Manhattan during my first visit, so it’s well possible I missed out on something. I am really thrilled about this trip, so I hope everything works out.