I did not know what to do with the interview invitation especially since they only had a handful of dates and times left because it was nearing the end of their interview season. And to make matters even more complicated, there were no spots left in Canada. I could not let this slip through my fingers like I had in the past so I mustered up the courage to let my mother know when she came home from work in the evening. I could feel the queasiness well up inside me from the palpitations I feared would become unmanageable. The anxiety building inside me was for the rejections I was expecting from my mother, or my father if my mother agreed, or the medical school after the interview. This was becoming too much for me to handle but I had to push through it.
When my mother came home in the afternoon I explained to her what I had been doing quietly for the past couple of weeks. My mother was surprised but understanding enough to agree that I should talk to my father about going for the interview. She agreed that I should accept the interview in New York and then talk to my father while presenting as much information about the program that I could gather. First rejection overcome! I was elated.
The next challenging task would be to convince my father to let me go for the interview and why going to this particular school will not be a disaster financially and professionally in the future. To be honest, I did not know too much about studying at European schools since a lot of North American students choose to go to the Caribbean schools because their education directly caters to returning and practicing in the United States and Canada.
For becoming a family medicine physician in Canada specifically, studying in the UK, Ireland and Australia can prove to be very beneficial. This is because once you graduate from these schools, you may choose to also apply for residency in those countries and be given a license to practice in Canada without having to complete additional training. This is great because that broadens your options on finding a residency program not restricted to Canada. However, going to one of these schools will be expensive. A few years prior to this, I applied to a medical school in Australia and received my admission but I, unfortunately, was not approved for a line of credit to come up with enough money to be able to afford going there. Since then my parents have been reluctant to let me try applying abroad due to how expensive it is as well.
Nevertheless, I was determined to give this another chance. My mother decided to help by cooking one of my father's favourite dishes after which we all sat down in the living room. My mother initiated the conversation by telling him I had something important to discuss. My heart was racing. After explaining the entire situation and why I wanted to go to this particular school and interview, my father's face did not look good. He had never heard of anyone going to Europe and he was uncomfortable. He knew nothing about this to help him out other than what I was telling him and of course, he could not go on just my word. My anxiety deflated with the pending rejection I would be receiving from him. My mother jumped in and told me to go to my room and she will discuss this with my father and that I can go ahead and book my ticket. My father was not happy having his opinion bypassed but he and my mother discussed this further in my absence. I think the fact that I had just gone through an emotional upheaval from my wedding being canceled helped in my cause since my parents were also still reeling from the guilt of putting me in that situation. In the end, my father very reluctantly caved to let me go to the interview and figure out the rest of the matter afterward. I was going to New York!
Until Next Time,
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