The new year is often a time of reflection on the previous year and planning for the year to come. As I look back on 2013, it seems to be a lot of endings and new beginnings. Sure there was some bad, but there was also good – life is more exciting with both extremes after all. Here’s some of my experiences from the past year:

Got rejected from many MD/PhD programs

Played volleyball for the first time in an intramural league

Saw my beloved Gophers play an outdoor hockey game in Chicago and visited the city for the first time

Became seriously interested in writing/blogging

Lost my grandmother to cancer

Moved my grandfather out of the house he’d lived in for 58 years

Got accepted to a MD/PhD program

Played in my last pep band gig

Planned a dance (amazingly stressful)

Handed off my undergraduate leadership responsibilities

Completed my UROP research project

GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE

Quit caffeine

Got my first apartment on my own

Cleaned out an entire house

Digitized ~2,500 pictures of my family

Traced my family geneology back to 1090 A.D.

Went swing dancing for the first time

Celebrated 7 years as a hospital volunteer

Dressed up as Cinderella and visited kids at the hospital

Moved my undergrad lab to a new building

Moved by myself to a new state

Started my MD/PhD program

Began drinking coffee again

Made lots of new friends

Started biking regularly

Became a football fan

Ate sushi for the first time

Went to my first scientific meeting

Went home for homecoming

Began shadowing an oncologist

JOINED A THESIS LAB

Got a keyboard and began to play piano again

Surprised my family by turning some writing my grandmother unsuccessfully tried to publish into a self-published book.

Started planning my graduate research project!

Hope 2014 is just as exciting!!!