 The Joy of Motherhood
It has now been twenty-two years since that memorable, life-changing night in August. Time seems to have come and gone in almost an instant. I cannot even see where it went. I blinked after I nourished her from my bosom, the seat of my most intimate feelings, and opened my eyes today to magically see her blossom into a fine young lady. But just as time has remained invisible, so is the love I have for my daughter. You cannot even count and measure the things I have given up for her, the purest love I can offer. Prestige, awards, recognition, wealth, or material possession; none of these can replace the joy of being a mother.
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 Medicine requires stamina and grit. Studying past midnight, being on duty during a holiday, missing family events or hangouts, are not uncommon in the field. As the summer approaches, some of us may be yearning for a break especially in these unprecedented times. With this, we asked one of our alumni, Dr. Patricia Asuncion, Phi 2011B, UPCM 2016, how one could keep things light and fun in med school. “People have this idea that medicine (both studying for it and having it as a vocation) can be physically, mentally, and spiritually draining. How do you make med school fun? Do you have any fun med school stories that you would like to share?”When I found out that I got accepted in UPCM 10 years ago, I remember feeling two things: first, excitement because I got into my dream medical school; second, fear. Fear that I was going to give up my social life and live away from my family. My high school and college friends congratulated me with “We’re so proud of you! ‘Wag mo kami kakalimutan ah? Magpakita ka pa rin! Sumulat ka.” As if I was going to go abroad and phones weren’t invented yet. They say med school will suck the life out of you. It will, if you let it. Looking back, did I regret my decision? Sometimes. If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d probably be married with 2 kids right now. But did I enjoy it? Yes!
9. This is your second chance of being a student. So be a student wisely. You are now a 20-something year old student. You’re at the peak of your life, and yet you are still doing “student things”. Enjoy it. No, I don’t mean to get drunk everyday and flunk your subjects. Be a student wisely. Go where it is that you’ll have the most meaningful fun. Attend school events and traditions. For me, one of my most favorites was Lady Med. Now speaking as a Rupaul’s Drag Race fan, I can’t believe that back then I was somehow living my drag dream by transforming straight male students into queens and have them compete in a pageant. We were make up artists, backup dancers, video editors, and stage personnel. It was such a fun class production! Another med school tradition I was able to enjoy was SUNOG or PURI where interns cheer on their favorite people and shout at the people they despise. This seems disruptive, but trust me it is very therapeutic. Please thank our class for our sunog efforts and successfully abolishing PACU (Anesth post op) monitoring for it was such a pain.  Sunog-Puri 2016 10. Join Phi This list wouldn’t have been possible if not because of my Phi sisses. If not for Phi, I will not be giving tips like this. I will just be saying tired phrases like “Study hard.”, “Don’t dull your sparkle”, “Be your best self”, etc. Because of Phi, I found new friends and family in my sisses and brods. It opened the door for me to gain lots of experiences in med school. We studied, we partied, we travelled, we contributed to society, we learned new hobbies together, you name it! I will be forever grateful to my sisses and brods for joining Phi was truly the best decision I made in med school. You may think that me and my friends were delinquent students. Trust me, we’re not. We just found the best way of balancing studies and enjoying our youth. After all, we were 20-somethings looking to live the best life possible. A lot of the craziest people I know graduated with honors. A lot of those “party people” ended up topping our class, eventually becoming chief residents and fellows.
You will not remember med school in your room leafing through a 1000 page book. What you’ll remember are the drunken nights with friends, the hustle and bustle of pulling off a school event, and going to places with your most favorite people. Once this pandemic is over, my wish for each and everyone is to get out and LIVE. ☺  "Do you have any med school love stories?"When I first started my journey in UPCM, finding love was the least of my priorities. Like every single medical student out there, my main concerns revolved around nothing more than grades. And again, like every other medical student, I soon learned that this was my first official mistake. Luckily, I was able to meet a lot of great people in UPCM who taught me how to stop and smell the roses. With these people, the load of medical school turned out to be much more manageable and enjoyable too. One of them includes my boyfriend, whom I met on the first day of classes in LU3. Back then, our schedules were exactly the same. We would spend almost the whole day together - from attending classes in Buenafe Hall to studying out in nearby cafes like Esso or Mr. Park’s ‘til we called it a day. Our friendship evolved from all the highs and lows of med school. We had toxic dissection days, stressful lab exams, and nerve-wracking OSCEs. But we also had fun breaks wherein we would attend parties, play sports, or just watch movies all night with our friends. After all the time we spent together, he became my go-to person whenever I needed to rant, joke around, or hear a pep talk. He made med school so much easier because in many ways, we complemented each other. Long story short, we just clicked. From being best friends, we decided to give our relationship a shot. I still fondly recall how it all began with our first one-on-one “date.” He knew I was a huge sports fan and that I’ve always wanted to watch a live UAAP basketball game. Fortunately, at that time, UP had a semifinal game against Adamson during one of our intermodule weekends. This was an important game because after years of struggling, the UP basketball team finally had a chance of getting into the finals. I initially thought I was going to watch the game with him on TV, but he ended up surprising me with tickets! Proudly donning our UP gear, we headed to the game where he taught me all the school's cheers and gave me a crash course on UAAP basketball. After an intense two hours, UP ended up with the win and we left the colosseum with big smiles on our faces and butterflies in our stomachs. I mean, a rare UP basketball win had to be a good sign, right? Fast forward to 2 years later, we’re both in LU5 now and we have completely different schedules. Because of all our online classes, I don’t get to see him as much as I used to. But even though we live in the opposite sides of Metro Manila, he still makes it a point to visit me at least once a week. We still try to keep that kilig factor alive by spontaneously sending each other small gifts, FaceTime-ing while studying, and finding new activities/hobbies we can do during our dates. "Having time for studying, extra-curriculars, and personal life can be really challenging. Would you have any advice for balancing med life and love life? " |
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