Okay, well here is an account of my weekend adventure in Hamilton thus far. I started off on time out to the airport in Edmonton (on time for me is rare and worth noting). It took me 3 times to go through security because not only is my belt made of metal but even though I had been extra careful to not bring my Leatherman multitool, and to take all of my electronics out of my bag (which left very little in my carry-on) I had neglected to remember that my brother had purchased a small keychain-version of a multitool that I always keep on my keychain that I tried to “smuggle” through security in my fleece pocket. Needless to say I had to store that item and then walk through security again sans belt. Good thing I started early with the whole security thing. The plane trip on Westjet was uneventful and uncharacteristically short in comparison to my usual aviated adventures.
We arrived in Hamilton and it was a little bit soggy and colder than Edmonton but beautiful nonetheless. I caught a taxi with an unmistakeably African driver. We had a great talk and he was “amazed and impressed” with my knowledge of African geography. When he found out I lived in Malawi then he asked if I could guess where he was from based on geographical cues. No problem – he was Somalian. A Somalian who was very impressed that I had an understanding of Africa. He was so impressed that he arranged to pick me up on Sunday so that saved me an extra decision. He also said that I shouldn’t worry – that I would get into medical school.
This sweet Somalian man drove me to my Motel door and it was just as underwhelming as I had expected. But at least the outside was nice. Inside was a shy but sweet man who gave me my room key and conspired with me in how I was going to contact the AmazingKarenBrown (AKB). My room was a typical “motel suite”. I have stayed in worse however so all it really needed was a bed and a shower – which it had. It was however noticeably lacking a phone and an alarm clock (but it had 76 channels on the TV – priorities!) So after I settled into the motel I went out in search of a meal seeing as how I hadn’t eaten that day. I got some great fish and chips from the local “Whitney Fish and Chips” and brought it back to my room. After some interesting TV and some practice medical school questions there was a knock at the door. It was the boy from the “front desk” (there’s a reason that’s in quotation marks) AKB had called and left a number where I could reach her. We tried a bunch of times on his phone and it didn’t work and then I went back to the room and tried on the cell phone just for kicks and giggles and it worked! (I’m a little worried about what that 4 minute conversation cost Foreman but it was for a good cause). So we settled how we were going to meet and there was one less thing I had to worry about. I spent the rest of the night answering practice med school questions and perusing rental guides for Hamiton and surrounding area.
With the time difference being two hours earlier in Hamilton it was incredibly difficult to go to sleep at midnight (which would be 10 p.m. in Alberta) when I normally go to bed around 12-12:30 at home. That coupled with nerves for the interview and for the underwhelming safety of my motel room and it’s inadequate lock was not a good combination. I think I fell asleep around 1:30 a.m. Hamilton time.
Seeing as how I did not have an alarm clock in this 4 star resort of a motel I was incredibly glad that I had brought the cell phone and then had the intellect to not only remember I could use it as an alarm clock but figure out how to do so. I set it for 4 a.m. so that I would wake up around 6 (Hamiton time) and hopefully get up by 6:30. I had a shower that was inside a 2 ft. bathtub – why have a bathtub at all in that scenario is my question but whatever – and then as I was blowdrying my hair I hear a knock at the door. It was the manager I assumed and he very rudely said that I had to pay. I hadn’t paid the night before because the guy didn’t know what I was supposed to pay and I certainly didn’t know who this guy was and thought he was being incredibly rude and pushy and I was incredibly unimpressed with him. So I quickly got dressed and went to pay and instantly he was infinitely nicer. I asked if he could call me a cab to McMaster and he said that his wife was heading that way around 7:30 and she could drop me. So his uncouth manner was less upsetting to me as time went on. I got everything together and his wife was going to be late so he told her to go and told me he would drive me himself. So he left the motel to drive me specifically to McMaster. He kept saying “This is good. This is good. I drive you. I’ll get you where you need to go. We’ll find the place”. He was very sweet. He wanted to go to Emergency to find out where we needed to go and it took a lot for me to convince him that was not necessary. He got me right to the Main Door and he said “Not to worry, you’ll get in, I will think of you.” He waited to make sure it was the right door and when it was I went back to see him to tell him I would be fine and to thank him again.
The woman I met inside took us downstairs to where we needed to be. I registered and then went into this small room where they had breakfast snacks and coffee – needless to say people ate very little. Then after an hour of mingling there we were just about to move into the lecture hall for a more formal orientation to the day I see someone I am sure that I know. I go up to him read his nametag and who should it be but Casa de Ben from our University Choir. What a crazy coincidence! So we sat together for the Hamiton promotional video and the clips of Mac med students and then we were in different circuits so we said we would meet up at the luncheon after. He’s a flight attendant for Westjet if you can believe it and has already been accepted to UofA med school which makes a small part of me wish he would accept there and leave another spot for me at Mac but I’m now hoping that we will both get in at Mac so we can go to school together.
Anyway, the actual interview after many paragraphs of rambling and two hours of waiting at the University we were about to begin. They gave us 12 stickers with our names on them and we had to go through 12 stations, 10 minutes a station. My first station was the hardest one there because they had this actress who was pretending to be a family friend’s kid and you had to talk to her about making decisions about University which was NOT the best one to start with. This one was crazy but I still think I did ok. The rest of them were mostly scenario based a lot of ethical kinds of questions, one on what experiences we had that we think would make us good doctors and two stations that were sort of combined where you had to describe these pictures and the other person had to draw them and then you talked about your communication. Once it got going it was actually sort of fun and I’m taking comfort in the fact that I was very true to myself and so I can’t be too hard on myself about that.
After it was all over we went for the wonderful luncheon they’d prepared and there were 1st year med students there to answer questions and we all got to talk and everyone was SO nice. I SOOOOO want to go to this school! After some good conversation, a video made by the med students and a nice lunch it was 2 p.m. and I had to meet AKB and her hubby. A couple of girls from Nova Scotia and I shared a cab and I got back to my motel just before AKB and her hubby got there. As we were talking the motel manager came around the corner and asked how the interview went and said he had been sending me good wishes (I officially liked him at this point).
AKB, her hubby and I went for coffee and talked for hours, and AKB finally saw my Africa pictures which were great to share with her. It was good to spend some time with AKB’s hubby who I don’t know very well but although that was positive I was sad to not be able to spend some quality time alone with AKB. They are absolutely joined at the hip and I’m glad that Foreman and I have defined our relationship differently than that. Hopefully we’ll get to know them better if we end up moving to Hamilton. My whole time with them was about 4 hours and then I was back at my crazy motel room.
So here I sit with my homework and my thoughts of the day and no matter what the outcome I’m proud of myself for following my dreams and taking a chance.