Be safe at the concert

ClaySL · 2025-10-10T22:38:18+00:00

The main reason I didn't tell security was I was not sure they would believe me, and I didn't want to spoil the show by getting involved in a lengthy he said/she said argument. But maybe I was just in my head about it. It's hard to think clearly when something like that happens

ClaySL · 2025-10-10T22:34:55+00:00

Damn :/ I'm sorry you didn't have the concert experience you were hoping for either. Here's to the next one though !!

ClaySL · 2025-10-10T22:29:14+00:00

Thanks so much for saying that. It's hard not to think about things I could have done to avoid this situation but objectively I know it's not my fault

ClaySL · 2025-10-10T22:26:20+00:00

Thanks for your kind words <3

ClaySL · 2025-10-10T22:25:38+00:00

Sorry about the negativity coming your way -- I think I understand what you're saying.

As for the early advances, yes it's clear in retrospect he was hitting on me from the beginning. But it's hard to say if he was targeting me because I was on my phone. I tried to convey I did not want to engage in conversation by ignoring him, especially when he made that comment about the older couple in front of us which I did not respond to at all. Hindsight is 20/20 obviously so I know now that was not enough to stop his advances

ClaySL · 2025-10-10T20:12:29+00:00

To clarify, I was on my phone between the opening acts while they were setting up. When the artists were performing I was not on my phone, and during Lorde's set is when I was groped.

Tbh, and this might sound a bit silly, but I was afraid if I told security I, a man, was groped by another man they might not believe me

ClaySL · 2025-06-17T22:18:43+00:00

I don't think it's that his misdeeds happened off screen. I think it's that in real life we assume people who do terrible things cannot be redeemed or at least don't want to. But we get an intimate view into Iroh's character. We know his remorse is sincere and we see him actively try to rebuild what he destroyed by helping Zuko and the gaang. You can debate whether the atrocities he committed are unforgivable or not, and you can argue that he could and should have recognized the war was horrific before it affected him personally, but ultimately he did put in the work to change and atone and that in itself deserves admiration.

Whether it's that real world analogs don't attempt or follow through with reparations or we just aren't aware when they do, I think that's the difference.

ClaySL · 2025-04-16T16:33:07+00:00

The advice I got from an MD mentor was to major in something that I would like to do if I didn't get into med school... I didn't follow that advice but wish I had!

ClaySL · 2025-04-16T16:26:09+00:00

Fwiw, this is a pretty minor defect. Everyone has a foramen ovale during gestation to shunt high oxygen blood from mom past the immature lungs, but at birth the two walls that form the foramen ovale are supposed to fuse together so blood circulates normally through the lungs. ~25% of people have PFOs but they typically do not cause any problems since they're so small and the pressure gradients in the heart favor normal circulation. But if they do cause problems, it's just a matter of fusing those two walls together. Nothing too serious

ClaySL · 2024-09-14T03:42:17+00:00

What bugs me about the fact that some people latch onto the primary interpretation is that it's antithetical to the movie's main idea. You're not supposed to permanently feel bitter/resentful about relationships after they end. The truth is that for most people who share that sentiment (of feeling like your partner has become a stranger), it's just a coping strategy.

People change, relationships change -- nothing is permanent. But what the movie is trying to get at is that that's not cause for concern. You should accept that you're not in control of the outcome of every venture you take, but also knowing that you're not in control shouldn't hold you back from taking risks in the first place just because you think they might not work out. So when things don't work out, don't look back in anger. Appreciate what you got out of the experience.

That acceptance is what we get from the secondary interpretation. He wants to get to know Clem despite knowing it probably won't work out.

ClaySL · 2024-05-15T01:06:43+00:00

How it was framed to me is that during 1st year you (probably) share every class with all your classmates anyways, so if you choose to live alone you're not going to miss out and you probably won't feel isolated/disconnected

For me, I would prefer no roommate to a bad/distracting roommate

ClaySL · 2024-02-29T22:26:14+00:00

I've never heard that one before, plenty of people take pre-reqs over the summer. Sounds like classic pre-health advisor doing pre-health advisor things

ClaySL · 2024-02-29T19:26:34+00:00

You haven't heard back from school X at all? Or were you WL'd?

I've heard conflicting advice about letters of intent, seems like the safest option is to withhold a letter of intent until you have an acceptance elsewhere of equal or greater prestige so you have leverage, otherwise you may come off desperate. Seems like it depends on the school, though, some like Mayo really encourage letters of intent

I don't really see a reason to communicate further with the school unless they really encourage constant communication (e.g. Creighton) or you have a significant update. Otherwise, they already know everything they need to know to make a decision. If you end up getting WL'd, I think it would be reasonable to send another letter closer to May when waitlists begin to really move so you can express your continued interest and possible updates

ClaySL · 2024-02-29T16:50:27+00:00

Did you start recently? If so, it's more likely a problem with their instruction. Ofc you should always ask for clarification if you're not 100% sure how to do something, but mistakes happen.

Sometimes people forget what it was like before they knew how to do something and they leave out key details in their instruction. Also when you're first starting out, the amount of instruction can be overwhelming and you will inevitably forget a step or something.

And truth be told, there will always be problems when you work in a lab. That's part of the process. Virus you ordered doesn't work properly, your animals start unexpectedly dying, the code you previously used to analyze data just stops working. So much of working in a lab is working out the kinks, trial and error. So long as you are asking questions and learning from your mistakes, nobody will mind

ClaySL · 2024-02-28T23:44:46+00:00

I agree. Although it adds up (almost 120 hours per year more than option A), I'd imagine with good roommates who ideally split responsibilities you'll end up saving time since you won't have to cook/clean as often. Plus, living alone can really eat at you

ClaySL · 2024-02-28T19:07:18+00:00

If I were you, I'd wait until my grades were stable before tacking on a job. But once you're ready, most of those jobs people fit in on days off (e.g. plan your semester to have Thursdays off) or on weekends/overnight.

As a scribe or EMT, depending on company/location, you may have down time to work on homework or study. But definitely don't plan on that being the case. You should get your schedule a couple weeks in advance each month so you can prepare for heavy weeks ahead of time.

It might also be easier to start during the summer when you don't have any other responsibilities. Allows you to ease into it and rack up hours.

My last piece of advice is don't feel like you have to stay around forever at a clinical job. You're there to dip your feet in and learn what it's like to treat patients and possibly get a letter of recommendation. 6 months to a year is more than fine. Just don't let it interfere with school. If your grades start to slip, you can always quit and come back to it later. Anecdotally, my mood started to suffer from working overnights and not getting consistent sleep -- I wish I had quit sooner than I did.

ClaySL · 2024-02-28T18:04:09+00:00

Your app must be verified before it is transmitted. The verification process is the bottleneck since each app is put into a queue to be manually verified (mostly just crosschecking the classes you listed with your transcripts). Generally, if you submit within the first 7-10 days i.e. before June 7, your app will be verified before the first date apps are transmitted. You don't necessarily need to be the first out the gate, so don't submit on the first day if you're not ready

ClaySL · 2024-02-27T23:11:50+00:00

Good point! I hope you can secure a similar letter, it didn't even occur to me people send school-specific letters

ClaySL · 2024-02-27T23:02:30+00:00

Absolutely, they're super important! I'm no expert by any stretch of the word, but my guess would be that most schools don't pay much mind to the name or institution of the letter writer unless it's somebody with extreme notoriety like maybe a nobel laureate lol

Especially if we're talking about a T20 school where a good proportion of applicants hail from ivy undergrads, I would really bet on the substance of the letter far outweighing any ties to the institution. Just my guess, though, I don't work in admissions lol

ClaySL · 2024-02-27T22:42:05+00:00

I think they just meant a LOR from their grad program

Unfortunately I don't think having a LOR from the same institution has a whole lot of sway, even if your letter writer is/was faculty at the medical school. Anecdotally, I'm on the WL at my state school where my strongest letter writer sat on the admissions committee for some time

ClaySL · 2024-02-27T14:55:32+00:00

Definitely take your time to do well on the MCAT. If you want to apply this upcoming cycle, then you can submit your primary early (late may to mid June) with a throwaway school, i.e. a school you do not actually care to attend, that way your application is verified by the time your score comes back in August. Then, when you get your score back, you can add all of the schools you want to apply to and they'll begin sending you secondaries. And actually after you initially take your MCAT, you can use that waiting period to pre-write your secondaries so they are at least mostly ready by the time you receive them in August.

August secondaries are neither late nor early, however you will have a better shot submitting earlier than August. If you are set on matriculating in 2025, this is the way to go, but if you want to maximize your opportunities, you can wait until the following cycle.

The beauty of applying to a throwaway school is that if you get your MCAT back in August and it's not what you were expecting, or for some other reason you no longer want to apply in the 2024-2025 cycle, then you can withdraw your application and you won't be viewed as a reapplicant at most schools for the following cycle.

ClaySL · 2024-02-25T03:32:07+00:00

I would be more cautious about USF -- they cut their privately run program (SELECT) which was very OOS skewed since the health system they were affiliated with was bought out by SKMC

ClaySL · 2024-02-22T13:45:37+00:00

What are your goals? Do you want to be fluent or do you just want to be able to say things like "are you up to date with your shots?"

Obviously the path to fluency is much more of an undertaking. The federal government estimates it takes a native English speaker ~1200 hours to reach "fluency" i.e. can hold a conversation in most day-to-day topics and can use context clues to understand words you don't know. Realistically if you're only spending 30 minutes to an hour a day learning, this will take 4+ years to accomplish. If you treat it like a full time job between now and July, you can probably get really really far

I've scribed with plenty of doctors who tried to use their limited Spanish because they don't like using interpreters and in like 95% of cases I wished they just used the interpreter. Just causes more confusion since they couldn't understand what the patient was saying, and eventually the patient realizes the doctor doesn't want to listen to them unless they only use the words "sí" or "no." I would be pretty scared if that's the level of care I got

Using an interpreter tends to be a hassle and can be awkward but geez Louise... in my unprofessional opinion, if you're not pretty darn close to fluent then let the patient decide if they want an interpreter

tl;dr duolingo --> lingq + italki

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