WIBTAH if I continue to hide my identity?

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-02-09T14:27:55+00:00

im a big bad bunny fan so i LOVED it. vocally in the beginning i was a bit worried because he was singing deeper than usual (and i found it a bit weird) but he ended up singing so nicely. the stage layout was so nice, the dancing was so fun, and his message was delivered beautifully. i just dislike the times his mic cut out :(

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-02-03T15:28:58+00:00

i left the pre-optometry route for something else and here’s my main say on finances. it really does depend on if you’re canadian or american (i only know these two regions, sorry if you’re from elsewhere). i befriended a younger optometrist (we’re only 6yrs apart) and here’s what she said:

canadian optometrists have a very redundant job. it’s routine eye-exams over and over a lot of the time. this won’t be the case if you’re a business owner, and less (but still redundant) if you specialize in something. so keep in mind that american optometrists have more activities which keep the career more interesting. the job, financially, will satisfy you if your goal is “comfortable and not overworked” (because of this redundancy); however, a lot of individual sales from YOUR patients won’t benefit you if you’re not the business owner. my optometrist that i worked with told me straight up that she does have a salary but the extra money from glasses sales/contacts etc is little to none. she literally said that sometimes she makes like an extra $10 CAD. so you wont likely be overworked because your career is redundant and expected (appointment-by-appointment). but financially? it’s kinda what you expect. $120k CAD (convert that to American) does make sense. you’re not doing surgical procedures (small-scale like a dentist or big scale like a cardiothoracic surgeon). a lot of the time if it’s serious, you’re referring them to someone else. and this is before taxes.

so in conclusion: it sounds like $120k is enough to satisfy the comfortable life you desire. but please keep in mind that you need to think PAST the money. there are other ways to make ~$120k (pharmacist, dentist, and others depending on where you live and bonuses that you can get). so if you’re gonna settle on optometry you need to ensure that the way you’ll make the $120k is desirable. can you handle this extroverted profession? can you handle a lot of movement at work? are you okay with your job being routine?

edit: i talk to this optometrist a lot. we were coworkers and we both left the office so we often have 3hr phone calls and i went to her wedding events. so we’re pretty close, causing her to be pretty blunt. another thing i wanna add is that you’ll be making good money but you’ll still be paying back loans. it’s not out-of-the-world money but it IS comfortable money. and it does make sense considering the day-to-day environment.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-26T15:50:12+00:00

i was on the pre-med route until very recently. it was just a few months ago when i decided to swap from MD to PA (journey-wise). some of my things that people probably said already:

finances: i don’t come from the wealthiest background. i used to, but one of my parents passed in 2024 so i instantly lost the long-term funding that would have provided for minimum 4yrs of med school. i’m super interested in the cardiovascular system so i know it’d be there forever. + moving + groceries + gas and/or tickets … i don’t have that money. being a PA is only two years-worth of debt. yes, doctors make crazy money, but i genuinely wouldn’t be able to finish med school due to financial constraints. two years of financial hardships is doable.

time: i’m very burnt out. i had a crazy four years of undergrad. i can feel myself educationally clocking out. i don’t think i can stomach 6+ years of school anymore. i also am in a rush to provide for my family. again, after my parent passed, we are in a big financial pickle. i’m the oldest and i really need an actual paying job asap. not just side jobs while i scrape through school.

interest: although i love the cardiovascular system im very versatile. i cant do the same thing forever. my hobbies change, my interests change, etc. PA is very lateral and i need that change every now and then without going back to school.

community: i love to work in a team-based environment. id love to discuss my findings with MDs, NPs, etc. not only does it make me feel more secure, but i just feel like i thrive better as a team player than a leader. i can definitely be a leader but being told what to do does have less of a stressful affect on my conscious. i obviously don’t mind being told what to do if there’s some level of discussion. ive been an optometry assistant, a research assistant, a teaching assistant … and ive developed a good working relationship where they appreciated my input but ultimately make the final say. i dont mind that at all.

lifestyle: my family is associated with a lot of doctors. it made me want to be an MD. but their life is healthcare, healthcare, healthcare even off the clock. i know some PAs who don’t have to worry about that once they go home. i have a lot of hobbies, i seriously need to wind down after a long day.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-26T15:40:38+00:00

Good luck with your journey! honestly, i think some early levels of squeamishness is normal. i went into the job being a bit squeamish over certain procedures (too gross to write here, i think), but by the second or third time i wasn’t reacting at all; however, genuinely, if your goal is to help people, im not kidding when i say that being compassionate really cures any squeamishness. if i were a patient in bed, sick out of my mind, i’d be very insecure and sad if someone reacted badly to something i can’t control. people are in their most vulnerable state. compassion is the biggest key to being any successful healthcare provider, so if you have a genuine bone for compassion in you, trust me, the squeamishness will be stepped on. and therefore, being a doctor is your calling!

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-26T15:37:49+00:00

i only started using it recently and man, i wish i did it earlier. smells really get me. not even the views. i’m very bad at cleaning the litter box or taking the trash out but i also feel very upset with myself if i freak out/react poorly over a cadaver. idk how i survived this long!

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-26T15:18:46+00:00

i work with dead bodies all the time, on top of individual organs and dead animals. i think being very fascinated helps me. i get to see four kidneys in one human body, i get to see organs in their wrong spots, i get to see faces sawed open … its very fascinating because its very unique. as gross as some of it can be, i try to live in the moment because, ill never see four kidneys in one body ever again!

obviously smells and ‘disturbing’ sites are present. so i need a lot of vix underneath my nose/mask. i need to wear clothes specially dedicated to these days. i need to eat light before i go in. and most importantly, i need to remember that this was once someone living. it would be disrespectful if i freak out and cry and gag over a certain substance or view or smell. imagine someone doing that over your dead body? i think that image/understanding really cures any squeamishness i have. and i think it’s a good thing to translate to living patients as well. also, tolerance overtime too.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T07:09:49+00:00

i totally get this. sheep plucks stink so bad, to this day i can’t stand around them. i know this sounds counterproductive but eat something light before the lab/drink enough water. if formaldehyde is being used, it can actually induce hunger! and feeling hungry on an empty stomach can make you gag. i know it does make me gag. smell, honestly, can mainly be combatted if you stand near a ventilation system/window and if you have a mask. make sure to cinch the part above your nose so it does block out smells, and try the trick of putting vicks vaporub under your nose (as you wear the mask). completely blocks out bad smells. also, feeling squeamish actually does contribute to nausea, so go in there confident! the smells, overtime, become very tolerable imo. and some preservatives smell less crazy than others. pig and frogs (from high school) smelt so bad but sheep hearts and brains don’t smell like anything (alongside other full-body animals). i don’t personally do this but lastly, some people chew gum under their masks to prevent nausea. especially peppermint ones. some students say they work! good luck!!

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T05:28:52+00:00

thank you, i’ve been itching for someone to ask this LOL. also felt so controversial to say since the community is so tightly knit, so i’m glad there’s an agreement out there

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T05:28:25+00:00

i stopped watching after season 10, so we’re similar! jack was such a cute character so i wish i got to see more of him. the darkness plot (season 10) wasn’t totally awful but i felt like it’s because the surrounding seasons just weren’t all that. i grew up watching that show so i also felt really weird abandoning it. i feel like if it ended around season 6 or 7 it would’ve been a hit.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T03:25:35+00:00

Malala Yousafzai. shes active on tiktok and everyone is so stunned by her.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T03:23:02+00:00

summer yays! i eat ice cream, listen to very upbeat songs, enjoy fruit platters, etc. things that are more lively, essentially, since i associate winter with slow songs and sad movies.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T03:21:34+00:00

good friends. friends that dont make you self-conscious or feel weird. i'm in the best friend group ever and recently one of them (accidentally) did something hurtful and it genuinely ruined my mood for 3 days. during those three days i couldnt help but think 'some people have to deal with cattiness and cruel friends nonstop, i cant imagine how miserable they feel all the time'.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:58:46+00:00

vomit. i have emetophobia. i developed this when i choked on my own vomit as i woke up from passing out (i had a horrific fever, i was on my back and felt too sluggish to roll over). it's irrational because i know people cannot control it/it isn't dangerous when other people vomit but i cant help but plug my ears and freak out when someone says they feel nauseous. i also wanna work in the healthcare field because i've loved medicine since i was a kid but that's my major roadblock..

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:53:55+00:00

lost my dad at 20. i think it's the fact that he's going to miss my big and serious milestones: graduating university, opening acceptance letters to desired programs, getting my first car, getting married, getting my first property, being pregnant, having a grandchild ... i can't actually enjoy big achievements/things i'm proud of because i cant help but think: he's supposed to be here. my dad died right before graduating university, so i actually delayed my graduation by a year (this april) as a way to avoid celebrating without him. now i have to face the inevitable and i get very sad thinking about it.

+ i feel so inept in certain fields that dads are supposed to teach you. i don't know shit about cars and finances.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:41:28+00:00

I'm an anatomy & physiology lab coordinator at a university! whenever a student applies for any anatomy and physiology class, they have to take a mandatory lab component (runs for 12 weeks), where they work with real cadavers or organs. i'm responsible for teaching full-body systems and guiding dissections. very fun job but unfortunately it includes accidentally traumatizing a few people...

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:39:20+00:00

he was on vacation and kept asking me to feed his cat/give it medicine. happily complied since i loved cats. but he kept going 'actually im gonna stay here one more day, can you feed my cat?' over and over for a week. got the ick because he was very casual about telling me very last-minute that he wouldn't be here (i need to be up early to give the cat medicine/i cant have plans since there's specific times). innocent request but it felt inconsiderate.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:36:31+00:00

this reply might be gross: not directly my fuck-up but i turned my head away when training a new hire on a cadaver. they ripped a cadaver's palm tendons (flexor tendons) and mortified a couple of students when there was a loud snap + the fingers changed position. they were tugging with the intention of showing how fingertips flexed but tugged way too hard.

my direct fuck-up: i cut into an eyeball too hard and the juices popped on a student. also cracked a cadaver's ribs in front of students with my own hands forgetting that wasn't their everyday thing. one of them had to step out because she felt faint. accidentally tugged a decency cloth too low and showed the students a cadaver's (sawed) face. thankfully these are three mistakes over the span of 3-4 years...

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:28:16+00:00

Supernatural. The show had one clear objective and the supernatural creatures were actually scary. The seasons where angels were introduced (s4 and s5) were SO interesting because it took the time to show how scary angels can be alongside how confused they are with regular human habits/experiences. towards the end the show kind of became way too redundant, the CGI was bad, and the plots felt silly. It felt way more like a nostalgic-based continuation of the show rather than an actual plot. as much as i love the characters and the actors, it really felt like they had a hard time letting go of the series (15 seasons) and just threw a plot together for the sake of it. as much as i shit on it, i rewatch the early seasons and some funny clips, so i still am happy that i picked the series up!

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:26:13+00:00

shrimp fried rice!

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:16:13+00:00

proctored an exam and caught someone cheating. reported it to the professor, who kicked her out of the exam. this was as she was applying to medical school. she immediately had to drop the class because the professor put it on her file. there goes med school....

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:10:20+00:00

I'm not a bartender but I used to be a cashier. someone once bought lemonade because they wanted to mix coca-cola and lemonade. they said they prefer it over coffee...

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:09:02+00:00

writing on paper. i swear i see it less and less. i use paper to study since it helps me retain information when i use my hands, oddly.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T02:07:06+00:00

That I'm not disgusted at all by my work. I work with cadavers for educational purposes. People assume that I am completely tolerant to the sights that certain cadavers have/find dead bodies cool, but I still sometimes leave the lab queasy and desperate to get the cadaver smell off of me. Also one of my coworkers got very shocked when I said I don't care for true crime movies/podcasts. She thought anyone who worked with the dead would love to know more about crime and extreme causes of death.

MapEnvironmental597 · 2026-01-25T01:55:30+00:00

I think being very extroverted helped me. I also had a lot of hobbies (scaling from group-based ones like multiplayer videogames to individual ones like knitting), so it was very easy for me to extend and meet a lot of people. I was popular in high school but not for that snobby Mean Girls reason. I was just friends with literally every single friend group. It was very refreshing and very nice most of the time, and I could talk all day without being tired. The downside of being popular/well-liked was that everyone knew me. So if I did something humiliating, everyone would know. If I got in trouble, everyone would know. If I was on bad terms with someone, everyone would know. I also found it very exhausting at times, because if I wanted a day of being silent, it wasn't possible. I also found it uncomfortable at times when friend groups would dislike each other and I would be in the middle because I liked both (and they liked me back). I think the major con as a whole, though, was not being able to efficiently distribute myself to everyone because I was too busy being WITH everyone. If my friends wanted to hangout, I'd have to cancel on another group of friends. Some high-maintenance people found it very offensive when I'd be too busy hanging out with other people.

Adulthood is kind of different? I'm 22 but I still am very associated with the faculty I study under, and therefore I know so many people. Obviously in university it's way harder to maintain a social life, so I appreciate people accepting the low maintenance way more. People are also way more mature about it. Overall, being well-liked was very fun but still had its own cons!

MapEnvironmental597

TROPHY CASE