Marathon not a sprint, but...

As many of you have said here on OPM this process is a marathon not a sprint. But, I am beginning to feel like it is a crawl. I was planning to take Chem 2 this summer then Orgo 1&2 and Physics 1&2 next year, MCAT April 2005 and apply for 2006. I discovered between working, reviewing chem 1 on my own, research, research presentations,writing manuscripts, and volunteering that if I take chem 2 I will not see my husband and my son all summer. I have to drive 3 hours round trip to St.Paul Minnesota M-Th for class.
So… after much deliberation I have decided to take pre reqs over 2 years (including chem 1 since that was 20 yrs ago, complete my manuscripts and continue to volunteer( as I have for > 20 years)(Currently one of my volunteer activities is to get a Reach Out and Read Proram at Mayo.I am passionate about this) This two year plan will allow me to take more courses, not take classes over the summers and see my husband and 10 yr old son. I am taking the courses to prepare for the MCAT. I have taken many science courses previously, but that was 20 yrs ago with undergrad GPA of 3.8. Howver, I am a little diappointed because now I will be 3 years behind my original plan. Yet, there are many positives as I have stated previously. Also, with the additional time I have spent a significant amount of time doing pediatirc clinical research, presenting and writing manuscripts.
I know this is the right thing to do, but the goal driven part of me wants to get everything done in one year. What does everyone think?
Shirl

I think it’s typical. Once this belated drive awakens, all the pent-up inspiration wants to shove you along as fast as you can. But it’s such a long journey, you have to make each step as enjoyable as you can. You can’t hold your breath for ten years.
Sigh, whine, stomp your feet at the latest delay. I always do. Then you can think of the fun things you will do with your family with that time you’ve saved. Savor the free moments in the delay periods. You know in your heart you’re doing the right thing.
Don’t it suck, sometimes, though?

I know that it can be very frustrating. I am in the same boat just not with the good UG GPA. I am a year away from graduating with a Masters degree, a feat that I have been working on since 1998 but one that has picked up steam in 2001.
When I realized that I had a good Graduate GPA I decided to see if the one goal I have always had was truly left for dead. When I found this website a little while back, I realized that the answer was No. But I knew that the journey would be long and hard. Filled with frustration, impatience, doubts, fear, and lots of questions.
Let me relay a dream that I had over the weekend, the day before I went to Open house of my first choice. This is going to sound weird, but after thinking about it and deciding that I understand the dream it may actually make sense.
I was riding in a delivery truck with a bunch of other people. The person who was driving was none other than Jason, the monster from the Friday the 13th movies. He grabbed someone and trew her out the window killing her (my dream was very graphic so I will spare you the details). He then grabbed me and threw me out the window. I landed in a gravel and stone pit and was buried. He came back to check and see if I was dead. I was not, but I pretended to be.
Finally I decided to get up and make a run for it. The dream moves back to where I was buried and a suave, well dressed man looks upset. He said “if we are having a funeral for the guy who is dead, why is there no body?” The man looked up and saw me running through the woods (typical Friday the 13th style). Next thing I know, the man is Jason again. But this time he is chasing me and throwing knives at me. He keeps missing but he keeps coming.
I woke up at this point with my heart beating out of my chest. I told my wife the dream and she thought I saw too many horror movies.
When I went to the open house I was a little discouraged after talking to the dean of admissions, due to my “baggage” which was my poor performance in college.
On my way home I figured it out.
1) My driving in the delivery truck: my undergraduate road as a pre-med. It was a road and it was a truck so it should have been a relatively easy route to medical school.
2) Jason driving: the bad grades I was getting was dicting how I was to travel that road. Other people in the truck were other pre-meds. The woman who was killed was a person who was no longer a pre-med.
3) My being thrown out and buried: My GPA was bad enough that I thought the road to medical school was over and my dream dead.
4) My getting up and running through the woods: I go to graduate school and my GPA is very good and I start on the road back to medical school as a non traditional student with a poor undergraduate GPA. The woods show how much more difficult the path is.
5) Jason coming after me throwing knives: My old GPA coming back to haunt me trying to kill my dream again.
6) I wake up: The path is not over.

And this is my fear. Something that I am working to overcome. WE all are.
I hope this was not only helpful but entertaining as well.

Once I realized that it would be at least 2-3 years before I am ready to apply, I decided to view it as a positive. I’ve decided that this gives me time to not only concentrate on my gpa, but other areas (i.e. shadowing, volunteering, etc.). When I think about all I want to do, it doesn’t seem like that long at all!