Shadowing! The ultimate inspiration.

Happy Thursday everyone! Yesterday (and a few other days throughout this year) I had the awesome privilege of shadowing an OB/GYN (Obstetrician/Gynecologist) here in the Miami area. Before I go into detail, here is a small history of how this even started...

Last year I was intent on finding an OB/GYN to shadow since that is the specialty I have been interested as a pre-medical student. I don't remember why I thought the bright idea of googling doctors was a good idea but, thank God it worked after sending several emails to different OB/GYNs in my area. I don't remember how many emails I sent out, but I only got two replies: one doctor who worked at the University of Miami Hospital regretted to tell me she had just retired, and another by the name of Dr. Ernesto Cardenas. He spoke to me personally on the phone about my goals; why did I want to become a doctor? Where am I currently in my studies? Why OB/GYN (for the both of us)?

After a letter of recommendation and my resume were sent, we made plans to start shadowing in January!

snapchat selfies at 7:30 am, when no one's looking...

But back to Wednesday's shadowing. The last time I shadowed, I remembered he said that I would start doing things the next time. I didn't know how much "doing" this entailed but I mentally prepared myself. "Shadowing is not a spectator sport!" he said. I scrubbed in on a Cesarean section, donned the surgical gown, boots, and hat, and observed the cutting of several layers until, voila! The baby was out. I observed the suturing steps and helped with wiping blood off the visual field, and later intently watched the final closing.
I also literally ran from his office to the labor and delivery floor with him, observed a vaginal birth, and shadowed Dr. Cardenas in his private practice.

Be ready for everything! If you're doctor's a hip young fellow, you must be ready for selfies too!

For those of you who are interested in medicine, shadowing a physician is an awesome way to gain understanding as to what a physician does from day to day. I highly recommend shadowing long term because, in my opinion, the more often you're there, the more you'll be able to witness. One or two days won't cut it.

I'm so thankful to Dr. Cardenas for first of all, going out on a limb since he didn't know me AT ALL, and taking me under his wing. I've learned so much this year thanks to him and truthfully, these experiences put everything into perspective and push me to continue to work for my dream. Thank you for the little diagrams you've drawn for me on random pieces of paper, and quick Obstetrics 101 lessons you give me before seeing a patient.

Continue working for yours! Whatever it takes...


-Mel

A Monday inspiration...

When it comes to goals, endeavors, plans, etc. we usually know exactly what we want. We want to graduate college and be successful, fall in love and get married, have a child or two or three...
we WANT to believe it is that easy.
we WANT to believe that we, ourselves, can make it happen.
What we don't want to believe is that success in any form is not an elevator ride.

Success takes several flights of stairs, with you tripping and falling here and there along the way because your shoes were untied, you missed a step, you got TIRED.
And when you're faced with the grief, the ugly part of what helps bring success, you begin to question whether you can do it or not.

What we fail to remember is that success also takes faith. I have made the mistake of not incorporating my faith in God in my endeavors and it has landed me on my hands and knees several times. Because this has happened several times, I've developed fear. What if my efforts aren't enough? Is God hearing me when I pray? Am I even in conjunction with God right now?

First, make sure you get your life in order with God. Righteousness plays a big part in it. If you're doing things that are questionable, take a good look at yourself and get rid of it. Mental health comes next: if you are holding on to fear, and a depressive conscience you are blocking Gods communication to you. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. - 2 Timothy 1:7
Second, GET ON YOUR KNEES and pray. Talk to God, with respect, but as if He were a friend right next to you. Tell Him everything, and hold nothing back. Whatever makes you scared, whatever you're unsure of, whatever worries you- tell Him about it. Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. - Philippians 4:6
Last, get up and put forth your best effort in all that you do, remembering that God has heard your prayer. Believe that everything will work out, in due time. But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. -Romans 8:25
I have a work to do within myself concerning all of these things, but it would not do well for me to understand and keep them within me. So I'm sharing them with you and encourage you to do the same with others!


For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:11-13

Solo Sunday

Happy Sunday everyone.

I know a lot of us like to say that we like doing things by ourselves, and while that may be true, there are just some things that don't quite work for us to do completely alone. Brunch is one of them.
Now, I didn't originally plan to go have brunch by myself, I had plans with someone else but...

I was stood up.

Literally...it's 4pm and I still haven't heard from the person. And my plans were for 10:45am!

With a little encouragement, I went anyway and had breakfast by myself, with still enough of an experience to blog about which I will at the end of this post but before I do that, I must quickly rant and say this:

Don't make plans if you're unsure that you can keep them. And if it so happens that you can't keep them, let the other person know so they aren't sitting around waiting for you. To be completely honest (and in my opinion of course), it reflects poorly on you if you don't give a courtesy call or text to let someone know you can't make it. Have some respect for others and their time. They don't have all day, thats why "plans" are made.

With that said...let's talk brunch..

 

I googled places to brunch in Miami and sifted through pictures and reviews and instagram posts and thought this place was promising enough. Located on Washington ave in Miami Beach in the lobby of the Angler's Hotel, I feel it's a pretty place to take pictures and have a sweet intimate, or bigger group for brunch. It was way too hot to sit outside so I sat inside instead.

I didn't order too much, just enough to keep me satisfied I guess. I was still feeling awkward by myself. My waiter didn't really help, he was slightly on the clumsy side, a nice kid, but maybe he was new? Who knows. My waffle came with guava butter and maple syrup, which tasted really good, and my mimosa was guava as well which was a pleasantly sweet change from the usual orange juice mimosa.

So maybe I'll have to try this place again with someone who I KNOW won't stand me up, and maybe I'll have a better time. But all in all it wasn't so bad. I just still wish I had someone eating with me. Anyway, happy Sunday, and I hope you enjoyed your day!

It's the end...of the week that is.

Happy Friday! You've made it to the end of the week! How does it feel?
This week was messy for me but it all felt okay yesterday when I walked into Starbucks before work and had two pleasant encounters with strangers. As I was filling my tea with sugar (don't judge...) an older man came to do the same with his coffee and gave me a sweet good morning and some good encouragement for the day. I never expected that because, living here in south Florida, not many people are on that sweet tip in the morning...or at all during the day. So I said a silent "thank you God" and gave the man some well wishes of my own.
Next, a much younger man approached me and said good morning, told me that both me and my natural hair were beautiful, and that he hopes I have a good day.

Is it the end of the world or....?
(Side note: For all of you who know me, usually these encounters end with "soooooooo are you single?" But not this time.)

It's not the end of the world, there just are some people who still believe in being nice to others.
So my question is, have you done anything nice for anyone this week?? If not, make it your business to do so next week. You don't know who you'll be blessing tremendously by just saying one or two nice things, especially in the morning!

Have a great weekend!

Sunday Funday!

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone is enjoying this last day of summer break before it's "Back to School" for the rest of Dade and Broward counties tomorrow. Sunday is always a good day to check out restaurants or other places you've never been to, which is my plan for the next few months. But it was extremely HOT so maybe just maybe staying home in the AC wasn't a bad idea if you did.
Anyway, my sister-in-law celebrated her birthday today with brunch at the Daily Creative Food Co. Neither one of us had ever been there so none of us knew what to expect. But after eating and lots of talking, I think we were all satisfied.

Once you come in, you order casually at the front, you're given a number and drink if you ordered one, and then pick a place to sit. Your food is then brought out to you. I had the "Art Deco Chicken Cesar" with parmesan and herb fries and of course, cafe con leche on the side.

I paid $16 and change for this which wasn't bad...in my opinion. The menu though to be honest was intimidating because there was literally PLENTY to choose from. I had to ask the cashier for guidance. But all in all, I was pleased with my food, and so was everyone else!

After that a smaller group of us went to Brick House in Wynwood where we sat, had some drinks, and played "Cards Against Humanity". Interesting card game, I'd definitely play again. That's coming from someone who really isn't into card games (honestly, I can do without them). But soon enough, it got a little bit too hot and we were on our way home. I heard good things about Brick House at night so I'll definitely check it out again.

Happy birthday to my sister-in-law Camila and thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with her!

Hope your Sunday was as awesome as mine, have a good week!

On My Way.

Sometimes you have to remind yourself that, although you have yet to reach your goal, if you're still working on it, you're much closer today than you were yesterday, last week, last month, last year.
It's a process.
It takes time.
It takes [hard] work.
Blood, sweat, tears.
Sometimes you'll have to do it again because you fell short.
It's never easy.

Sometimes, dare I say it, you want to quit. And it sometimes is more appealing to take that easy way out because then, think of the benefits (so called)!!! But then, what's next? What do you do then?
As a pre-med, second bachelors degree seeking, full-time working student I oftentimes feel like I can't take the next step. I can't finish studying to pass that next exam. I can't wake up in the morning. I can't wrap my head around all that material!!! But here and there I am reminded that it will be worth it in the end. If I tarry just a little longer...if I give it just one more hour...if I take the first step away from my bed, I'll be alright. And I always am.

Yes I am tired.
Yes I am doing a lot.
Yes my health has suffered in the process.
But I am in my way.
And by God's unfailing grace, I will get there.

Happy Monday, everyone.

Haiti

Happy Wednesday!!

Last month I had to go to Haiti for my grandmother's funeral. I had never been to Haiti before and was not sure what to expect aside from fresh, non-GMO Haitian food, so I went with an open mind. Although there are some bad parts in Haiti (mostly the capital), I was still amazed by this country and new land I finally was able to see for myself.

I woke up three consecutive mornings at 5:45 am just to catch a sunrise like that one!

One of the many market areas in the capital

These are just a little taste of what we don't see through the news, the Haiti you DON'T see, the Haiti you hear about from past natives who have since left the country. I have more pictures but editing and posting them all would take me forever (to all of you in the photography world, hats off to you!) and I really wanted to share a piece of my experience so maybe little by little with future posts I'll put more.

Despite the heat, cold showers, and lack of electricity (which meant no wifi of course), I still enjoyed myself and had a chance to meet some family members I hadn't met before. I ate a few mangoes, inhaled the breeze from the Atlantic Ocean, and luckily managed to escape without mosquito bites! Lastly, and most importantly, we buried my grandmother in Jeremie.

Haiti has so much more potential than we think. I see a lot of room for improvement, and some new plans already in the works. I'm so grateful to have experienced a new country, a new way of living and I am definitely going back! Question is, who's coming with?!

Wake up! It's the first of the month...

Happy Monday!
I haven't posted in a very long time. I didn't plan for my second post to be so far from my first one but life happens. Since my last post I've finished my spring semester, had to travel to Haiti for my grandmother's funeral (it was my first time so I will post pictures!) and got accepted to Florida Atlantic University for the upcoming fall semester. I've been up and down with a few things but since I have a break from school until June 22nd, I have some space to BREATHE!

So, since it is Monday, and the first of the month, we have a chance at starting new, or picking up things we've left for later to complete. I for one have a book I would love to finish. I bought it probably in January and had to put it down once school picked up. Confessions of a Surgeon by Paul Ruggieri, M.D. is a first hand account of the life of a surgeon. As a premed student, these books are so inspiring and are what help to keep me moving towards my goals.

In addition, I am still working on my skin, hair, and diet to see what works best for my health. Stay tuned!

Thank you for reading! 

Melissa

Pilot

Hello all!
First thing's first - my blog title is subject to change. I tried to name it quickly so I could get things rolling a little sooner. With that said, welcome to my blog! My name is Melissa, I am 24 years old, currently living in my hometown, Miami Shores, Florida. I am a pre-med student and working full-time as a medical assistant to a general surgeon. My life from day-to-day can get pretty redundant and boring so I have been thinking of what I could incorporate to spice it up. Right now, a little lifestyle blog should do the trick!

I am currently researching and trying out a few things. Number one on my list is to successfully clear my skin of the acne I've been dealing with for so long with all natural products! Slowly but surely I've been making a transition to use all-natural organic products for my skin and hair. My hair is doing pretty well (despite one thing I will write about in my next blog post), my skin on the other hand needs more work. So through tracking my progress on a blog, I should be held more accountable, yes?

If any of you more seasoned bloggers stumble upon my blog, please pass on your advice and well wishes! Thanks for reading!