Missing my friends...

All my life, I've basically regarded myself as a loner, which was brought about by numerous circumstances that happened along the way, most of them beyond my control..

I recall being very shy and withdrawn. I had trouble socializing and shunned new acquaintances. I just kept a small circle of very close friends that I grew up with, some of whom I consider my closest friends to this very day. I never really expected to go beyond that, until I graduated from high school..

Things started to change during college. I don't know if it was the new environment, or the new bunch of people that I interacted with, but for some reason, I finally felt that I was generally welcome. The friends I made in college helped my strip away the protective wall I had surrounded myself with. I realized that not everyone was out to get me, and that the world was a fun place after all. :D

In fact, I would say that the best year of my life so far would be my MedTech Internship year, which was the year that (in my opinion) was the year I finally broke out of my shell and started learning how to "live", but that's a story for another time.. :P

Medical school was a little different, what with all the seriousness and the competitive atmosphere typical of any respectable academic institution. Despite this, I managed to forge friendships there as well, which were tempered by the fires of Clerkship and Internship.

It just dawned on me yesterday that our paths are now truly diverged, given the varied career decisions we have made. I mean, last year was a different story, when we were all planning for taking residency immediately after the boards, and most of us expected to be training alongside one another at UST. However, things don't always work out the way you planned it, and now as I stand at the beginning of a freshly-hewn path, I look back and remember with a slight tinge of sadness the friends I've left behind..

I'm sure that I will make new acquaintances and friends should I get accepted to my current hospital of choice, but nothing would be able to replace all that we have been through.