4 days more

Something Gaya said in one of our marathon mock text questioning, struck a chord. We had gotten to a point where she said she realized that she loved writing more than probably becoming a resident after (Was it? I can't really remember Gay). I said, fine by me, because she writes great. I don't know how serious she is, but, there have been several medically-inclined people who have done that successfully like Robin Cook, Michael Crichton among a few. Though in all seriousness, I think she should go into training or practice while writing, because she is freakishly smart.

I tried to recall when I started to write.

Back in kindergarten, I started reading mysteries like Hardy Boys and the picture-filled Bible books. So by grade school, I began my attempts at writing my own mysteries. As I went through high school, writing was more journalistic reasons but I continued to read and write. Attempts were all they were as I never finished anything I wrote. HAHA.

Which brings us to one of my most treasured memories of College. I was taking up English 48, Introduction to Philippine Literature. I took it in the 2nd semester of my 2nd year in college and found out I was under Timothy Montes. I knew him by reputation as a Palanca Awardee and a cool English teacher. We took up the works of different Filipino authors -- Tiempo, Joaquin, Arguilla, among others. Before the Christmas break, he challenged us to write a short story. The best would be published in a literary publication and earn a pretty high grade I would think. So I ended up writing something, at that time, more for requirement than anything else.

It was a short story entitled Akeldama: Fields of Blood. I will never forget what he wrote on that cover sheet. The grade was a 3.7 and comments that said my story echoed the picture and some prose of Manuel Arguilla's Midsummer (which was one of the stories we read, so it likely had some influence haha) and that all in all, I could make a good short story writer.

I didn't get published. And for the record, I didn't even think it even came close to Arguilla's beautiful Midsummer, so it was definitely not plagiarism.

I came away happy with writing, a good grade, and a wonderful memory. I've come to love medicine too much to put writing ahead of it, but I guess that's what time management is for.

Anyway, the real theme of this post is in the title. The boards are 4 days away. Hope springs eternal that my friends and I pass.

Keep us in your prayers.