NYLF, Washington DC (Georgetown University)

it was undoubtedly the best experience i had in my short life so far. i was freaking reluctant to go at first coz of stupid reasons like a)what if i lose my passport b)what if all those american students are highly unfriendly bunch of peeps c)what if i can't wake up on time in the morning and many more what ifs. paranoia. anw, i was of course damn wrong about everything. NYLF wasn't only enriching and reallyy insightful, it was surprisingly really fun as well! not to mention, the things i did there for the first time and the experiencing university life. i'm preety sure that nylf wouldn't have been half as good if not for my group BANTING and the 7 other victorians(:

so it turned out that we were the only non-americans there except for a few from puerto rico. yay vj! haha. anw, they were all really nice people, not forgetting really outgoing and outspoken. O_o during the MED sessions, it seemed like i was the only one not really talking much while the rest were constantly talking and answering the numerous questions posed by our Faculty Advisor, Felicia. i did start to talk more and participate more and as the days progressed, i got more involved. i guess i changed in terms of that aspect atleast; being involved more in discussions and more willing to share my opinions. usually when we have discussions in class, i would always be listening and not sharing my own views unless asked. and there was the DJ DANCE! omg it was soo awesomeee. partly coz i never been to one before in sg.

the oh-so-tiring schedule. it was really painful. getting up 5am and dragging all the way until 11pm. but it was generally well-planned, despite the exhausion. there were SOCIALS when all the 351 participants got together in the squad and had the chance to mingle around. usually, no one ever looked forward to social as sleep seemed to be a better option XD. and there were MED sessions everyday, somedays having as much as 5 to 6 of them. those sometimes felt draggy and i often fell asleep during the talks and stuff but they were still made great by the awesome people of BANTING. yay (:

DAY 1: reached georgetown so late that could only attend the first MED session
DAY 2: Leadership in the field of medicine, problem-based learning (PBL), SOCIAL
DAY 3: Medical school experience (Howard University college of medicine), life as a resident.
DAY 4: live surgery (total knee replacement), the Future of Public Health, Health care in the 21st century.
DAY 5: clinical experience (Johns Hopkins hospital), what's your speciality, SOCIAL
DAY 6: the Personal Dimension, Patient care, D.J. Dance
DAY 7: principles in practice (blood pressure, suturing), exploring washington's monuments, pentagon city shopping.
DAY 8: more sight-seeing, M street shopping, group spirit performance.
DAY 9: Follow your Dreams, public health simulation, farewell dinner dance cruise.
DAY 10: final MED session

for the friends i made, you all are an awesome bunch of people that i'll neer forget. my roommate, Sarah, was really nice and accomodating and we had all sorts of random convo :D to all my BANTING mates;
Sarah Ab.
Sarah W.
Amanda M.
Amanda E.
Amanda H.
Ashley
yasmin
nikki
margarate
tori
mariam
gabriella
jeremy
hunter
kevin
hector
mitchil
ewan
rahul
yuseof
you all are really great and thanks for the wonderful 10-days, especially sarah w. we clicked really well and talked about alot of things(:
finally to the victorians, if not for you, the 7h and 12h long flights would have been trecherous. haha. we had loads of fun walking during the sigh-seeing and shopping.

the pics will come sooOon :D