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Name: Becca
Country: United States
State: Texas
Birthday: 9/21/1982
Gender: Female
Interests: soaking everything in - and surviving.
Expertise: jill o' all trades,
now doc-in-training.
Occupation: Student
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
6/13/2003
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| voter registration deadline today, October 6To those of you in TEXAS:
Check out your voter registration status on http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/index.shtml. If you haven't registered yet and you're before 5 PM, go to a post office or library and pick up a form. Fill it out and MAIL IT at the post office so it'll be postmarked by today, October 6th. If you're after 5 pm and you haven't registered to vote, I know that the Obama Dallas headquarters will be open until midnight tomorrow to register last-minute voters. (http://new.obamadallas.com/).
If you're "not into voting" -- take a look at this: (warning - some profanity)
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1832128
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I became a deputy voter registrar for Dallas County a few weeks ago, and a few friends and I registered voters at school at the Student Center, at an apartment social event, and in front of the cafeteria. It feels good to get more involved, and I can tell that people are paying attention.
A few favorite moments:
1) About four people were filling out applications and I hear a voice behind me saying, "you like diet coke or sprite?" I turn, and a nice middle-aged gentleman is standing next to me, trying to hold onto bottles of sprite and diet coke and other things. I look at him confusedly for a moment, then stammer, "uh, sprite?" He tells me to take the Sprite bottle from him since his hands are full, then he sets down a wrapped ham sandwich from our cafeteria and a tall plastic Subway glass filled with ice. He smiles awkwardly at me and says, "Uh, think of them from Sarah Palin." I thank him, and he walks away.
About 20 minutes later, while I was helping some other people, he returns to the table, and upon seeing that I haven't eaten my sandwich yet, asks worriedly, "Do you like ham sandwiches? I can get you a tuna sandwich or a chicken sandwich if you like." I reassure him that I didn't want to eat while registering voters since I thought I'd get things dirty, and he nods and goes back to work.
I notice that he might be some sort of manager or staff in the cafeteria, so when I'm done with my work, I looked for him in the cafeteria to thank him. I ask him, "Well, so this is from Sarah Palin?" And he says, "Well, it's from me, because I'm a Republican, so I guess it's from Sarah Palin. I saw you yesterday registering voters, and I thought that today you should at least have something to drink. After all, you're doing important work."
I nod, thanking him, and say, "This is an important election -- and I'm glad I could help."
[THAT was awesome, even if we don't share common political leanings. I think most of us can agree on the importance of voting. I took care to be nonpartisan during my registrations, but I made the most of emphasizing the vote.]
Also, one of my very conservative friends ran by me while I was registering people to vote at the Student Center, and I flagged him down and asked him if he had registered. He looked slightly shocked at me, and said, "But you know I'm going to vote straight-ticket Republican!"
I look at him, smile, and say, "Wellllll..... I know. But I believe that people should have the right to express their political opinion at the polls."
He laughs, saying jokingly, "You idealists.... Hahaha, _I _believe only white men can vote."
To which I retort, "White men with property?"
"Yes."
"Do you have property?"
"Uh... no."
"Ah, I see. Well, I guess YOU can't vote then..."
"Ha. Just kidding, man. Seriously, though, y'all are doing a good thing. Keep it up."
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And I'm not even going to say much about the people who talked about wanting change.... because there were so many.
Particularly when at the cafeteria, I saw more employees. And it made me both happy and sad to see the number of minority employees who came to me during their lunch breaks and registered -- happy that I was there to help, sad to know that so many of them had not registered previously. Many of them said they had registered earlier in their lives but needed to renew, but others were new voters, unsure about the process. I registered some physicians, residents, and nurses, who clearly were running from one place to another. And I passed out white forms to those who wanted to take some home for their kids/spouse/friends or who were too busy to sit down to register with me.
Of note, I was happy to know that I made a Nobel Laureate smile because I asked him to register (he already had) and remembered the next day that I didn't need to ask hm again. That doesn't happen everyday. I was pretty impressed with the number of people who said they were already registered -- I got that answer often. "I've been voting for 20 YEARS!" "I ALWAYS register and vote."
I think that's great, and I hope I can say that one day, too. (I've been in two primary caucuses and this will be my third presidential election. I'm excited and scared and nervous. There's a lot at stake. I've been quiet so far, but I might start soapboxing soon here... I've been self-exiled for so long.)
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P.S. -- another deputy voter registrar's experience registering voters in Dallas. Even in Texas.... ^_~
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| I'm DONE with my Residency application! It's submitted and out of my hands. (Now let's hope that some programs will be interested in me... ::crosses fingers, tries not to worry:: ) I've worked on this for the past month and tried to capture my experiences over the past seven years -- but now I just can hope and wait.
As for my other tree-killing enterprise: I'm almost done with my research proposal. Just need to run some errands, get some signatures, and hand it in...
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Hey y'all -- go register to vote!! You have until October 6th to have your application mailed. DO IT!! I am not going to comment (yet) about politics... but I hope you all are paying attention.
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| It's probably about time -- but I feel that in this past month, I've had to grow up, face what it may mean to be an adult by making some pivotal decisions. I am setting my course; what will come of these dreams and plans?
Now, these aren't BAD decisions. On the contrary, they are good, exciting -- and joyful. But they are the biggest I've faced in a long time, and I can feel the gravity of their possibilities.
I've commented before that medical school has been somewhat of an extended adolescence, particularly as I live in the city of my birth and near my family, so I haven't cut ties as naturally or quickly as many of you. And yet I feel that medical school has aged me, taken away even more of my [always somewhat limited] spontaneity, made me more cynical, more stoic. But yet the fact that we have so much more to learn and experience remains.
I'm hoping for wisdom and discipline, which I need during these deceptively casual days. And I hope for peace, even with uncertainty before me...
"Waiting is." -- how true.
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| Part of me wants to research everything, talk to everyone, dig up every piece of information on each residency program I'm looking at.
And part of me is very aware that doing that would be counter-productive, particularly because there's still that element of rolling many dice and hoping that I'll hit all 6's... that much of this is out of my hands, out of my control.
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Plus, there are bigger dice being thrown...
::quiet::
Three of my friends recently told me about newly diagnosed cancer in their families.
Ewa - father has brain tumor
Kim - father has leukemia
Kathy - stepfather has mesothelioma
... and classmates (N, N, V, D, G) already have lost parents to cancer... keeping all of them in my thoughts.
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| Trying to be a good fourth-year student and preparing my application for residency makes my head spin. It's crazy, but I'm trying to make my way through all of this...
::laughs:: Though there have been small but significant successes -- that I will admit.
Struggling through my personal statement has been interesting. I'm figuring out why I felt so arid during the first two years and what seems important to me, and I'm hoping that this will translate into my writing, somehow. Encapsulating my life and goals into one page has been difficult; I tend to be scattered and interdisciplinary, and I love words. But I'll get there -- I've done it many times before, and I ain't giving up yet.
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