phase 2

4 years ago today I took a cab at 6am to BU to sit in a high rise for 8 hrs to take the MCAT. In five days, I will be engaging phase 2 of becoming a doctor, namely, the USMLE Step 1 exam. How things have changed since then. 4 years ago meant taking the last paper based MCAT in a room full of mostly Harvard students, ironically, and an annoying guy who claimed he had to pee SECONDS before we were to begin. At the on-site practice exam I took a week ago, I drove to a nondescript office low-rise, emptied my pockets for the lady at the front desk and had my picture taken, all before being led to an assigned computer with nothing more than 2 sheets of laminated paper and a dry erase marker for note taking. Even though I've had 2 years of experience taking multiple choice exams online, it was still a weird experience sitting in what felt like a tiny room, taking my test at my own pace. It's also weird feeling like you will not possibly know everything to be ready to take this exam, but you must trust that you know enough, and can reason the rest, to get enough questions correct to do well.

So in 5 days, phase 2 here we go.