Let the beauty contest begin...

That's exactly what it is, in a figurative sense. At least it bears a lot of similarities to what I think I know about beauty pagents (most of that knowledge coming from Miss Congeniality). If you've ever had a passing interest in what a medical school interview day is like, just keep on reading, friend.
After waking up early due to my lack of sleep (how well would you sleep knowing the events of the next day could determine the direction of the rest of your life?), I got ready, ate some free continental breakfast, and headed out to the airport shuttle to the medical center. This part is not similar to a beauty contest because we eat beforehand.
Upon arriving, I walked into a room of eight other prospective medical students from all across the country. There were people from California, Oklahoma, Washington, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, etc. I tried to be cordial, but its hard when you know you are in direct competition with these people. Statistically, only one of us from that group was likely to be admitted. There is where the analogy lies. Many highly qualified applicants vying for precious few spots.
I sat down on a leather sofa and made polite conversation until someone from the College came and escorted me back to my interview. I sat in Dr. Bruno the radiologist's office until he made it in to speak with me. The next hour flew by. He asked me many questions about myself, like my opinion on which was the most important attribute a doctor could possess, which personal weaknesses I would have to overcome to be a successful physician, and which was the greatest problem facing the American healthcare system. Despite knowing my every word would be scrutinized, I felt at ease. It wasn't an interrogation, it was a conversation and I really appreciated the atmosphere the doctor was able to provide.
I was escorted back to the waiting room by the administrative offices where I wandered around the hallways in the area until someone once again called my name to show me to Dr. George's office. He is a Family Practice physician. The first question he asked me as I walked through the door "So you're a Red Sox fan, huh?" That set the tone for the rest of the interview. He was even more laid back than Dr. Bruno. He asked me about my mission, my cooking talents, and what I did to deal with stress. Another hour flew by. He escorted me back himself, and I was taken to a room where the Dean of the College of Medicine gave us a brief welcome message and then someone from the administrative offices talked to us about the history and programs of the school. He also informed us that if admitted, it would be our privilege to pay about $40,000 a year in tuition. At least beauty contest winners get some sort of financial compensation.
We were then met by some first year students and had lunch in the cafeteria. The awkwardness hit a peak at lunch. The students only sort of wanted to be there, and the applicants were sort of ill-at-ease with each other, so I didn't really enjoy lunch, honestly. Upon finding out where I was from, everyone would invariably comment "There are a lot of people from Utah here. I don't know why." Uh, maybe its because we happen to have a couple universities that produce quality applicants back in our little sleepy berg. I don't know, though. Finally, we were given a tour of the facilities where we saw the fake patient-dummies the students practice on, as well as the real cadavers they dissect. We finished up at around 2:00 and I called to have the hotel shuttle pick me up. I rode over from the hotel with a girl from Stanford, but I left her there because she claimed she was going to talk to a professor that a professor back in California was friends with, but I think she just wanted to get more face time with the faculty there to get an edge, so I figured she can wait a little longer to get home.
So that was it. I actually did make a friend there. His name is Phil and he is from Seattle. Upon learning I am LDS, he said, "You must be good at sports. All the Mormons I have known are good at sports. Why is that?" I guess he knows a very limited segment of the LDS population. He really wants to get into U-dub (University of Washington, for the uninitiated). We had the same outgoing flight, ended up having seats right next to each other, and had the same seat (40F) on our respective flights home. Weird.

So I get to do it all at least three more times with November interviews coming up. Two in Cleveland and one in Richmond. I will bring a camera next time. And the air really does smell like chocolate in Hershey, PA. I saw were 80% of America's chocolate is made AND I saw the Reese's factory. (They say it doesn't smell as good there when they accidentally burn a batch of peanut butter on occasion.)