Exit Interview and Other Things

PdBio majors are required to take a test and have an exit interview prior to graduation. I resented this. I resented that I was going to have to sit across from a professor who would ask me questions about my future to which I would have to reply that I have no future, that I have no job or school prospects at this point. Tons of resentment. I was assigned a 9am meeting with Dr. Busath, a professor that I had never had. I don't know what he teaches or what he researches. I arrived and he was ten minutes late. He showed up, bike helmet in hand, sweating profusely, his old man teeth covered in teenager braces.

He asked me all the standard questions I expected and a few more. He asked me what I disliked about BYU and I told him how much I hated that campus shut down at 11am every Tuesday because I wanted to get a bagel on my way to work and couldn't. He smiled sweetly and said that every student tells him devotional is one of their favorite parts about BYU, but that he knew they were lying because devotional is never full unless the prophet comes. I told him that ochem had been the bane of my existence, and that I hated cell bio. He believed that I just didn't see the importance in cell bio, but I reiterated that it wasn't important, that it was detailed and ridiculous and should be optional. I told him about all the professors I loved, how I found Rachel Tomco to be a delight and my favorite part of my undergraduate career. I voiced my regret about not doing lab work although I loved my sociology research. I cringed as I told him my MCAT scores and laughed at his disbelief and dismay over my 3.17 GPA.

I asked him where I should go from here, without any hopes of med school or a job on the horizon. He told me to get a dog, to do what I enjoy, to put a toe in the river of the job search, and then an ankle, and to eventually wade into the middle of it all. He told me I had a great foundation and that I would be an asset to any company. He told me to give up on medical school and to go the osteopathic route. He told me to consider PA school and to get experience in any line of patient care. He smiled at me and told me to keep him updated on his life, as he was very interested to see where I was going.

Dr. Busath is now one of my favorite professors at BYU, and I have no idea if he is even a good teacher. There was no judgment from him. He smiled, he understood, and he gave me guidance on what is possible in my life.

In other things, I found myself crying Friday night to my roommate Cami. I had been so stressed out for a couple of weeks and it showed in the eight pimples that decided to make their appearance on the left side of my face in a small circle. I told Cami that I missed Marie a lot. I explained how I was afraid that she was going to come back a completely different person having realized that I am not nearly as good a friend as she had previously thought I was. I cried about how I spent all evening with Blake at the gallery stroll and brought Marie up at least a dozen times as we walked by places that reminded me of her. I expressed to Cami that I doubted Marie was in DC doing the same and how she must be growing and changing so much while I am exactly the same person I was when she left (except that now I eat semi fancy cheeses).

Then grace struck. While finding myself at Tina's bridal shower, the last person at the shower that hadn't been in their Stadium Terrace apartment the year before, I lamented my loneliness again. And Marie called. I figured no one would miss me and went into another room to take the call. We talked for about an hour. She had decided to go to a museum on her own in DC (I told you she's grown!) and found herself sitting outside and decided to call me. I told her about talking with Blake the night before about all the things that reminded me of her and she confessed that she did the exact same thing. She said that she was pretty sure my old summer roommate Sarah was sick of hearing her mention me all the time, like when they were at the zoo and she exclaimed that "Jessica loves elephants!" She told me that one of her roommates made fun of her for eating chicken pillows every Monday until she made her try one and she learned how delicious they were. And when said roommate was looking for a particular YouTube video Marie directed her to my Facebook where she knew that I would most likely have posted the video. Her roommate saw my Facebook and asked if this was THE Jessica that she's heard so much about. And then she added me on Facebook. I have not done anything about that friend request... Selina, in fact, is quite excited to finally meet THE Marie, as I've talked about her way too much over the last four months.

Somehow, over the last four years, Marie has gone from the girl in Primary that spoke the songs and the girl that played a lot of sports and was super quiet all the time, to being my best friend. And I'm really excited for her to come back for the summer!