where in the world...

where in the world....
Yesterday i didn't feel like studying after a long day..so i decided to research on some of the residency programs for next year. Of course i realize with my grades things are not looking up. but i want to at least keep my options open.


so here are the states i'm the most interested in: CA (only in SD or SF), NY (NYC), MA(Boston), HI (Honolulu), IL (chicago)

here are my second tiers: WA (seattle), MD (Baltimore), TX (?)

it's pretty hilarious seeing how most people apply for only 5 programs or less, and the states i've listed already exceed the average. I'm sure in the end i will weed out the not-so-good ones so i won't sound ridiculous when i ask for rec letters. i would say in 90% of these cities i know not a single soul. So that by itself is a pretty big issue too. of course i can make new friends but judging from my hawaii experience that can be a little problematic with a residency program. the 2 residents i knew there #1 is from hawaii and #2 has his famliy there with him. Most pharmacy programs take only 2 residents and they work them HARD like they shouldn't even think about having a life at all. So forget about joining the local gym and meeting people there. you live and breathe pharmacy for the whole year (which in turn will make you really boring for anyone to hit on at a coffeeshop).


So where do i want to be? where do i see myself in one year? what do i want to get out of the experience? will i make any connections there? or if i like it too much will i end up staying and not coming back to CA? is it worth it if i want to eventually transition into industry? do i want to end up in industry?

here are my extremely superficial reasons for each of my choices:
NYC, Boston, Baltimore: just cuz i want to get east coast out of my system and because i hate dealing with LA traffic.

SD/SF: because I really liked these two cities in CA and have always wanted to go back

for a while i actually started thinking about the military programs because the bonuses are just too good to pass up. but as i got more serious about it, my parents have also become more firm about not wanting me to join or even speak to a recruiter about it (after i signed up for the information packet and whatnot). after finding out the committment (4 years including residency) i also have somewhat changed my mind. since i can't be sure if hospital is the thing for me and i have lots of decisions to make in the next 2 years, military probably isn't the best choice right now.

so anyway, not much progress being made here. if i get asked where i see myself in 5 years? i honestly dont have a clue.