Brush the chip off your shoulders

So today is the first day of my internship/audition for a real gig, LOL!! Add I realize as I think about my last gig working in "death Pharma" that I may have just a bit of a chip on my shoulder for all the $hit I dealt with working there. So I'm praying REAL hard that I can keep that in check and make the most of an experience I've been waiting over 2.5 years to have.

Other things going on in my life right now is that my kid is working on what may end up being her first "boyfriend". And that's really great news because now maybe my Mom will stop asking me if she's a lesbian. Maybe it's me, but if a girl takes her time growing up, that should be celebrated on some level especially in the Black community. But it's a sentiment I've heard before from members of my family, if a person isn't into the opposite sex as much as others think is "normal" for their age, they're assumed to be gay. Now how dumb is THAT?!?!

So this guy is a 19 year old Engineering major she met at her Engineering internship this summer where my daughter was the ONLY female and one of only 2 black kids. He's also White, which I personally find hilarious as I think about the look her father would have on his face if he knew about this, ROTFL! Now me, in light of our multicultural background, I'm cool with the White boy. But there's just something about Black girls/women with White boys/men that seems to rub most Black men the wrong way. And that kinda tees me off since many of the ones with problems including her father, have dated White women. Of course, I DO take issue with the fact that this young man is technically an adult and my kid is just 16 about to be 17 so of course, I'm monitoring this situation VERY carefully. But then I remember that when I was turning 17, my boyfriend was a college freshman and though I'd dated him when we both were in high school, he was STILL an adult while I was a technically a kid.

Other news is that I've decided NOT to take the MCAT, I just didn't have much time to actively study given everything else I had going on this summer. So I'll definitely shoot for a Spring date as soon as the dust settles in my life.

I'll end this post with a song by my favorite rap artist which is most definitely appropriate as I begin the first day of my new career in Biomedical Informatics:

And 2 years after starting the journey into Biomedical Informatics.........................

............Path201X has FINALLY landed a strictly Biomedical informatics gig!!! YEAH!!!!!

It's only an internship, but it's a "foot in the door", and that's all I need, I'll kick my way in the rest of the way, ROTF!!!

And this is a big deal for a BUNCH of reasons, especially given the VERY contentious interview I had with the last and final co-owner of this company. Yeah, yet another contentious interview with a WOMAN (of course). I mean, this woman asked me question after question which I proceeded to knock out of the park (just like former pageant girls do)! And I felt like she just kept asking me questions in a rather futile attempt to get me to screw up an answer. For example, she asked me what I thought about the latest technologies to detect biological agents that can be used as weapons. And that would have been fine except in the particular CV she received, I didn't mention ANYTHING about my background in microbiology or biological agents, AT ALL!!! Now in her defense, I knew this company did some work in this area, but based on my prior interview and the description of the project I would be working on (a cancer project), I didn't brush up in this area which in retrospect, wasn't a good way to prepare for an interview. However, because I have a certificate in biological and chemical agents AND a minor in Microbiology, I really didn't need to. Still, I don't understand why some people feel the need to dig you a new anal orifice during interviews, but the good news for me is that this woman is in Cali and I'll rarely have to work with her. At least that's what it seems for now, but we all know how things can change.

The flip side of this situation is that the men I interview with seemed very impressed with me and my interview responses, almost as if they wanted to see if I could/would stand up to this woman. In fact, the CFO specifically said that he liked that I have a "strong personality" and could see me working in other areas of the company, like sales. No ain't it funny how people, especially men and women, see things differently?

The only downside to this deal is that I'm pretty sure I underbid myself BIG TIME when it comes to salary and that's actually okay because Interns typically aren't paid much. :( But if we mutually decide to turn this internship into a full-time gig 6 weeks from now, trust me, they'll have to come correct as in 6 figures correct, or else I'll walk away without a second thought. One thing I learn working in "death Pharma" is that if you undermine yourself on the front end, you'll NEVER gain the respect of the company down the road. And that's a lesson I won't EVER have to learn again!

I'm coming out!

Ummm..... NO, I'm NOT suddenly declaring myself homosexual and while I don't agree with that lifestyle, I wouldn't dare judge anyone else for having it.

As the image indicates, that's the state of HOT A$$ TEXAS where I now call home and where I'm residing in a nameless major city. And I decided to "put it out there" so to speak, because I finally felt ready. I also decided that I don't need to concern myself with the malevolent intentions of people who stalk me on my blog and who may decide to get their MD parent to call a classmate on the adcom of a Texas school to "rat out" my outspokenness on MY blog. Nah, I'm gonna life God/Karma deal with those folks and keep steppin' into my VERY bright future!!!

For my "coming out" party, I decided to use the map of Texas which indicates where the incidence of breast cancer are concentrated because try as I might, I just can't seem to get away from being interested in anything but cancer. Or pathology for that matter. It's just so damn depressing to think about sometimes (cancer, NOT pathology), but the mechanisms of it just fascinate the hell outta' me!

Other news is that it's official, I'm a STEM business owner, the idea of which still feels like a dream (or nightmare), depending on which day you ask me about it. Today it's more nightmare than dream because I'm soooooooooooooooo far outside my comfort zone, I feel like another person. But it's not a surprise to anyone that knows me well that I have an education based business. And I just LOVE the different people/cultures I get to come in contact on a regular basis!

As for a full-time gig, I thought I was going to hear about my Tuesday interview yesterday, but alas, NADA!!! And that's gotta' be cool because I'll probably be too busy with my PhD courses and business anyway. It just would have been so nice to get that Biomedical Informatics experience on the job, but oh well, I'm sure as hell not complaining because business is damn good in HOT A$$ TEXAS, ROTFL!!!

I've also been thinking about the language in my last post and after I gave it some thought, it made me think about the first juror who spoke out after the Zimmerman verdict, and her comments about the young lady Travon Martin was talking to when he was brutally killed by a chicken $hit coward. The juror VERY harshly judged Rachel Jeantel, Travon's friend for the way she spoke/her mannerisms and I couldn't help but think about the young women I spoke about in my last post and how their DOCTORS likely perceive them when they seek out health care services. And I imagined that because of the cultural disconnect between most Doctors and minority patients, the "culture/behavior" of minority patients very likely affects the type of care they get. Just like Rachel's "behavior" affected that juror's perception of her truthfulness and thus the outcome of the trial.

Finally, in celebration of me revealing where I'll spend what will likely be the rest of my life, here's a video by Ms. Ross which says it MUCH better than I EVER could:

City of Racthedness/Where's a urinal when you need one?

I’ve been beyond busy which is probably a well played out broken record by now, but it’s the best kind of busy there is to be! First, I think we FINALLY found a house in a culturally mixed neighborhood and that’s the best news of all! Second, I made a cold call to a local bioinformatics start-up company and have an interview next week for an almost 6 figure job!!! Just out of the blue, I called them to see if they had anything and BAM…. JOB INTERVIEW!!!! On that note, I also have an interview for a bioinformatics position in the department where I’ll be completing my doctoral level courses in bioinformatics, and if I get offered both gigs, I’m going to have a VERY difficult time deciding between the two. The thing is, my job search experience hasn’t been that lucky, so I’m not really worried about that. But I DO have a preference among the 2 jobs, the position with the start up firm is my first choice.

So it turns out our new city/state with the best restaurants I’ve EVER experienced in a city, has a HUGE vagrant problem. And I mean as in I have been approached almost EVERYDAY I found myself in or around “da’ hood”…..or a major intersection. And they’re some bold mofo’s too and I say mofo’s because that’s what you are when you curse out a driver for refusing to roll the window down and give you some spare change. Now because I grew up near enough to “da’ hood” to understand and speak the vernacular VERY well, I didn’t mind rolling the window down to let you know just how well versed I am in ‘hood speak when I get cursed out for ignoring your coach purse carrying, brand new Michael Jordan shoe wearing, non vagrant asre, LOL!!

In other ratchet news, I stopped by a local family dollar in the serious “don’t drive in the daytime ‘hood” and it was quite a shopping experience. When we entered, we were greeted by an announcement that our actions would be watched for the entire time we were in the store. Mmmaky! Now I know how to morph into “hood posture” in these types of settings, but my kid has Bougie Black girl with NO ‘hood experience written ALL over her face! We shopped for a bit, gathered our items, then headed toward the front of the store so we could pay and leave, and as we walked up, we couldn’t help but hear the conversation the women working the cash registers were having:

Cashier 1 yelling: “Giiirrrlll, my man say I ain’t got NO titties, but I got enough ass to make up for it! Yeah, he always be picking at me, talkin’ ‘bout, I’m flat chested, but I KNOW I got it goin’ on with my fat ass”.

She then turns to me and says “May I help you Ma’am?

Cashier 2 yelling: Yeah, you ain’t got NO titties like me, mine big as hell!!

Cashier 1 yelling: “Dat’s a’right, I got’s more ass than you”.

Turning back to me, “Is this all you got Ma’am?

Me: "Yeah, ‘dat’s it. Can you ring me up?”

When we got outside my daughter was shaking her head and laughing, stating that that was the most ratched thing she had ever experienced, ROTFL!!! Now I won’t get into the “fronts” of these two women because I don’t want to be seen as picking at my “people”. But the 5 inch plaque looking like brown braces was so NOT a good look, ESPECIALLY when your weave is 3 feet long and "tight". My next thought was that I had NEVER seen underserved dental health like this. EVER. But then how many dental hygienist appointments could be had with 1 appointment to get the Korean silky special sewn into your scalp? Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm.

And that was how our excursion into the Family Dollar located in “da hood” went. That “trip” was followed by a short drive to the city for dinner at a great Greek restaurant where on the way we saw a man, on a main street, urinating in the corner of a building. Now I’ve done enough volunteer work in “da ‘hood” to have seen and smelled a LOT of things. But the past 13 years where I live in uber suburbia, meant that I hadn’t seen much on such a regualr basis especially after I stopped working in Baltimore. But honestly, thinking about how varied and interesting my patient population would be, and how my desire to work in a severely underserved area would be more than met right where I’m living now, made me more excited about my med school goals.

Momisms 103

Since we arrived in our new city on Sunday, we're living temporarily in a hotel until we look around more and find a place to stay. And I hope that's REAL soon because this 'ish is MAD expensive!

Path201X: "Can you Pul-eeze open the curtains?"

DD: "I'd prefer to keep them closed".

Path201X: "Why? I'd prefer the natural light to the artificial light."

DD: "I'm going to have the hood over my head because it's too cold in here, and I don't want to deal with a "Travon" situation."

Path201x: "Geez, are you serious?!? I guess that's the world we live in these days, where I brown kid lounging by the window of her hotel room is afraid to sit near a freaking window in a hoodie. Okay Boo-Boo, close the window."


Now I'm just wondering if any non minority kid is concerned about being shot through a window while wearing a hoodie INSIDE of a building?

Damn. Just DAMN!

Curiousity killed the cat.

So I decided to get one last post in before we finish up the last days of our 2 month vacay before settling in our new state/city.

I spent some time in my mother's double car garage, reminiscing about my past, wondering why in the world one person needs so many pairs of shoes and so many clothes. And when I say clothes and shoes I mean RACKS of clothes and shoes that to my understanding she wears. YIKES!! I first came across the 3 foot trophy I received for being my high school queen:

I was Miss X High School 1984, a contest I NEVER thought I had a shot of winning because: 1) My talent was flute and many folks just ain’t into musicians as much as singers when it comes to pageants especially at the urban high school I attended, and 2) The head cheerleader was the one I heard the faculty all wanted to win but you needed a 3.0 to compete and she had a 2.9. She did end up being Homecoming Queen though and we’re close friends today. And that was a cool memory especially for a “band nerd” because I got to meet the Governor of the state and was awarded a full scholarship to a small Alabama school, among many other “perks”.

Then I came across the following item and for a brief moment I stopped breathing:

My mother happened to be in the garage when I found this and the look on her face was as if she was a deer in headlights. And all I could say is why, WHY didn’t you tell me? She then gave me the biggest bull$hit answer I’ve EVER heard so I just left the garage and didn’t say much more for the rest of the day. And after this post, I’ll probably never bring it up again. But of course as a 7 year Komen volunteer, there really isn’t much more to say about it, I'm crystal clear on what the hat "means" and I know why certain women wear it.

Moving on, I’m currently working regularly with a Biology student and an Organic Chemistry student. So I decided to focus my MCAT prep on those 2 subjects for the month of July and I’ll spend August studying Chemistry and Physics, interspersing verbal study both months. I’m still planning on a September 2013 date though I’m procrastinating on registering because it doesn’t feel 100% like what I need to do right now. I’m aware that my time on this is running out, so I’ll decide by the end of July.

I also have my volunteer orientation next Tuesday at a MAJOR cancer center and right now, working on the OR floor is my #1 choice, followed by anything else that will allow me to work with patients. I know that will require early mornings, but I'm soooooo cool with that, so I made sure to bring all my scrubs and Dansko shoes for comfort. Man this med school thing, is really feeling closer and closer everday and most of my good feeling is in knowing that I'm doing it not just at the right time for me, but for my family too!

Finally, we’re going to be in New Orleans or Nawleans (as the natives say) this weekend and I can’t think of a better way to end a vacation before starting my 2 year path to the MD/PhD program, LOL!

The post before I change residency PERMANENTLY!

As my title indicates, I'm posting for the last time as a resident of Maryland. Actually, I changed my residency to my new state in May, including a new mailing address because I wanted to make SURE I'm a state resident when I apply to med school next year.

So I'll start with a job/work update. I now have 4 clients and if I get one more, I won't need an 8-5 job. And when I think about how politically charged most work places are, I'm kinda glad about that. I LOVE the flexibility of tutoring and regular travel to different places and meeting new people is a real plus too.

School wise, I've been unoffically offered a research fellowship in health informatics starting in August and that's the best news of all! In fact, it makes the fact that I never did find a suitable 8-5 gig an obvious part of God's plan for my life. And I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but my health informatics program is affiliated and housed at a major medical center WITH a med school, so you can probably guess where all this is heading! Med school and an MD/PhD program. The plan is to complete all the classes required for me to sit for my oral and written exams by the Spring of 2015, then start the combined program that summer. And yes, I'm not sure at this point how this is all going to fall into place because while my informatics program knows of my PhD aspirations, I've kept my MD goals in the down low for what I feel are obvious reasons. No one understands my interest in this program especially at my age, and that's okay. I'm going to do it anyway.

Now about that flight to and from my new city. URGH!!! I actually got sick on the flight there as in I had a "barf bag" on my lap for most of the trip, LOL. Double URGH!! But we had a GREAT time even though we didn't find a home yet. The other thing I'm certain about is that this new state/city is CLEARY in God's plan for me because absolutely EVERYTHING is falling right into place. And I don't have words for how good this feels. :)