A Year of Growth and Gratitude
It was a good year, thank God. Not perfect and not linear, but genuinely good. The kind of year that does not need exaggeration to stand on its own.
It started in Flagstaff during my surgery rotation, where I somehow managed to roll a patient bed directly over my own toe and fracture it. Very on brand. I kept walking, kept working, and learned that adrenaline is real and ibuprofen is powerful. It was not glamorous, but it was grounding. One of those moments that reminds you that you are capable of more than you think, even when you are limping.
Somewhere in the middle of the year, I found myself in Yellowstone with my family, staring through binoculars at landscapes that felt almost unreal. I did not know much about bison before that trip, but I left with a deep appreciation for wide open spaces, quiet awe, and being reminded that the world is much bigger than exam schedules and hospital hallways.
This was also the year I got a Kindle, which somehow changed everything. I read When Breath Becomes Air, Never Split the Difference, The Lord of the Rings, and yes, a rom-com or two. Reading became a way to slow down again, to think, and to enjoy stories without needing an outcome or a takeaway.
I also made it to AAD this year, which somehow felt both huge and surprisingly small at the same time. I ended up meeting the AnKing there and fully fan-girled for a moment. Not in a serious way, just one of those oddly surreal medical school moments that made me laugh at myself.
All hail the An-King!
I finished my core rotations this year and genuinely enjoyed all of them. Each one taught me something different about patients, teams, and how medicine works. When I stepped into dermatology electives, the clarity that came with it felt like confirmation.
There were other moments too. Small ones. Funny ones. Conversations that stuck with me longer than expected. Proof that growth does not always announce itself and sometimes just shows up consistently and waits for you to notice.
So as the year closes, I am not wrapping it in a bow or trying to make it profound. I am just grateful. Grateful for the people who showed up, the places that widened my perspective, the lessons that did not come with a warning label, and the version of myself that handled it all a little better than last year.
It was a good year. And I am ready for the next one.
Sabine
