The Dreadful Waiting Game

Just about a month and a half until AADSAS 2015-16 opens.

Still waiting on answers from schools I might have an opportunity at.

So frustrating living with this anxiety. Can't sit back, can't move forward.

Crossing my fingers, trying to stay calm, and staying busy.

School M and School N. I'd love to be at one of your institutions, just as much I'd like to be a dentist.

Weird happenings this week on Wednesday. I was driving through my city and recognized a person I interviewed with two years ago. He's now a dental student, saw him in his scrubs walking down the street with a friend. Earlier that day, I was documenting records at work and saw the rare last name of an admissions dean at a school I want to be at. I hope they were good omens.

Waitlist. Waitlist. Waitlist.

The most terrifying word that exists after rejection. For me, it's an even scarier word because I have been waitlisted before -- only to ultimately be rejected by the time school had started. It is needless to say, but needs to be stated: it is a frustrating situation to be in.

Why?

Future plans can't be made.

I can't enjoy life right now and spend time with the hobbies I would have liked to spend my time with if I knew I could go to school this fall. I wanted to spend more time painting, learning the piano, improving my physical health, and reviewing old science textbooks in preparation for new challenges.

You have to sit on the edge of your seat.

No one is going to give you a definite answer. They are just going to tell you to wait. They say they know how dreadful it is to sit in the unknown, but they really don't. I debate, on the daily, whether or not I should stay in my dental-related job or just begin to prepare for something else. I worry that I wasn't meant to be a dentist.

There's nothing you can do about it.

Nothing I can do at this point in the cycle will move me one spot higher on an alternate list nor will it ensure that I can gain myself a position with a future opening. All I can do is sit on my fattening tush and hope, to God or the higher power that will help me, that enough people drop out to get me a position somewhere, anywhere.

June 1st is getting closer every day.

It occurred to me last night as I was looking at my calendar that the 2015-16 cycle is already getting ready to roll in less than 100 days. Hoping that this would be my year, I honestly have not prepared for a new cycle. It terrifies the hell out of me. This would mean cycle four, but I'm also afraid to give up on my dream...

Interesting conversation...

As a float in a chain of dental offices in the Midwest, I can go to one of several offices a week to help out as a front office staff member helping out with phones, collecting payments, preparing records, and more.

I picked up a call today from an orthodontist out east. I didn't make out much of what he had introduced himself with and caught the end, "....Was wondering what you thought of it." I assumed he was a telemarketer out east asking if this franchise had tried a new dental office product or was trying to sell something. I was very wrong. When I asked if I could collect a number for the appropriate person to call him back, he said he just wanted to know what front office staff thought of our new web-based software program. He couldn't have talked to a better person because I have the insight from several offices.

As I shared my experiences as a float jumping around from group practice attempting to schedule appropriately for doctors and their respective clinical teams, I shared how our new system is unable to do it effectively. He mentioned how interesting it was because most practices out east are private. It had never occurred to me that the concept of a franchise of group practices was out of the ordinary anywhere outside the Midwest.

I really like how this random call gave me some insight on the practice of dentistry out east. I will be heading out there tomorrow for an interview Thursday.

Christmas Miracle - Interview Invite!

To my unexpected surprise, I was invited for a second interview this cycle at school Z about a week before Christmas. Out of all the schools I applied to, school Z was definitely the last place I expected to be invited for interview.

Nonetheless, it definitely boosted my self-esteem after being down in the dumps for two weeks about how I would have to resort to something else. That maybe I wasn't meant to be a dentist. Although I know this doesn't mean acceptance to school X or Z, it gives me hope. It is something that no one or thing can replace within me. It was surreal to see that e-mail in my inbox that Friday morning. I thought, Here comes the inevitable rejections...

I have a reasonable amount of time to prepare, but I'm thinking of it as my second chance. Let's make the most of it!