I Shouted At Lady Med and Passed UPCM

After submitting all my requirements to the UP College of Medicine Admissions Office, I walked out with very little hope that I could pass through their first screening. My pediatrician, my cardiologist and a few other doctors that I've talked to were also doubtful. They would tell me that I shouldn’t get my hopes up, since I was a girl and I was only running for cum laude. I guess, by the time we were already hunting for med schools, I've already convinced myself that I’m okay with studying at St. Luke’s College of Medicine. Still, I applied for 5 medical schools that I found fit to my standard of quality education: UPCM (the high and almighty), UERM (also called UPRM), ASMPH (the business oriented education), PLM (UPCM but not UPCM), and SLCM (scholarships for the poor like me). 

I sat down with my parents at CBTL - Rob Manila to tell them my Plan A, B and C. Plan A was, of course, getting into the high and almighty school and take residency at UP-PGH or at a private institution in the Philippines. Plan B, on the other hand, was SLCM where I planned to acquire the academic scholarship then take my residency and specializations abroad. Plan C was PLM because I’d rather be tortured by the intense requirements than chill at ASMPH and UERM. After all, I was applying to learn, not to chill.

Early May came and someone had announced that the results for the Interview Qualifiers will be released by 10 PM that night. I was eating Mang Inasal with my boyfriend and I shrieked after seeing it on facebook while munching down a piece of chicken down my throat. It gurgled nervously down my esophagus as I showed him what was yet to come. We went separately towards our next destination (mine was towards the condo and his was towards the LRT station). Walking down Pedro Gil towards my condo, I passed by the UP College of Medicine to take a glimpse of my dream school. Then, out of pure insanity, I ran up to Lady Med and went around the pedestal to see her face. Being the midget that I am, I stepped up the concrete chair to meet her at midthigh. “At least I was above Death”, I said to myself and screamed out loud enough for the tall statue of Lady Med to hear: “Please! Remember Bianca Louise Corpuz Lapuz and Jimuel Dela Rama Sambo! We want in! We’ll be the best doctors ever! I swear! To serve the underserved! Wooooh!”. Little did I notice that some of the people by the sidewalk stopped to stare at the midget shouting at a statue. I had completely forgotten that only a metal fence separated me from the public. Embarassed but fulfilled, I ran down towards the exit near DBMB and ran with all smiles towards my condo.

Reaching the front of my door, I realized that I had my hopes up too high again. I started crying as I twisted the keys to open the door. Usually, I close the CCTV of our condo to keep the crying to myself, but I was too weak to even walk towards it. I sat down on the swivel chair nearest me and said, “Okay lang. Okay lang talaga kung hindi ako UPCM. Different paths, same destination. ‘Di ko naman kailangan na nasa best school ako to be the best physician. I just have to put my will into it. Promise! Mag-totop ako sa boards. Tignan niyo lang. Pero, isang hiling lang sana: pwedeng ibigay niyo to sa mga taong nangangailangan? Lalo na sa mga batang walang pambayad ng tuition para maging doctor. Mas kailangan nila to kesa sa akin. Thank you Lord.” 

That being said, I walked towards my room and opened my laptop while talking to my parents about my boyfriend’s problem. He didn't have money to pay for tuition and he didn’t get a scholarship from his second choice, as well. So, he really didn’t have a choice for med school. While sobbing for the sake of my friend, someone posted the results at our course facebook group and I said, “Mama and Papa OMG lumabas na results.” 

I opened the link, and kept saying, “Okay lang. Okay lang. Okay lang. Swear. Okay lang.” And, when I typed Cmd+F+”LAPUZ”, I found 1 result and IT WAS ME! Then I typed a different name in the search box, and I saw my best friend’s name! We are interview qualifiers! I screamed and cried and jumped up and down in joy seeing that we got through one step together. Yes! Yes! YEEEEES! My parents were on the other side of the phone, being all "Sssshhh Bian! Ang ingay mo! Baka magising ung kabilang unit!"

It took sometime before I calmed down and realized that today was a rollercoaster of emotions. But, it’s not over yet, there's still interview week. Now, that was the scariest of them all. Believe me. Despite how prepared I was, I had tachycardia while walking towards the door of my next challenge. Not to mention, we had a concert to organize and prepare for on the day of my interview! I'll be blogging about what happened during my interview and also what happened when I passed UPCM soon!