Hi. My name is Shetal and I'm a Trekkie.

Okay... an undercover trekkie till now. Can you say nerd alert?! I blame my father. (Sorry Dad!) But seriously, I am so stoked! Sylar plays Spock!!!! And the new Kirk... well he's not all that bad looking. (Don't get jealous Ty, he's does not get the privilege of being on my "Five" list.)

Boldly going where no man has gone before in May of 2009!

How do you relieve stress?

I hate prepping for/answering this question in interviews because it's pretty much my signal to amp up the bullshit. Relieve stress? Have you met me?

When pondering all the various insightful and therefore intellectual topics I could of chosen to blog about (Tom Daschle and health care, the economic crisis and those Roberto Cavalli shoes I've been dying for) I decided F that. Narcistic Shetal rears her ugly head. I apologize in advance for this whiny "awww poor Shetal" post that's about to ensue.

I don't relieve, I don't deal, I accumulate and wallow like a pig in my own mess. I don't workout, I don't talk, I don't do anything except drown myself in a sea of food.

"So tell me Shetal, How do you deal with stress?" "Well when I get overwhelmed I turn to double chocolate fudge brownies, New York style cheesecake and truffles. Yup, I like to eat my weight in desserts." I'm a med school adcoms' dream (that's sarcasm in case you didn't catch it).

Although incredibly delicious it's an incredibly unhealthy use of my time and incredibly annoying for anyone (sorry Ty) who ends up having to "deal" with Shetal waist deep in a serious funk.

So what's getting my goat this time? Well in addition to the usual suspects, I'm going home.

I haven't been home for about three months and although I was incredibly excited to see my family for what I think/thought would be a relaxing few days, I am currently flipping out with stress. Cause of said stress? 1) My mom. 2) My mom. Yup, she counts twice. That's how stressful she can be. Her biggest and DAILY complaint? I'm too far away therefore she can't see me as often as she likes, therefore I'm not close (both in terms of locale and relationship) to the family, therefore I don't care about the family ergo I don't love her. WHAT?! It's so twisted it makes me want to rip my hair out in chunks.

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I needed that.

I hate being sent on a one-way guilt trip to hell... and I feel guilty for everything. I don't like conflicts, fights or confrontations so I tend to avoid. I'm a classic avoider. Oh well... I better learn to deal unless I want to go totally loopy.

Thanks for listening. It was cathartic.

I am... Rocky "The Italian Stallion" Balboa

Applying to med school is a little like getting in the ring with Ivan Drago. "I will break you." And after taking one too many blows to the head you can hear the crowd chanting "Rocky, Rocky... Shetal, Shetal..." (I really hope there are some Rocky IV fans reading this because otherwise I've lost all two of you who read my blog.) And after fourteen brutal rounds (okay two for me) you come at it swinging harder than ever and you annihilate the beast. And I feel just the way Rocky did when he knocked that huge Soviet right out of the ring. "It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight...!"

This is my "If I can change... and you can change... everybody can change!" victory speech. (Am I done with the Rocky analogy now?) What a great story about a nobody who became a somebody. Okay...okay... I know, this is turning into a cheese-fest.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I was accepted to medical school! After years of feeling that I just wasn't good enough and that I would never be able to even convince a med school to consider my application, I'm in. That's right.... you're looking at the future Dr. Shetal Patel M.D.. Pretty sexy right?

I worked hard. I busted my ass. I wanted it so bad that I could taste it. I'm more confident in myself than ever before and now that I have it, I can't wait to be elbow deep in it. Literally.

I proved that a little confidence, determination and passion can really take you places. I was far from being the whiz-kid in college... I lacked goals and ambition. It just goes to show that people can change. We just have to make the best of those second chances life so gratuitously offers us. Thanks Life! And THANKS CREIGHTON!

But I didn't get here alone. I'm not sure how things would have worked out if I didn't have the endless support of my friends and family... If I didn't have Ty to kick my ass and catch me too. He's been my rock. I've also been incredibly lucky to have parents who've been there for me every step of the way, confident that I'd make it.

Okay...I'm going to end this post before I get too teary and short-circuit the keyboard. (I know, I'm lame.) But needless to say, I'm incredibly happy and incredibly excited to embark on this new chapter in my life. I can't wait to find out what lies ahead.

ADRIAN!!! Errr... TYLER! (teehee)