From Application to Acceptance

If you haven’t yet, read The Journey to Application to get caught up on my family’s journey from the beginning to the decision to apply to medical school.  If you have already done that, then let’s jump right in!

So it picks up right at the beginning of 2015.  We had decided to apply, so I registered for Physics II and Chemistry II (and their labs) barely a week before they started.  Luckily, both classes were available at times that complimented my work schedules at both the Baptist Student Union and the church.  It was quite the adjustment after my semester off, especially considering I was in two large classes consisting of mostly freshmen.  However, class for me was different this time.  I had some incredible motivation to be diligent with my work (wife and upcoming baby), as well as a deeper appreciation for my professors (after student teaching).  Armed with that, I did my best to tackle the semester.  Morgan and I were also trying to adjust to the idea of adding a little tiny human to our lives at the end of May.  Things were crazy!

I have mentioned before how the pre-requisite classes alone were going to cost us around $10,000.  We were able to digest them in ~$2,000 increments, but that still began to put a strain on our finances.  When it was just the two of us, all it took was a tighter budget and we could pay it.  Post-baby, it was much harder.  But the Lord is faithful.  Turns out, I had forgotten a section of my BSU salary package included around $1600 to go towards education.  And in the fall, Bro. Dan Robertson (the BSU council chairman) was speaking with a group of community members when someone asked if Morgan and I were getting any tuition assistance.  Long story short, I ended up recieving a scholarship through the Hollis Foundation in Columbus, MS.  It always seemed that just when we reached the end of our financial rope, He provided for us.  We had to have a new key made for the car (~$125).  $125 that we didn’t have.  The next day I was greeting people at church and a member walked up to me and said “You’re doing a great job” and handed me $100.  Talk about overwhelmed.  I had to go to the restroom to collect myself after that.

Short bio about me: I tend to rely on myself to do everything.  Don’t have enough money in the account?  I’ll pick up some extra band gigs or photography shoots.  Heck, I’ll come rake the leaves in your yard.  And even after all the times the Lord has provided for my family, I STILL try to “man up” and do it myself.  It makes absolutely zero sense.

Matthew 21:22 says “And whatever you ask for in prayer, you will receive, if you ask in faith.”  Seeing this, it’s easy to think “well I will just ask for all of these classes to be paid for.  That way I can relax.”  But then we look at “the Lord’s Prayer” in Matthew 6.  This is Jesus telling us how to pray, and He says, “Give us this day our daily bread.”  The lesson was simple: trusting the Lord to provide for us each and every day causes us to be dependent on Him each and every day.  

So that was just one of the lessons learned through all of this.

During March, I briefly shadowed Dr. Ozborn and Dr. Huffman in Eupora, MS.  In the beginning of May, BSU came to a close (as well as my two classes at State) and Morgan and I temporarily moved to Amory to await our little bundle of joy.  While there, I spent two weeks in the Amory Pediatric Clinic with Dr. Al-Godi and Dr. Tavarez.  These two men and their nurses (Chelsea and Andrea) taught me so many things that it really deserves its own post (and it might get it, who knows?).  All of them were committed to immersing me in the clinical experience, and I truly felt like part of their team.

But one of the coolest parts of this time actually came on the patient side of things.  I was able to go with Morgan to most of her appointments with Dr. Duke Wood.  Dr. Wood actually used to live next door to us when I was younger, so we were somewhat familiar with each other.  He is what’s called a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, or DO.  In medicine, there are two basic types of doctors, MD and DO.  I’m not going to delve into the differences between them at the moment (I hope to go more in depth at a later time), but at its core there are some basic training differences between the two.  One of the first decisions to be made when applying to medical school is which type you would like to pursue, due to their schools being separate from one another.  I wasn’t terribly informed about DO schools, so he was a fantastic resource for that.  And beyond that, he was an excellent physician all the way through the pregnancy!

I spent May shadowing during the day and studying MCAT books at night.  Morgan spent May on the treadmill or out on the road walking.  And Owen spent May making it very clear that he was happy right where he was.  The Wednesday before our due date, we went in to see Dr. Wood.  He told us we could either induce that day, or wait until the following Monday.  We sat in the McDonald’s parking lot, discussed our options, prayed over them, and decided to induce that day.  Fast forward 24 hours and Owen was still refusing to make an appearance, so we opted for a C-Section.

Once inside the OR, the weight of the situation really began to set in.  To cover my nervousness, I immediately began joking with anyone who would listen (strange defense mechanism, I know).  But my nervousness was for nothing as everything went perfectly.  We quickly found out that the umbilical cord had wrapped itself around Owen’s neck and abdomen, hindering his ability to descend naturally.  Dr. Wood and his team handled it perfectly (even in the face of numerous defense jokes from me), and soon we found ourselves in our new reality as a family of three.

We spent a few days in the hospital as Owen’s jaundice levels fluctuated.  But soon, it was back to the real world.  We took Owen home and had a few days to figure out what in the world we were doing.  But Thursday rolled around all too quickly.  That Thursday, I began to try to tame the beast.

Organic Chemistry.

On the first day of class, I walked to the front of class after the session was over to talk to my professor about our situation.  I told her I was a new parent and it was very possible that I would miss a class or two because I freaked out about something that really wasn’t that big of a deal.  Her response?

“You must drop the class.”

…what?  “I’ll be fine, I promise.  I just wanted to let you know.”

“No there is no way that you can pass this class as well as take care of your family.  It can’t be done.  Your wife will either hate you in the end of it, or you will fail.”

Every pre-medical student hears of the horrors of Organic Chemistry.  And this exchange did nothing to alleviate my fears.  But in the back of my head, a still small voice spoke.

“I’ve brought you this far.   Have a little faith!”

And it should be that easy!  Why oh why do I insist on relying on myself?  Throughout the summer term, He and I spent a lot of time together in prayer and I came out with an A and a B (in I and II respectively).  Organic Chemistry just made sense to me, and I dare not say that is of my own volition.  And what do you know?  My wife still liked me.

Following the conclusion of the summer term, the three of us went on vacation with my family for a few days.  But there is no rest for the weary!  I had the MCAT the next week, so I spent my days on the beach cozied up next to flash cards (thanks Mrs. Deborah!) and my nights answering practice questions on my computer.  I would wake up some mornings and Morgan would tell me stories of how I muttered science facts in my sleep.

And after months of build-up, the MCAT came and went.  I was shooting for a 500 on the new scale, but felt like I hadn’t even come close to meeting my goal.  Most people study 6-8 hours a day for about 3 months leading up to the test.  With my responsibilities to my family, class, and jobs, I could manage 2-3 hours at most.  And if anyone needed to study extra, it was me.  Biology, my weakest subject due to lacking Bio II and Biochemistry, was what most of the questions had been about.  As the score reporting date approached, Morgan and I prepared for bad news.

But the bad news never came.  I had squeezed out a 504.  Biology, as expected, had been my weakest section.  But it had been countered with a high score in Verbal Reasoning.  Our house is normally a pretty quiet house, but there was much hooting and hollering heard in the Windermere complex that day.

With MCAT score in hand, I began to send out applications.  After talking with Dr. Wood about the osteopathic route, we sent applications to five osteopathic schools (LECOM-Bradenton, VCOM-Auburn, LMUCOM, ACOM, and William Carey).  I prepared the application for allopathic schools, but I could never hit send.  My stats (504 MCAT and 3.6 cGPA) were a little low for allopathic schools but it was still doable.  However, after spending time with Dr. Wood and seeing how he and his staff treated both me and my wife throughout the pregnancy, I decided to apply only to osteopathic schools.

Fast forward to the end of the semester (I promise I’m almost done), and I get invited to interview at William Carey University and VCOM-Auburn on consecutive days in January.  I received dress pants, ties, and a suit for Christmas so it is safe to say this was on everyone’s mind throughout the holiday season.

Morgan and I had our hearts set on William Carey.  We had family nearby, were somewhat familiar with the area, and also were familiar with the university itself.  I went in and had a great interview with three other applicants.  Morgan picked me up at the end of the day and we did a little dance and crossed our fingers that our plan would come to fruition.

We immediately took off towards Auburn (about a 4 hour drive from Hattiesburg) arriving at our hotel just in time to catch the College Football National Championship.  Nothing quite like watching the people of Auburn react to Alabama winning yet another national championship.  Wings were also half price at the hotel restaurant so we were feeling pretty good that night.

The next day, we woke up early and began the drive into Auburn (our hotel was a little ways out).  We stopped to get gas and the nozzle malfunctioned and drenched my shoes in gasoline.  Excellent start to the day!  I began to wonder if this was a sign of things to come.

But the farther we drove into town, the more that Morgan and I began to realize that this was where we needed to be (pending acceptance of course).  It is hard to explain, but the needle had already begun to swing when we pulled up to VCOM’s building.

I won’t explain every single thing that happened during the interview (since this is already a small book), but when Morgan picked me up at the end of the day, we both knew that this was it.  We honestly just had to laugh because we had once again made our own plans only to be shown that they were misguided.  One of these days, I may actually learn my lesson.

We made the long trip home and awaited the call.  We had been told it could be that week or a few weeks, there’s no certainty.

Well we didn’t wait long.  The next day we got acceptance calls from both schools!  The Auburn group laughed at me because I couldn’t even accurately communicate how overjoyed I was!  It felt like we had crossed the finish line at a marathon that we had been sprinting.  And all that I could think of was how God was probably sitting there waiting to say “I told you so!”

So here we are, the beginning of March.  We’ve already made one trip to look for housing and will need another one soon.  To think that a year and a half ago this wasn’t even on our radar is just astonishing.  Then, I had an education degree with the plans to go to seminary.  Now, we are slowly packing our house up in anticipation for the move to Auburn.  Then, Morgan was pregnant.  Now, we have a nine-month old that loves to unspool the toilet paper and wave at inanimate objects.  Crazy.

As Dwight Schrute once said, “Nothing is on my horizon…except everything.  Everything is on my horizon.”  That truly sums up how life feels for our family currently.  The future is open to so many different routes and outcomes that it can be downright terrifying at times.  However, Proverbs 19:21 comes to mind.  “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.”  In our case, this is truly what happened.  There is no telling where we would’ve ended up, but I can assure you that even though it can be difficult to trust at times, it is always worth it.

The Journey to Application

Somedays I look back on the incredible adventure that we have been on, and I can’t help but think that Bilbo Baggins would be impressed.  It has been filled with breathtaking highs and disheartening lows, but the lessons learned through all of those times will be cherished for the rest of our lives. I’m not going to write the entire thing in this post because I believe it might qualify as a book.

To start, I have to take you back to my high school graduation.  I graduated as one of seven valedictorians at Amory High School, a small school in Northeast Mississippi.  Being a valedictorian, I absolutely felt that I needed to go into the world and do something earth-shaking (such as being the President, cure cancer, etc.).  I searched my heart and interests and landed on medicine.  I had even decided that I was going to pursue a career in neonatology (specialization of pediatrics that deals with the care of newborn infants, specifically those who are sick and premature).  I left for Mississippi State University to pursue a degree in Biomedical Engineering with a Pre-medical emphasis.  Everything was planned out!  All I had to do was study hard, make the grades I needed, engage in some great extracurricular activities, and I would be on to changing the world in no time.

Not long into my first semester at Mississippi State, one thing became clear to me.  I was on the wrong path.  I tried to deny it.  I tried to run away from it, but that thought continued to linger in my mind no matter what I tried.  I felt the Lord constantly saying “Jason, this plan you’ve made is great and all; but it sure isn’t My plan.  You could do a lot of good as a doctor, but I have so much more planned for you.”  I couldn’t understand it!  I was going to be healing sick infants!  How could there possibly be anything better and more fulfilling than that??

I began to do some soul-searching.  If He didn’t want me in medicine, where was I supposed to be?  The medical specialty that I had been interested in was Pediatrics so I knew that I wanted to help kids in some way.  Education grabbed my attention quickly, specifically Secondary Math Education.  In education, I would be helping children, but that is the only motivation behind it.  There wouldn’t be nearly as much money in it nor many of the other perks that are associated with a career as a physician.  I made it official at the end of that semester, and off I went.

Throughout my collegiate career, my interest in medicine never left.  I was convinced it was my own selfish desire that kept that around, so I became determined to stay on track.  I began working at Immanuel Baptist Church in Steens, MS as the worship pastor.  My photography business began to grow, and three friends and I also formed a band, Days and Nights.  Needless to say, I was busy during my collegiate career, but all of my activities also helped to distract me from my internal dilemma.  I stayed in education; graduating with my degree in May 2014.  The week before I received my degree, I married my wife and we began to talk about our future.  And that’s where things got a little interesting.

During my student teaching, I really enjoyed being able to encourage my students every day, but I felt pretty plainly that teaching was not a long term job for me.  Pretty difficult pill to swallow after four years of college.  I had always thought that I would know exactly what to do upon graduation, but boy was I wrong.  Thankfully, I now had my amazing wife to help me try to figure out what God had for us.

I applied for every job I could find in the Starkville/Columbus/West Point area.  Every job that I was even vaguely qualified for was contacted.  And even some that would be considered long shots (for some reason, Mississippi State Women’s Basketball chose an assistant coach with national championship experience over me).  Two months later, I was offered my one and only interview.  At Chick-fil-a.  I accepted the interview and was working behind the counter just a few days later.

I thoroughly enjoyed working at CFA.  The owners and managers were amazing, the other employees were very kind and helpful, and I learned some valuable lessons about service and maintaining my countenance.  However very shortly after I began working there, I was contacted about the possibility of being the Baptist Student Union Director at East Mississippi Community College.  At the time, this seemed much more in line with what I wanted to do long-term, so I transitioned out of the food industry and into college ministry.  Additionally, I began to prep the necessary paperwork to begin an education in seminary to possibly make collegiate ministry my career.

As you can see, life took several different turns very quickly.  Morgan and I were determined to continue the pursuit of the Lord’s will, but all the uncertainty had begun to weigh on me.  Some days it felt like I was destined to job hop forever.  With the BSU and seminary on the horizon, I began to feel a little better.  I grew up in the church (in a minister’s house no less) and ministry was something that I was comfortable with.

The first semester with the BSU flew by.  We dove deep into the Word, saw growth on both campuses, and in general had a great time.  My niche had been found!  And even better, Morgan and I found out we were expecting our first child!  Everything seemed to be going along swimmingly.  All that was left was to send in the last of my seminary application packet, and I could rest well over Christmas break.

But I couldn’t.  I literally had one sheet of paper left to mail to them, and I couldn’t do it.  I couldn’t even put it in the envelope.  This was my future!  My church had already affirmed me, my pastor and other friends had written letters of recommendation, and it felt so wrong that I couldn’t even complete the process.

So I found myself in the familiar position of not knowing what my career would be.  Again.  I couldn’t believe it.  Again.  On top of that, I went into Christmas break with an awesome combination of the flu and mononucleosis.  “Don’t do too much or your liver might explode and you could die.”

Awesome.

Morgan and I spent three weeks (including our first family Christmas) laid up watching Netflix so that my liver would stay in one piece.  I couldn’t help her through her particularly rough pregnancy.  I wasn’t really even allowed to look at her for too long for fear she would get sick too.  Not ideal for sure.

But looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing.  Over this month, I was forced to slow down and reevaluate life.  I wasn’t allowed to sing, go outside for long, or pick up anything so I wasn’t allowed to perform any of my jobs.  I rested and healed.  And in all of this craziness something came that I didn’t quite expect.

Clarity.

Towards the end of the break, I began to broach the subject of medical school with Morgan for approximately the 87th time.  After a few days of this, she decided that it was time that we make a decision.  Either we chose to pursue this, or we dropped it for good.  We began to pray and research.

I found that I still lacked about eight classes to satisfy the pre-requisites for most medical schools.  At approximately $1200 per class, we would need to pay just shy of $10,000 just for classes. I also needed to find the time (at least 50 hours) to shadow different physicians.  The monster known as the MCAT also had to be prepped for and taken.  All of this had to happen while I continued to work AND as we welcomed Owen into our family. The goal would be to apply for the August 2016 class which meant I had to have everything done in a year. Two words could describe that goal.

Pipe. Dream.

Yet in that moment, the road was so clear. Even seeing these huge monetary and time commitments we would have to make, we felt peace. A peace we had lacked thus far.

That’s how we got to the point of application. If you read it all and didn’t just skip down here, I applaud you! If time permits (if baby permits), I will write about the incredible things that have happened since then. The Lord has been at work in a crazy way this entire journey, and I only wish for Him to get the glory He deserves.