A lot has changed in a year. I returned from Kenya, started a graduate program, went back to my old job, left the graduate program, applied to other graduate schools, and left my job again. This spring I was told that my chances of getting into medical school at this point are slim to none. I felt totally lost and wanted nothing more than to be cuddled up with a book on a bench at Daraja. Why had I come home if it wasn't to go back to school? What was I going to do with my life if I couldn't be a doctor?
The past year has entailed more soul searching than I would have liked. I had to really take a look at what it is that makes me happy, and what I want to do right now. I had to give up on planning and start living for the first time in many many years. Everything I have done from 2004 up until a few months ago was to get me to med school. Every decision, every experience was tainted with the thoughts of how it would look on my application.
And here I am, about to start a masters in global public health at Mount Sinai. Maybe you guys saw this coming but I sure as hell did not. The good news is this program will allow me to explore myself and my world in ways I didn't know I cared to. Maybe I'll write my thesis at Daraja, maybe I'll travel around East Africa preaching safe sex and clean water. Hell if I know!
What I do know is this: I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be. 
