Some of the extracurriculars I have done, I ended up regretting. Two in particular are research and volunteering in the hospital. It seems taboo to say that I didn't enjoy those two experiences. My research probably ended up being more of a detriment instead of an asset to my application. During the interview for American University of Antigua, my interviewer brought up that my research professor, who wrote my l.o.r., brought up some concerns.... my heart stopped when I heard this. I then had to try to think about the concerns on the spot, which I was sure had to do with my haphazard attendance during to the research lab. The ongoing punchline among the research group became... where's Terrance? I didn't enjoy the research, but I continued out of a sense of obligation.
Volunteering at the hospital wasn't too much fun either. I was mostly just stocking the same areas over and over until my 4 hours were up. I enjoyed talking to the patients, techs, and some of the nurses. One of the nurses had the audacity to say aloud, "this is fucking disgusting" when changing the sheets of an elderly patients who smelt bad with sores all over her body. The day just seemed to drag on, when the department was slow. There's only so many blankets or cups or water to bring. However, it was a valuable experience to see how each of the health professionals worked together. It was slightly disturbing to see how little time the physicians spent with the patients, they spent a lot of time in their isolated room on the computer.
My favorite experience was shadowing a nurse practitioner who operated the clinic under a physician who was rarely there. I admired how he interacted with his patients and how they genuinely trusted him. He took his time to diagnose the patients and had a personal relationship with them. He was able to prescribe medications, but still had some limitations as a nurse practitioner; he said that he would've went to medical school if it weren't for him starting a family at an early age.
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