Friends
I have to confess something. I'm lousy at correspondence. I've gotten a little better over the years, but med school life is definitely not conducive to keeping in touch. But email helps immensely.
That being said, my friends, whether I've kept in close contact with them or not, are the most important people in my life next to my family. They're the ones who know me the best and keep me sane. I don't think I could have done half of what I've done without my friends.
High School
I've actually lost track of most of my friends from high school. I sporadically keep in touch with a few of them.
Arnold Chee--One of my best friends in high school. We used to just bum around school and Houston, talking about random things. I think he's working at Rice University back home in Houston.
Katherine King--I admired her so much in high school. She was a great person, great friend, and model student athlete. We ended up being the two from our year at St. John's to go to Harvard. Now, she's in the MD-PhD program at Washington University in St. Louis. She recently set up this cool web site on complementary medicine.
Victor Tran--My other best friend in high school, we used to talk about going to med school and publishing a book of anatomy drawings. He was always a better artist than I ever was. He's at University of San Antonio Medical School, last I heard.
Bettina Yip--I think I have the longest history with her. She is the god-sister of my best friend in elementary school, Andrew Yeh (who is, incidentally, at CalTech in the chem or biochem grad program, last I heard). We became friends once I transferred to St. John's and have remained so. She used to always play-punch me in the stomach, me and ever other guy at school. She graduated from Columbia Law last year and is now practicing in Atlanta. The last time I heard from her, she was engaged to be married.
College
I've kept more in touch with my college friends. We've just seen more of each other. Plus, college forges really strong bonds, I think.
Jeffrey Zaref--One of my roommates for four years. In many ways, we were alike when we first met, and in a few ways, we still are. He's also finishing med school at Duke University and going into pediatrics next year in San Francisco. He recently got married to Alisa Kendrick.
Rick Guerrero--My other roommate for four years. His personality rubbed off on my over those years. I ended up being somewhere between Jeff and Rick's personalities, I think. He's also finishing med school at University of Southern California and is going into surgery at King/Drew Med Center. He and his wife Alicia are the proud parents of two children: Tatum and Drew.
Ha Le Cao--One of my blockmates and my best friend from collge. We've been confidantes for each other all these years. She was the one whom I first came out to all those years ago and possibly the only person who knows all my various crushes and dreams and stuff. She's been there for me and vice versa. Right now, she's working at Adamcorp in San Francisco. Check her homepage out. It has her daily musings on it. They're fun to read, and she's an awesome writer!
Carla Pereira--One of my blockmates. She always had the astounding ability to do like a zillion things at once. I loved the late night food runs and hanging out we used to do. She's in Washington D.C. at Georgetown Law right now.
Nora Dickey--One of my blockmates. An amazing actress. We used to have the most random long, yet extremely interesting, conversations. She's in Los Angeles, teaching last I heard.
Sarah Tuttleton--One of my friends who sat at "the table." One of the pre-meds in our group, she was into the arts as much as I was, actually more than I was. She's in New York City now getting an MD-PhD from Cornell University School of Medicine. She's also getting married this July!
Hannah Schott--One of my friends who sat at "the table." I used to love getting all the news on the royal family from her. We could always count on Hannah knowing the correct etiquette for various occasions. She was also one of the few people Rick and I could discuss the "merits" of such quality shows as Beverly Hills 90210 amd Melrose Place. She's in Chicago working for Sears last I heard. She's also getting married this April!
Adriane Smith--One of my friends who lived in my freshman entryway in Strauss and later in Adams House. One of the nicest people I know whom I can always count on to make me laugh and to whom I can gripe and whine. At one point, she, Ha Le, and I, frustrated with our luck in matters of love, decided we would be "sexual predators." It was an intriguing idea, but never really got off the ground. She's in New Haven right now, pursuing her graduate degree in history.
Joy Chen--One of my friends from back home. We actually didn't know each other personally before college. We had the same orthodontist, except that we went to different office locations. She was known as "Smiley" at one location; and I, at the other. She's finishing up her MD at Baylor College of Medicine right now in Houston.
the Opportunes--Joining the 'tunes was kind of like getting a group of 15 friends all at once. Over the three years that I was part of the group, I made some really great friends: Michael Wertheim, Christine Kienzle, Jenna Goodearl, Brian Fehlau, Willy Hutcheson, Amy Brown, Darin Goulet, Jen Soriano, Gina Forlano, J. Chris Paul, Sarah French, Brian DeVries, Careina Williams, Rashida Jones, Danny Simon, Aaron Rosenberg, Tom Kuo, Marisa Chandler, Tara Purohit, Rebecca Garrison, and Francis Kim.
You know, there's nothing like all your friends getting married to make you feel really old. Well, that, and make you painfully aware of your single status.
Medical School and New York
In New York, I've made a ton of new friends. Without them, I would NEVER have survived med school.
Liliane Min--One of my wonderful roommates. Superwoman extraordinaire. She is like the embodiment of the strong, modern, independent woman. She's going to be in Philadelphia next year for her residency in internal medicine.
Linda Huang--One of my wonderful roommates. Perhaps one of the sweetest people I know. You can always count on her to be there for you. She's going to stay here next year for her residency in ophthamology.
Sylvia Kim--One of my best friends. We have birthdays three days apart from each other. We have frighteningly similar tastes in almost everything. Another one of our friends called us two peas in a pod once; that image has always stuck in my mind. She's going to stay here next year for her residency in surgery.
Jennifer Lin--One of my best friends. I think I would have gone into a deep depression when I first got here if it hadn't been for her. She's been a great friend. She's going to stay here next year for her residency in primary care.
Tracie Wong--One of my best friends. My comrade in mischief this past year since we did a few electives together. I still like teasing her about Martha Stewart. She's going to stay here for her residency in pediatrics.
Lucy Lu--One of my good friends. I can always count on her to be brutally honest with me and to point out when I'm just deluding myself about various and sundry things. She's going to stay here next year to get her MBA and MD.
Jasmine Dave--One of my good friends. I think she came the closest out of all of us to lead the "New York" lifestyle, at least fashion-wise and club-wise. She's a great dance partner. She's going to stay here next year for her residency in surgery.
Sora Yoon--One of my good friends. We actually met at Harvard when I auditioned for her a cappella group, the Veritones. We were acquaintances for the two years I knew her there before she graduated. Since then, we've become better friends. She can always make me laugh, something I will always appreciated. Plus she has a beautiful singing voice. She's going to be in Hawaii next year for one year of internal medicine, then she'se coming back here for her residency in radiology.
Twentysomething--When I was new in town, I tried in vain to meet people in bars and clubs, not realizing that that wasn't really my element. So, I turned to the Gay and Lesbian Community Center which recommended this group to me. I'm really glad that I went to the meetings, at least for a few months. I met most of my gay friends through them in that short amount of time: Eric Orns, Glenn Sham, Clay Nottleman, Nick, Richard Bush, Howard Maurer, Matthew Helpern, Bob Pileggi, Robert Franick, Philip Gnilka, and Thom Chaiket.
Others--Then there were all the other people I met during this time that were chance encounters or over the web: Michael Shaller, Jason Ein, Cary Martin, Patrick Wacker, Philip Zipkin, Sean Kaminsky, Brad Aufderheide, Shaun Martin, Bill Discepolo, and Brian from Texas.
My friends have helped me discover myself, preserve my sanity, and maintain my happiness all these years. If any of y'all're reading this, thank you!
If you have any comments, please feel free to email me!
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