PostBac To the Future

Today, I had my first meeting with my postbacalaureate-prehealth advisor at Loyola University. Stepping on campus grounds I couldn't help but recall memories from the movie, Necessary Roughness. In this 1991 sports comedy, "the Texas State University Fightin' Armadillos must form a team from their actual student body, with no scholarships to help, to play their football schedule. The makeshift team must overcome obstacles that the best teams in the country couldn't deal with. Using a 34 year old quarterback, a female placekicker and a gang of misfits, Ed "Straight Arrow" Genero must take his team to play the number one Texas Colts." The 34 year old farmboy quarterback named Paul Blake is played by Scott Bakula. You may remember him from such memorable roles as Dr. Sam Beckett in the TV series, "Quantum Leap," or Paul Blake from the movie, "Necessary Rough...anyway, there is a scene in the movie where Bakula steps on the T.S.U.'s campus for the first time and realizes how much older he is than the rest of the undergrads...which is exactly how I felt walking on that campus. I felt OLD. I wish I could have somehow contacted Al to quantum leap my ass back to 1998 so that I could pursue premed from the get-go or, even better, to jump to 10 years from now when I'm already working as an attending and playing professional poker part-time. But without working time machines ("hold on...I forgot to put in the crystals"), I have no choice but to take the long route. And after talking with my advisor, I will be on a very very very long journey. But this as exciting as it is depressing for me. I feel that I'm refreshed enough to get back into school mode and ready to take on the rigorous academic challenges that await me. And will I succeed in my endeavors? As my dad always said,"Who knows? Could be..."