Triumphant return.

Not only am I back in town, I'm two thousand dollars richer (thanks to a scholarship check made out to me, not my university) and the national winner of HOSA's bronze medal in medical terminology!!

It's been a good week. Dallas was scorching hot with 70-80% humidity, which played malicious games with my hair, but I miraculously managed not to get sunburned. Thanks, Sara's spray-on SPF 70!

Now, about the competition. My med terms test followed a simple format: 100 multiple choice questions with 20 mandatory write-in tiebreakers (so if people get the same score, there's an additional basis for comparison). I completed most of the exam and all the write-ins with no problem, but at Nationals, it's a given that multiple people will end up with 100%, so I thought I was screwed when I encountered one question I didn't know. I was looking for a descriptive term for "non-CA lesion caused by UV overexposure," and I went with the more general "chemabrasion" over "actinic keratosis," which sounded more like a condition and less like a lesion to me. Plus, the roots have nothing to do with the sun- "actinic" refers, of course, to actin (I still have no idea how that fits in physiologically, though), and "keratosis" means hardening condition (which kind of works, I guess, now that I think about it). Of course, I looked it up right after and discovered that I'd answered incorrectly, so I thought I was totally screwed in terms of getting a medal. I guess I got lucky, though, because I was called up as part of the Top Ten in front of eight thousand people at our closing ceremony. You have no idea how hard I had to concentrate on not tripping- I came so close while walking up the steps to the stage...yeah. Looking around, I noticed that the rest of the finalists were Asian and Indian, so I thought I had no chance at all. I was thrilled when they called my name, though, and watched as a massive version of myself flashed up on the big screen in the convention center while they gave me my medal. I probably looked like an idiot, smiling far too wide and trying to stay balanced on the podium while keeping my outfit in perfect alignment (I should have worn something less high maintenance), but it was exciting, all the same!

I'm really happy to be home. Katie and Liz just came to visit me, and it was great to see them. When I'm gone, I miss the Friendship like I miss my family. It'll be hard to separate for an entire year of college.

Anyway, I'm in town until Saturday, and I'm looking to have a fun week. I wanted to start my phlebotomy externship, but I can't see that happening until I can be in town for less irregular lengths of time. No clinic'll want to take me unless I can be consistent.