Applying for medical school, interviewers sometimes ask about how you deal with stress (usually a fairly meaningless question for 17 year olds). The standard answer of being organised, prioritising tasks and keeping perspective all come to mind, and then of course you slip in how multiple extracurricular activities help you to relax.
Last August, having made the leap from being a student to
becoming a doctor, I would say I finally understood the real value of having
such an absorbing hobby. I have such a distinct memory of my first climb after
starting work. It was in my 3rd week of the job, in the last stretch
of 12 days straight. I had survived my first weekend on-call and was exhausted
but decided a climb might be better than sleep. Bouldering around, thinking of
nothing but the climbs in front of me, I suddenly realised that I actually felt
like my normal self again. During a time when everything was new and intense,
feeling ‘normal’ was a huge relief.
As it happens, the job has calmed down considerably and with
the intensity of the first few months in the past, my climbing psyche is
officially back. After leaving the British team, my climbing ambitions all went
on the back burner and uni became my main focus. However, over the past few
months it’s become obvious that I still have a lot of ambitions in climbing and
I’m keen to push my limits. Perfect timing for a climbing trip to Costa Blanca…
