Melting Muddy Meanderings & Med School

The time has certainly flown by and I keep finding myself less and less behind a computer. Funny how since the nice weather has come, I spend less time cooped up inside. Well here's a whirlwind update of the last few weeks in my life. I had a fantastic trip to Whitehorse, a great city that everyone should see. It felt a little like a metropolis after holing up in Inuvik for the winter what with sushi, a microbrewery and shopping. The drive up and down the Dempster highway might have even been the best part. I captured some good pictures, but they don't do it justice. The remoteness of the highway with only a hotel/gas bar breaking up about 500km of absolute emptiness, is pretty astounding. I got an apprecitation for how far north I am by driving 15hrs south and still being north of 60. Ah Canada.

While in Whitehorse I received an invitation to interview for the physician assistant program at McMaster. So after spending a few weeks in the mud and torrents of flooding creeks in Inuvik, I flew back south to Ontario for a whirlwind visit with friends and family and even some bananas, had a good experience interviewing and then flew back north with my Parents so they could experience the northern life for a week. Boy did they see the north. Gone were the days of rushing meltwater, only to be replaced with wind and snow for another week. They seemed to enjoy themselves despite having to wear hats and mitts again in May. Taking a helicopter ride and having lunch with an Olympian can help smooth over bad weather though. Surprise, surprise as soon as they left the nice weather returned to stay and some good news for me. The University of Calgary offered me a spot in the class of 2012 medical program, so I guess 3rd times the charm.

Thank you to everyone who has sent well wishes, it's great to know that so many people were rooting for me. Maybe that's all it took. I just needed to win a bit more people power onto my side. Now I'm trying to pack as much enjoyment into my time in the Arctic before I have to buckle down and head back to school for a condensed 3 year medical degree. Nobody said it was going to be easy though. Fortunately the weather is gorgeous up here now, the river has just broken up, the sun won't set until July and I'm heading out to Ivvavik National Park with a biology class, which should be spectacular. I could do with a week in the mountains of northern Yukon under the midnight sun. Couldn't you?