"you from the suburbs!"

Today, I was with some friends of mine in the library when a discussion broke out about where people were from. Of course, I got singled out as the only one being from a cushy suburb and going to a cushy public high school (Naperville/Oak Brook, Hinsdale Central). Everyone else either fit at least one of the following criteria: 1) black 2) latino 3) from the city 4) from the "ghetto." At one point, someone exclaimed "Ya see, we got to go up against all these people from the suburbs!"

I suppose if I was from a part of town where most kids couldn't read past a third-grade reading level and people got killed every week, I'd view my current situation in medical school with more than a little self-satisfaction. That being said, this whole exchnage reminded me of how there exists a certain degree of segregation in our M1 class based on socio-economic status, which isn't to say that people aren't friendly to one another. This makes sense. Sharing a similar background breeds a degree of comfort...I'm going to skip the related discussion about race and culture that would normally follow.

I decided over break that I would commit to writing more this semester on this blog or in my own journals about what I am thinking and the things I see. I fantasize that perhaps one day, I'll produce a collection of writings that will be publish-worthy but of course, the only way I see that happening anytime soon is if I go on a serial-killing rampage which ends with my suicide. And even if that were to happen, I'm sure my diaries would make for some maddening reads considering that they're often devoid of punctuation, grammar, and, well, sense.