New Beginning

It is barely six o'clock, but I am wide awake. Today is the first day of a week of orientation for the batch of new interns. The mix of nervous energy, expectation, and anticipation swirl around my head as I head to the auditorium of the hospital. It is exactly the same feeling as the first day of medical school four years ago. We gather in the foyer, introduce ourselves to one another, and make the obligatory "Hi, where are you from? What uni did you go to? What made you come to Wollongong?..." small talk. There's a buzz of energy in the room; I can feel the excitement in the air. After all these years of putting our noses to the grindstone, it really is exciting that we are finally going to take the first real step toward a lifelong career, and for me, a second career. I am finally going to have a real job and a regular income again. The cynic in me knows that, as time goes by and as we go through the trials and tribulations of post-graduate training, the enthusiasm and idealism we have today will seem naive sometimes. But today, I feel like my whole life is laid out before me and the possibilities endless. Today, I feel like an adult again.