Each year, Perelman School of Medicine students and medical students across the country count down to annual “Match Day,” which marks one of the most important days in a medical student's career. Friday, March 20, students will come together with their classmates and wait for the envelope that will tell them where they are headed for their residency training. This year for our annual Match Day blog series, medical student Anna Jesus is sharing her thoughts leading up to and after this major stepping stone.
By Anna Jesus
I was making pancakes and broccoli (lunch of champions) for my daughters. “For the First Time in Forever” from Frozen was playing in the background, with Ari (my eldest) intermittently screaming along. Time had been dragging all morning, but then I looked up and the oven clock read “12:03.”
My breath caught as I read the subject line “Did I Match?” Then relief. And anticipation. And pure joy!! Ari provided me with a well-earned high five after she brushed me off sternly, “NO KISSES!” (She is very good at being two years old.)
Now I’m trying to settle in to this limbo: I have a job. I don’t know where. It’s simultaneously liberating and maddening.
I’d like to think of myself as a woman of science, but I have become oddly superstitious. I’m avoiding cracks, making wishes on eyelashes and pennies, and throwing in the extra dollar in the tip jar at our local coffee shop. Suddenly all those crickets that reign over our damp basement are no longer a nuisance but a forecast of good luck.
I’m reminding myself that I would be privileged to train at all the programs I ranked. But after listing and relisting the programs in my mind for months and many, many conversations with those who know me best, both professionally and personally, I admit I’ve fallen hard for our number one pick. 
I’m regretting that I haven’t packed the week with more events to take my mind off. John’s out of town (but will be back for the Match), so it’s just me with the dependents. You mean we’ve been covering the dining room chairs and ourselves with finger paint for 6 minutes? Where has the time gone? At least I know now that I am going to be a pediatrician (which is truly the best possible news). These moments are therefore educational, right? Helping me gain more empathy for my future patients’ stir-crazy parents?
As Friday approaches, please keep all us MS4s in mind. I’ll be doing so over the coming nights while not sleeping, staring at the ceiling, wearing my pajamas inside out.
Check out Anna's own blog, "Anna in Med School," here.