Fellowship Match Day

It's been a very interesting year for us...because all of the changes that Jason and I (Avi aka Doc's Girl) talked about happening when we first started dating...are right around the corner! :)

I know that it's hard to imagine what lies in store for our partners when they are done with residency, but this is a fun website to see what job openings there are around the country. It's one of the few websites where you don't have to register to view them. :o)

Currently, Jason and I are waiting for fellowship match day on May 1st, where we will learn where we are going to end up for his fellowship. His fellowship will start in August of 2010 and is 1 year long. Out of all of the choices that he had, we're really hoping on staying here in Michigan for two main reasons:

1. It allows me to comfortably finish my bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology instead of having to take 20 credits per semester in order to finish or transferring to another university...if we have to move.

2. We can add another year of equity to our place and not have to go through the nightmare of selling it, moving, finding a new place, etc. When Jason is done with everything, we'd be more comfortable taking a hit on our place to sell it as opposed to now when we are strapped for cash.

Jason added his resume to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) and he is already getting calls from places around the country, desperate for someone of his future speciality. (Some of these recruiters are called "headhunters." Once we see how credible they are in about a year or so, when we'll seriously consider these offers, I will definitely post about Jason's experience with them for everyone to read. By the way, if anyone has any experience with this, please write about it! :-D) It's kind of neat because it seems like he has gotten a lot of initial interest already since his speciality is desperately needed everywhere. We'll basically have our pick of where we want to end up in the country, all with some nice perks. Some places are offering loan forgiveness, bonuses...and even matching his fellowship salary. :)

So, as many of you know, both of my parents are deceased...and I am extremely blessed to have a fabulous relationship with Jason's parents. In fact, his mother and I spoke for almost 2 hours on the phone yesterday. :) Ironically, Jason and I share a lot of the same values even with growing up in different environments. I came from a pretty traditional Indian family...and he grew up in a small town in Ohio. The topic of job offers came up last night with Jason's mom and it was a pretty serious discussion between her and I. (A very good one, by the way, where she dropped a ton of hints about wanting to spend time with her future grandchildren. :-P)

At this point in time, Jason and I are entertaining the idea of moving to a warmer climate for his future job and he has said that his parents stated that they'll move where ever we go.

However...the truth of the matter is that I think Jason forgets that his parents are quite established where they are. :o) They love their community...they have close friends...but, they also miss their ONLY son who has been in a different state since residency. The idea of moving to a warmer climate is nice...but, the reality of the situation is that I want Jason's parents around as much as possible...especially when I think about our future children. Asking his parents to pack up and move from an area where they have been their entire lives (and are happy with) just seems like a bit much...

My siblings and I always felt like we missed out on the joys of having grandparents close to you. My family moved here from India and, when my grandparents came to live with us here in the United States many years later, it was just plain awkward. It was hard to communicate with them, they had a ton of health problems...and, all in all, there was just a big difference in cultural views. (For example, my grandfather used to get annoyed at me that I didn't serve all of my friends tea/food EVERY time that they came over to hang out. It was hard to explain to him that, sometimes in the US, people just come over to hang out... He just thought I was a bad hostess and I'm actually an excellent hostess, by the way! :-P)

Jason will probably start interviewing for future jobs during his fellowship...so, we still have some time to think about things. But, the good thing is that I know that Jason will probably realize on his own as time goes by that it's not all about the money...or the weather... I know this will happen because we're not about having a big home, expensive cars, or even taking exotic vacations. At the end of the day, we're all about the little things in life, living a comfortable life...and enjoying the important things like time spent with the ones you love. :) (On a side note--one of things Jason and I bonded on initially was the fact that he almost lost his father about a year before we met. His father is now in better health and progressing wonderfully...)

We're also both aware that his parents are older (in their 60s)...and we want to cherish all of the time that we have with them... As sad as it is to admit, I really just don't want to live far from them... I'm just praying that a miraculous offer in Ohio pops up in about a year. :)

Anyways...10 more days to go until Match Day. (Note: Depending on specialties, fellowship match day is different for everyone.) Even though there is a 99.9% chance that we are staying in Michigan...I just can't seem to relax until we get an official answer, you know? Our lives seem to contain many stories of how things can/will go opposite to what we plan for. :-P

The suspense is just killing me....!!!! :)