I’ve been feeling a bit lost. It was bound to happen, I suppose. I’m halfway through my four-year medical school adventure and it’s been almost eight years since I first made the life altering decision to become a doctor. Since that cool November evening when I was lying on my back with my arms behind … More Don’t forget about your dreams – My weekend in San Francisco.
My time living in Portland, OR has felt like a single blink of my eyes. I moved here in late August of 2013 and since then, I have constantly been studying for an exam or training for a martial arts competition. It’s been relentless and exhausting. That is, until a few weeks ago. I took … More A few words on my goals and accomplishments.
I knew I was pushing myself to my limit, but I thought I could handle it. My plan was to take my first set of board exams to become a licensed naturopathic doctor on a Tuesday and fight at a Muay Thai event on the following Saturday. From the moment my school term ended until … More It’s not about being unbreakable.
I’m a second-year medical student. And a fighter. Some would say I lead a dual life. I don’t see it that way, but there is definitely a giant gap between these two aspects of my life. I end up feeling a bit misunderstood. The people I train with mostly assume that I take a part-time … More 5 profound life lessons I learned from losing a Muay Thai fight.
For the past couple months, I’ve been preparing for a Muay Thai fight while also diligently studying in medical school. It was a relentless schedule of 12-15 hour days filled with extreme mental and physical exertion. I was constantly exhausted. There were days when I barely had enough physical energy to stand up or enough … More The lover and the fighter in me.
A few days from now, I will compete in my first Thai Boxing fight. Training for this fight has been pretty difficult for me. I’m also in medical school, which in itself is a pretty busy life and adding the immense amount of athletic training required for a fight has been among the most grueling … More I fight because I’m broken.
As a medical student, I am on a constant and desperate search for ways to fund my absurdly expensive education. I started applying for every single scholarship that I am potentially eligible for. One scholarship opportunity, offered by Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods, involved making a 3-minute video of a speech on a grain or … More Find The Sunflower Seed
I spent years working towards getting into NCNM’s naturopathic medicine program. When I got here, I convinced myself that I was prepared in every way. I’d done all of my pre-reqs. I was motivated. I was confident. I knew that I’d have to put in an absurd amount of hours studying. I was ready to … More The time I forgot why it mattered.
I hate making friends. Having friends is one of the biggest perks of being a human, but making them is the worst. A real friend knows you. All the good things and all the bad things. Obviously. And that’s fine. Great, even. I wish everyone knew me, knew everything. But that would mean I have … More How I learned to turn insecurity into courage. (It’s super easy)
I dropped out of my master’s degree program at NCNM after my first year. I’m still in pursuit of my doctorate in naturopathic medicine, but frankly, I’ve been seriously considering dropping out of that program as well. There would be many legitimate reasons for quitting: It’s too difficult, I can’t keep my grades up, I’m … More I’ve reached my academic limit, and it has nothing to do with my brain.
James is Trying 