Where the Wind Comes Sweepin’ Down the Plain

Kris has matched to an orthopaedic residency at OU (as of March 16), and we are moving to Oklahoma City!

Positives are that it’s a great program (of course), close-ish to family and friends, cost of living is low, easy drive to a large part of the country, and maroon is an awesome color. Not crazy about Boomer Sooners or the fact that we (TAMU) aren’t in the same conference, but what can you do!? Side note: my Aggie husband who bleeds maroon will have his medical education from UT and OU.. hahaha!

Firstly, the school put on a series of socials and celebrations between Black Monday (when you find out if you matched – yes or no) and Match Formal (Saturday, after you find out where you matched). Match Week was awesome and super fun, and we were worn out by the end of it all!

Match Day was something that we did not anticipate. There was a lot of nervous excitement in the room before letters went out and I was not prepared for everyone screaming with the crazy eyes, jumping up and down, and the tears. Kris and I both felt pure shock at finally knowing where we were going to be after a year long application process. For me, there was an added pride that he had gone through 4 years of a lot of studying and stress and made it into Orthopaedics (a competitive field these days). Under this umbrella of shock, we alternated between excitement at the match and disappointment at the loss of the other possibilities. We were NOT disappointed with the match at OU (it was high in our ranking and we surely would have been more disappointed to drop down our rank list), but we had played with what-ifs for a year and we had anticipated moving to multiple places. It was just hard to let go of all of these contingency plans because there was a lot of fun things in cool places on the rank list. Also, matching started the bitter-sweet end of medical school. We have made life-long friendships over the last 4 years and now all will be scattered to the wind.

So, SHOCK then excitement & disappointment all rolled together – plus excitement for your friends’ matches – makes for an exhausting morning! Kris’s parents came for the letter opening and we all went to lunch on the Seawall, then much needed naps, then dinner with Kris’s family, and then a social with his schoolmates. I think that by the time dinner rolled around we could finally talk about what OU and a move to Oklahoma City meant, not that we actually know because we’ve never been there! I think that the shocking feeling lasted for a good two more days.

Now, Kris is calm and not worried about a thing and I have moved into a slightly nervous stress phase. Between now and his start date ( July 1) we are backpacking Chile, timidly going through the process of looking for a house to buy, watching friends get married, biking 100 mi in support of Unicef, getting an OK medical license and going through all of the paperwork to start residency, looking for suitable jobs for Brittany, going on a McCall family vacation, throwing a graduation party, watching Kris graduate, and packing and moving our home of 2 years… all while squeezing in social time with the friends and family we will miss… it’s a lot to do!! Pray for clarity of mind as we speed through the next 2.5 months. Also, if you have any suggestions/tips on things to do or see/dealing with those Okies please tell us!