Match Day

What a bizarre affair. Every school does their match day differently, and perhaps this is one time when being on the west coast is better; we found out our results at 9am (it's synchronized across the country so east coast schools get results at noon and presumably, Hawaiians wake up early). In a Californian fashion, it was very low key; no big ceremony, no pomp and circumstance, no speeches, which is the way I like it. Many people didn't even show up, preferring to get an email or check online later in the day. But it was wonderful to see classmates who did come, and I spent much of the morning catching up. The tension was palpable and there was an atmosphere of anxiety. In a characteristically unceremonious manner, we picked up our envelopes and opened them at the same time, frantically searching the paper for the results. Most of my friends got their top few choices and I am very grateful for that. The rest of the day was spent in celebration; many of us went out to brunch on a fabulously beautiful, sunny, and truly Californian day. It was perfect and strange to have a day off on a Thursday, but we took the greatest advantage of it with our friends.