RIDE Christmas Party

The director of the program, Dr. DiMarco, hosted a RIDE Christmas party at his house on Friday night. A lot of faculty attended as well as all the students. It was really nice to mingle with everybody and get to know everyone's spouses. Dr. DiMarco has a beautiful home out in Coeur D'Alene, ID overlooking the lake.

As I was mingling with everyone at the party, I couldn't help but think about how this party exemplifies some of the major benefits of the RIDE program . It is nice to be included within a tight knit group of people, to be treated as equals amongst the faculty and staff, and to be able to enjoy time with one another. I have no doubt that if I were in Seattle I would share some of these same benefits, but I don't think they would be on the same level that we enjoy here in Spokane. Maybe it was the Christmas decorations, the beautiful home, the amazing lasagna, or the good company of friends, but It caused me to reflect upon the positives of these last 4 months and put the negatives aside.

This party turned out to be a great stress reliever also. 6 hours prior to this party I had just bombed our Dental Anatomy written final. It was horrible.... the bombing part, not the test.... and I was able to let go of that stress and enjoy the evening. I very well could have gotten between a 50% and 60% on that test, and I'm definitely not expecting any more than that. The good news is, it still looks like I still might be able to pass.

Sorry there are no pictures.... I forgot the camera.