{"id":554,"date":"2019-06-06T15:05:18","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T21:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peanutmark.com\/?p=554"},"modified":"2019-08-24T09:42:44","modified_gmt":"2019-08-24T15:42:44","slug":"cher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peanutmark.com\/?p=554","title":{"rendered":"Cher!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Such an amazing concert!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

CHER!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guess what I recently did?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw Cher in concert<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a long history of mad love for Cher. I loved her in the Sonny and Cher<\/em> show when I was a little kid, wishing on every star in the sky that I could have long swooshy hair like hers. I loved her in high school when she released albums that made sing along at top volume. I loved her in college when she starred in Moonstruck, and I even owned my own copy of the VHS recording so that I could watch the movie any time I wanted to. And, yes, I now also have it on DVD. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
SNAP OUT OF IT!
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0x-fkSYDtUY<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Such a good movie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, perhaps one of the biggest reasons why I love Cher is\nbecause her words helped me though a frustrating medical school interview that\nultimately ended in my withdrawing an application to Northwestern Medical\nSchool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have a seat, this is one of my favorite stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall, 1992<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had made it through the first round of Northwestern\u2019s application process (long form, send $$ and transcript) and was invited for an admission interview in Chicago. My mom came with me; we flew into O\u2019hare airport, and taxied to the Westin on Miracle Mile. We felt like royalty\u2026 such a nice hotel! Morning came, and I dressed in my new interview outfit: a bright fuchsia suit jacket, white silk shirt, black skirt, black nylons and flats. I floated through the first part of the day; the tour was lovely, the students we met were nice, and I was thoroughly entranced with the school. The last part of the day was reserved for interviews, and I was one of the last ones on the schedule. I was surprised to learn that instead of a one on one arrangement, I would take part in a group interview: three interviewers questioning four candidates. I thought it odd, but didn\u2019t think much more about it as we filed into the small room with just enough chairs for the seven of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I quickly learned that my first suspicions were spot on; it WAS odd. Not so much because of the group aspect, but because interviewers took turns asking the same question to each person, while the rest of us had to sit, listen, and wait our turn to answer. I don\u2019t know what I expected, but it wasn\u2019t a completely scripted and boring recitation of the exact same question to each person in succession. There was no lively banter or interaction; I wasn\u2019t impressed. The most disappointing part of the whole event was when I realized that the interviewers wouldn\u2019t meet my gaze when I spoke; they shuffled papers and distractedly looked around the room. I don\u2019t think any of them actually wanted to be interviewing us, and my rose-colored view of the day faded fast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found a way to entertain myself, however, by listening intently to the other candidates\u2019 responses. For the most part, they were super cheesy, and I had to stifle laughter and even sit on my hands to keep from laughing out loud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok\u2026 you\u2019re waiting for the Cher part. I\u2019ll fast forward through the rest of the interview session and get to the final question asked of us. Here you go\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer #3<\/span>: If you could have dinner with any person, alive or dead, who would it be and why? (For the record, the other questions were nonspecific like that. I had no idea HOW they were supposed to illuminate our desire for medical practice, let alone give the panel an idea of who we really were.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll paraphrase the answers for you\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candidate A<\/span>: Mother Teresa, because of the kind and compassionate person she was. I hope to be just like her someday, a kind of doctor who cares like she did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candidate B<\/span>: A sheep herder that I met on an abroad program last year. He just seemed so cool, I\u2019d like to go back and hang out with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candidate C:<\/span> Anwar Sadat\u2019s wife. She\u2019s dead, but she did lots of stuff for women\u2019s rights in Egypt, and I admire her. (I\u2019ll admit, this was a good answer).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I decided on the spot that I no longer cared if Northwesteren\naccepted me or not. This part of the process felt completely trivial, and I figured\nthat if an interviewer wasn\u2019t going to make the effort to actually INVERVIEW\nme, why should I worry so much about my answers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I relaxed into my chair and settled completely into myself.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Me<\/span>: Cher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reaction from the panel was priceless. The name, Cher, snapped\none interviewer back to consciousness, and he repeated what I\u2019d said in the\nform of a followup question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCher?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, it was on. I leaned forward in my chair, smiled, and\ncontinued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYep, Cher. I was watching an episode of the Sally Jesse Raphael Show<\/em> a little while ago, and Cher was on, and spoke about how she thought the women in her family aged backwards. Basically, the older they got, the less they cared about what others thought, and the more fun they had. I\u2019d love to have dinner with someone who can easily be herself and not really care what others think about her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The room was silent, and my co-interviewees looked at me\nlike I was crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t crazy. I was being me, which is exactly what this\ninterview was supposed to show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was great. I left feeling like I had conquered the event, and enjoyed the rest of my time sightseeing in Chicago with my mom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the record, Northwestern waitlisted me, and I withdrew\nmy application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
More Cher amazingness for you!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I told you in my last blogpost, I recently turned 50. In honor of my new natal decade, I think I will take Cher\u2019s words to heart and start aging backwards, have more fun, and give less of a damn about what others think of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh! And in case you\u2019re wondering, I loved the concert. I\u2019ve seen her three times now in Minneapolis, and I knew she wouldn\u2019t disappoint me. But, unlike the other times, I bought tickets on the floor. It was SO worth it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe someday I\u2019ll actually get to meet her and share this\nstory in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A girl can dream\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XO,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MM<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***********<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Takeaway:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step out of whatever pretend box you’re stuck in and be yourself. No one can put limits on you except you. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stop worrying so much; you\u2019re amazing just the way you are!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHER! Guess what I recently did? I saw Cher in concert AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! I have a long history of mad love for Cher. I loved her in the Sonny and Cher show when I was a little kid, wishing on every star in the sky that I could have long swooshy hair like hers. I loved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[11,9,27,25,26,10,20],"class_list":["post-554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-random-subjects","tag-be-yourself","tag-cher","tag-cher-concert","tag-cher-fan","tag-med-school-applications","tag-medical-school-interview","tag-self-love"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6ZedX-cher","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":479,"url":"https:\/\/www.peanutmark.com\/?p=479","url_meta":{"origin":554,"position":0},"title":"Lou’s Rhubarb","author":"Melissa","date":"May 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 When I was 16 years old, my mom started working for our school district\u2019s early childhood education program, and met many other almost-empty-nesters like herself. 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I know others would disagree, but I don\u2019t see things like laundry and grocery shopping as chores. I choose to look at these activities as a comforting framework to my otherwise dynamic and slippery schedule. 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