We’re Only Young Once

It’s me, Haley Pollock—for those of you that know me, what’s up! And for those that don’t, you may recognize my name from your recent past SGA or as the person who was putting together the Trinity Times Newsletter every week! 📰✨

I wanted to thank Rosh for giving me the chance to do another blog post for you all, especially as this is my last one before I can start calling myself an M.D. and a medical school graduate (that legit is so wild! 😭🎓).

What a wild ride the last 4 years have been, let me tell you.

I was excited to be asked by Rosh to do another blog post because I wanted to touch on something I feel is so important—especially as I approach this next stage of my journey. That is, putting it simply, enjoying life.

There’s More to Life Than Just "The Plan" 🏆🌍

Sounds like such a simple, maybe even unimportant thing, right? But I’ve seen so many people in my life who focus solely on work, or on achieving what society has deemed the most important milestones:

💍 Marriage
👶 Having kids
🏡 Settling down

Now, I’m not here to say those things aren’t important—I definitely plan on getting married someday, and I definitely want kids. I always have! But I’m here to remind you that’s not all there is.

A friend of mine said to me the other day,

“Haley, if you look at your Instagram, no one would really know you’re in medical school.”

And I was taken aback—because you know what? She was right. 😂 And honestly?

I’m really proud of that.

I don’t allow myself to be recognized only by this one huge thing in my life.

Being a physician is the only career path I ever envisioned for myself since I was eight years old (so if it didn’t work out, lol, I would have for sure been SOL). But I learned early on that having fun and enjoying life can still be done while reaching for the stars and following your dreams.

Balancing Med School & Life Outside of It 🏥⚖️🎶

I have always been the type to do a million things at once—

✅ Working
✅ Going to school
✅ Playing sports
✅ Hitting the gym
✅ Going to music festivals & shows 🎵💃🏽

…and I don’t regret any of it.

The biggest thing I’m really focusing on besides my career, of course, is traveling and exploring this big, beautiful world we have. ✈️🌍

Let me share a little life goal of mine:

Before I leave this Earth, I plan to see at least 80 countries (it used to be 100, but I figured that was a little insane haha).

Why? Because I love learning and seeing other cultures—it’s truly so fascinating to me, and I swear, the older I get, the more fixated I become on seeing different places.

How I Traveled the World During Med School 🌎💼

To give you a little insight into how I—Haley—managed to juggle medical school and traveling:

✈️ I took Step 1, then the next day left for Budapest, Hungary in 2023.
📅 While waiting weeks for my results, I treated myself to a trip I’d been dreaming of for years.
💳 (Shoutout to my United miles—thank you for being my one-stop shop for international travel!)

A year later, after finishing third year, I flew straight to Geneva, Switzerland the next day and had an amazing 3.5-week trip across:

🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇪🇸 Ibiza, Spain
🇮🇹 Italy

All before taking Step 2—which, yes, could have been the worst decision ever…

(It wasn’t. I passed that too 😉.)

But I came back so refreshed and in such a good headspace that taking that 9-hour exam wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been if I hadn’t taken that trip.

And now? Here I am.

📆 Finishing medical school next week.
🎉 Excited for Match Day in a month.
✈️ Traveling to Australia & Bali before graduation and the start of residency.

So, What’s the Point of All This? 🤔

To remind you that it’s possible to be more than your work.

To value things outside of just getting through med school, or just getting through residency.

To show that it is possible to enjoy your life.

To tell those of you matching soon, or in the coming years—

Take. That. Trip.

Especially before starting residency—because let’s be real, we will never have this kind of time off again. And I intend to use every second of it.