Pediatric Neurosurgery

Earlier on this week, I had decided that I was going to wait to ask for a mentorship until I had heard from a pediatric neurosurgeon that had just recently reached out to me. However, it is safe to say that patience is not my forte. By the time Wednesday rolled around, I was getting anxious as I had still not heard a reply. I already had in mind a doctor that I wanted to ask to be my mentor and I realized that the longer I waited, the harder it would be to ask for a mentorship. So, on Thursday I decided to go ahead and send the mentorship request email. To be quite honest, I put my expectations low. It is not uncommon for students to have one or two rejections before finding their mentor; in fact, it is quite uncommon for the first person a student asks to be their mentor to say yes. Considering all this and the fact that pediatric neurosurgeons are extremely busy, I was not entirely optimistic.
I sent the email Thursday afternoon around 3 PM, and was not expecting a reply until next week. However, much to my surprise, I received an email Friday morning. Now, when the notification for the email popped up all I could see was "I'm sorry I am unable to..." Immediately my heart dropped and I was crushed. However, after I actually opened up my email I realized that the full message read "I'm sorry I am unable to make it on December 16th, but I would love to be your mentor." I received this email in the middle of my history class and I can say, without shame, that I started doing a little dance. Considering the fact that I was expecting a no, actually receiving a yes was extremely exciting. As of now, my mentor and I are still working out the details concerning what I will be able to do and experience. Nonetheless, I cannot wait for all that is yet to come.