Is Aloe Dear the End?

[Renomitsu 934]

So the theme's "Life After the VHL." But Aloe still has another season left in her career, and I didn't find Apollo Hackett's career to be all that interesting before he won the championship with Riga in his seventh (and final) season, anyways. Instead, I opted to consider what life might be like after the VHL for me, the user – I've explored this topic a couple of times in the past through VHL.com articles, and I'd like to expand on it a little more here.

 

The closer I get to the end of Dear's career, the more at-peace I am with a decision to hang it up in the VHL, at least for a little while. Whether that ends up being one single season or ten, I think I'll need some time off from max earning here – and probably in the EFL, too, though I do feel strongly about the success of both leagues. Ultimately, I'm a single user in a sea of dozens, if not hundreds, for either league, so I don't think any hiatus I take would be of significant (practical) impact to either league. And I've espoused not really wanting to feel the pressure of being a max earner in the VHL for a couple of seasons now. The question then becomes, what does real life look like for me currently, and what do I want to do after Dear's done?

 

I currently work in a hospital in the southeast US as a medical resident. So most of my days – usually 6 days a week, though sometimes there are weeks when I work 5 or 7 – are spent with about 12-14 hours in the hospital or a clinic. I do a little academic reading before and after work in preparation for boards (or a licensure exam in the first year of residency called Step 3, which is specific to this year in my training), maybe catch dinner with a friend or two a couple of times a week and make time every day for a little leisure. Whether that's putting in work for sim leagues, listening to the League of Legends crew play their games, reading novels for leisure, or playing music, I can always find something to do with free time. I'm also intensely introverted, which means by the time I'm done with work, I'm usually all social-ed out; it's even occasionally a chore for me to catch dinner with a friend since I'm so exhausted from speaking with so many people every day during work.

 

What disengaging from the earning-specific aspect of the VHL and EFL does for me is free up some time for me to enjoy other activities, whether that's by myself or with others. I've a backlog of books I'd like to read – particularly John Green's Looking for Alaska and Lisa Delpit's Teaching When the World Is On Fire. Neither are particularly difficult reads, but I've found what I've read of the latter of the two to be particularly rewarding to read provided the recent trends in my country's political environment. In my line of work, being able to engage those in stressful situations in a thoughtful and compassionate way is critical; there's a lot of room for even seasoned physicians to improve in that capacity, to say nothing of someone with the comparatively little experience I possess. I want to make a deliberate attempt to improve my communication skills with those that don't share my specific educational background or childhood socioeconomic privilege. While I do get a lot of enjoyment out of spending time in the VHL and EFL, I think it's time to take a step back and make sure I'm being intentional about the way I use a larger portion of my free time and ensuring – even moreso than the last four and a half years – that I'm becoming the best physician I can be.

 

Thanks for reading.