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Med School Admissions
I recently took on a part-time role as a pre-medical counselor for undergraduate neuroscience majors, so I perused a couple mock MCAT exams. In all candor, I would be lucky if I could have answered 20% of the questions correctly. Granted, I am forty-plus years separated from the crap I had to digest to take…
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Christmas Carols
Since when did they stop playing Christmas carols? It wasn’t all that long ago when yuletide canticles could be heard everywhere this time of year: on the TV, over the radio, in all the stores, and ringing out into the wintery air on our city streets. But no more. Yeah, I know, we still get…
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Falling Leaves
Until this year, all autumn meant to me—with respect to leaves at least—was the Sisyphean task of clearing our deck and walkways of the daily drop. More like hourly, for it wasn’t uncommon to rake and sweep the surfaces spotless only to turn around and find the surrounding oaks and poplars mocking my effort with…
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Shots at Immortality
The ball squirted through, having slipped between two colliding bodies. It now scampered along the ground towards the penalty box. My opponent had the angle. But I would get there first. I was faster. Purely a genetic thing, mind you. An unfair advantage when you think about it. I was simply born with far more “fast-twitch”…
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On Scholastic Athletics
In response to questions regarding his defeat in this year’s Homecoming football game a local high school head coach responded that his team had not “come ready to play” and that they were a “mediocre” bunch. Now I’m not picking specifically on this coach—for all I know he is a great motivator who is revered…
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Six Minutes Left
“There’s still six minutes left in the game, why is he passing up on his shots?” I sat on the edge of the bleachers, hands shaking, stomach half way up my throat, as my fifteen year old son John fell back onto defense. Mind you, I wasn’t always a neurotic sports parent. When my three…
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Angels in the Architecture
An Exit Interview So, what is this supposed to be? Well, remember when you left your job and you arranged a meeting with your CEO to discuss things—all that had happened through the years, your concerns, some thoughtful suggestions, that sort of thing? Of course I remember, it was only a few months ago—then all…
Gary R Simonds 