The first 3 words of the Air Force song pretty much sum up the last 5 months of my life. I've severely neglected to post as frequently as I intended but that was partly due to the lack of particularly interesting things to talk about since January.
Not anymore.
The residency is coming to an end in a couple short months and the last 5 months have gone by about as fast as 1 month seemed to go back in the fall. Finally getting in the flow of clinic, understanding expectations a little better, having more freedom in clinic, a new oral surgery rotation schedule, Spring Break, some federal holidays, better weather, and some fun courses have all contributed to the increase in moral and the perceived increase in speed of the residency.
My wife and I were able to hit the ski slopes for the first time in March (I seemed to be on-call for most of the prime opportunities in the fall) and we took a road trip through a good majority of the state of Colorado for our 5 day spring break. It was the trip of a lifetime and I highly recommend it to anyone! Email me if you want information on where we went; it was incredible.
If you follow my on twitter, or read the tweets off to the side on my blog, you'll know that we got our base list not long after my previous post with all the bases that had openings. We had lots of great options but we were disappointed to find many of the bases we wanted were not available. However, we were still able to put bases on our "dream sheet" that were not on "the list" just in case an opening popped up. Surprisingly, it seems that many AEGD residents from around the country put bases high on their list that were not available (apparently) but ended up going there. To be honest, I have no clue what the list we got was all about because it seems like people went to lots of bases that weren't on "the list". So who knows! Maybe they just make their best guess at which bases will be open, I have no idea.
We got our #15 choice and I'll reveal what base that is once we get there. There's been a pretty heavy crackdown on information and things lately in the military as a whole so I'm going to try to walk the line of being transparent and safe with this information. For comparison, 2 of my classmates volunteered for their assignments, another got their #1 and another their #9 (I think). So overall, very good!
A month or so ago we had a meet up with all the AEGD residents across the country at Lackland AFB in San Antonio. It's something they want to try to do every year and it was a really fun experience to meet everyone and talk about some Air Force stuff. Every base was off the entire week (except us) so most of you doing an AEGD will get to be out of clinic for a week and hang out in San Antonio with all the other residents. We did go out a couple nights and it was a pretty fun time.
One thing that going to San Antonio helped me realize were the stark differences in each AEGD program. Some bases are set up poorly for certain things while others are set up well. I think my base is set up well for oral surgery because we have so many young cadets, but this very thing also puts us at a disadvantage for prosthodontics. I also assumed each resident would get similar levels of training but it seems that a lot of that depends on the faculty that are at the different locations as to how much freedom the residents will have to do certain things. Some seemed more intent on taking it slowly getting into clinic while others emphasize clinical experience as the main mode of education. If you're interested or concerned about these things, I would try to figure out a way to contact a resident at each of the bases. It sounds like a lot of work but it might help you figure out which program fits your personality better.
Two words of advice for everyone that does an AEGD. First, try to understand very clearly the expectations. I've run into trouble lately with not understanding expectations from faculty both academically and clinically for various reasons. Sometimes it's getting vague information or mixed information from different faculty members on the exact same topic. So get clarification when you need it and never assume a low level of effort will be enough. The Air Force is a little different than a normal AEGD program because people are coming and going all the time. So often the faculty aren't on the same page about what a resident should know or do in a particular situation so don't be afraid to ask.
Second, don't be shy to let your directors know that you want to do more of a certain procedure, or that you would prefer NOT to do a certain procedure when you leave. If you're performing well in all areas, but don't particularly like some of it, you could get stuck going to a base that needs the skills you do well, but don't like. So help the Air Force help you and be clear about what you hope to do when you leave the residency.
I hope to summarize my feelings about doing an AEGD once my AEGD is over and perhaps after I've been at my new base a few months and can truly appreciate what I've learned.
***FYI; I've heard from applicants and current HPSP students that the AEGD will be mandatory if you are accepted. I can confirm that I've heard this from higher ups as well. You are no longer permitted to apply and decline an AEGD in the Air Force.
Showing posts with label graduation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graduation. Show all posts
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Sunday, August 24, 2014
And Now Everything is Different
In a few short months, seemingly everything in my life is different than it was. Here's a quick rundown of everything that's changed in the last few months:
May:
Graduated dental school
Set up my move to Colorado Springs
June:
Wife quit her job in Oklahoma City
Actually moved to Colorado Springs
I left for COT (at the tail end of June)
July:
Wife got a new job in Colorado Springs
I did the COT thing in Alabama for 5 weeks
August:
Flew home from COT
Wife actually started her new job
I started my new life as a resident at the AF Academy
Dang. That's a lot. It was a lot, still is a lot, and definitely feels like a lot. I'm not going to get super deep into any of these things in this post for a couple of reasons.
Reason 1: It would be a novel
Reason 2: I started a new tab called "Additional Resources"
In the "Additional Resources" tab, I'll be posting full documents of various experiences I've had. When I started this blog in 2010, I was chronicling my dental school and Air Force journey. As I've gotten older and time has moved along, some of these things have actually ended. That's awesome because that part of my life is now in the past and nothing about it can change again. This means I can post full documents detailing every little thing I want to talk about in a place that you can access and refer to without having to jump on my blog to read! For example, I'm almost done with my full writeup about COT which is a very common topic I receive questions about. I'm also planning to do one about dental school in general as well as one about what it's like to be a student on the HPSP scholarship. I'm technically active duty now so my HPSP days are over. I've also done a full move with the military so I can definitely give you some start to finish information on that as well.
Here are just a few thoughts I have about the last few months.
When change happens in life, embrace it. Understand that it is temporary but very necessary for us to move forward. Think of it like a rocket on the launchpad. It will never fly without a fast and abrupt change. The fuel must be ignited and that can be very scary. Eventually the rocket reaches outer space, does what it needs to do, and now a whole new thing has started because of that. Just like our life, we can't sit on the launchpad forever. Talking about doing something and doing it are very different actions and if you want something new, something has to change.
With that said, let me talk briefly about a few things that I'll dip into more detail on later:
Moving: This is really nice because the military will move all your stuff for you for free. You can move part of your things and that's totally fine. I would definitely take valuables with you in your own car (if you are driving). They are efficient up until you want them to deliver it. Expect delays of up to several weeks in the summer. Call the moving company and keep tabs on the progress of your move.
COT: This is not an easy month but it was worth it. You will learn fast and you don't have a choice. It's a 5 week flood of information and you'll feel like you're in some weird Air Force blender for 5 weeks while you sweat and march all over Maxwell Air Force Base. Be prepared to be sleepy on a daily basis but keep a good attitude. When you're being yelled at, ignore the volume and listen to the words. Keep a good perspective and it will go by quickly.
The Air Force: In-processing involves getting an ID card, making sure your pay is correct, doing computer training, etc. It's a long process but embrace it. The military is a massive system and it's a wonder they keep things as straight as they do. Respect those ranked above you and enjoy the process. If your mindset going in is "I can't wait to do my time and be out" you're going to hate it. Even if you are planning on getting out, you can't for a few years so make the best of it!
Time to run but hoping to keep the blog a little more consistent this year! Starting to see patients in a couple weeks at my AEGD so that should be a blast. Be sure to check out the "Additional Resources" tab in the coming weeks for a whole new set of awesome information!
May:
Graduated dental school
Set up my move to Colorado Springs
June:
Wife quit her job in Oklahoma City
Actually moved to Colorado Springs
I left for COT (at the tail end of June)
July:
Wife got a new job in Colorado Springs
I did the COT thing in Alabama for 5 weeks
August:
Flew home from COT
Wife actually started her new job
I started my new life as a resident at the AF Academy
Dang. That's a lot. It was a lot, still is a lot, and definitely feels like a lot. I'm not going to get super deep into any of these things in this post for a couple of reasons.
Reason 1: It would be a novel
Reason 2: I started a new tab called "Additional Resources"
In the "Additional Resources" tab, I'll be posting full documents of various experiences I've had. When I started this blog in 2010, I was chronicling my dental school and Air Force journey. As I've gotten older and time has moved along, some of these things have actually ended. That's awesome because that part of my life is now in the past and nothing about it can change again. This means I can post full documents detailing every little thing I want to talk about in a place that you can access and refer to without having to jump on my blog to read! For example, I'm almost done with my full writeup about COT which is a very common topic I receive questions about. I'm also planning to do one about dental school in general as well as one about what it's like to be a student on the HPSP scholarship. I'm technically active duty now so my HPSP days are over. I've also done a full move with the military so I can definitely give you some start to finish information on that as well.
Here are just a few thoughts I have about the last few months.
When change happens in life, embrace it. Understand that it is temporary but very necessary for us to move forward. Think of it like a rocket on the launchpad. It will never fly without a fast and abrupt change. The fuel must be ignited and that can be very scary. Eventually the rocket reaches outer space, does what it needs to do, and now a whole new thing has started because of that. Just like our life, we can't sit on the launchpad forever. Talking about doing something and doing it are very different actions and if you want something new, something has to change.
With that said, let me talk briefly about a few things that I'll dip into more detail on later:
Moving: This is really nice because the military will move all your stuff for you for free. You can move part of your things and that's totally fine. I would definitely take valuables with you in your own car (if you are driving). They are efficient up until you want them to deliver it. Expect delays of up to several weeks in the summer. Call the moving company and keep tabs on the progress of your move.
COT: This is not an easy month but it was worth it. You will learn fast and you don't have a choice. It's a 5 week flood of information and you'll feel like you're in some weird Air Force blender for 5 weeks while you sweat and march all over Maxwell Air Force Base. Be prepared to be sleepy on a daily basis but keep a good attitude. When you're being yelled at, ignore the volume and listen to the words. Keep a good perspective and it will go by quickly.
The Air Force: In-processing involves getting an ID card, making sure your pay is correct, doing computer training, etc. It's a long process but embrace it. The military is a massive system and it's a wonder they keep things as straight as they do. Respect those ranked above you and enjoy the process. If your mindset going in is "I can't wait to do my time and be out" you're going to hate it. Even if you are planning on getting out, you can't for a few years so make the best of it!
Time to run but hoping to keep the blog a little more consistent this year! Starting to see patients in a couple weeks at my AEGD so that should be a blast. Be sure to check out the "Additional Resources" tab in the coming weeks for a whole new set of awesome information!
Monday, June 9, 2014
Cookies, Willpower and Life Systems (How to Do More and Not Hate It)
As some of my frequent readers will know, I was the president of my dental school class for 3 years before we recently graduated. One of the ongoing jokes among my classmates was that I had more hours in the day than anyone else. I was often the first one in, the last one out, and the guy working on stuff while everyone else was relaxing. (Note: This did not give me the best GPA or make me the best student in my class, but I had a reputation for being highly productive. Do not get those confused!)
Now don't misunderstand this as me bragging about myself or trying to put others down in any way, because it's not. I view leadership as a service to others that I take very seriously, not as a hierarchy of importance, just a hierarchy of service. But that's a topic for another day.
How is it that I had the ability to work so hard and long while seemingly getting things done that others hadn't yet started or make study guides (with the help of many wonderful classmates) and flashcards for test after test after test?
Let me preface this by saying that some people are simply high energy while others are not. I consider myself a high energy person but I think that comes from playing to my strengths and who doesn't like doing something they're good at? I'm not, however, an extrovert that always has to be the center of attention and accomplish things to boost my ego, quite the opposite.
This post is about something else, something we commonly call "willpower".
Willpower is the ability to muster up the energy to do something that we otherwise might be inclined to put off until later, put off forever, or substitute something simple and more fun in its place. It takes great willpower to workout every day. It takes willpower to eat healthy. It takes willpower to save money. Why? Because there are a thousand other simpler and more intriguing options at our disposal.
Instead of working out we could:
Sleep in
Get to work a little early
Not go out in the dark cold morning
Instead of eating healthy we could:
Have some more chocolate (yum)
Eat the rest of the steak right now even though we're full
Go out to eat with our friends
Instead of saving money we could:
Get that new MacBook Air
Buy the TV that's just a little bigger than the one we wanted
Take a vacation now
What if you could hijack your own willpower and change your patterns? What if you could say "no" to good now so you could say "yes" to great later?
The following is a synopsis of a study I've read about countless times that changed my life. It taught me one of the most valuable lessons in my life: willpower is like a battery, it can and will eventually run out and must be recharged! (Read: Ego depletion). We can circumvent this by setting up systems in our life that don't force us to use willpower (or use far less than normal) so that we still have willpower for later. Here's the study, in summary:
2 groups of students are taken to a lab and seated at different desks in the same room. 1 group is given a bowl of cookies while the other a bowl of radishes. After each group is allowed to eat from their bowl, both groups are given a puzzle to complete. The group that ate the cookies worked on the puzzle for an average of 20 minutes longer than the students over at the table with the radishes! (Side now: the puzzle had no solution).
What does this mean? Essentially, it takes almost no willpower to resist cookies so these students had plenty of willpower saved up to work on the puzzle. Eating a radish is no fun and takes much more willpower and thus these students gave up easily on the puzzle since they had used all their willpower to eat the radish (and resist the cookies).
Link to full study description: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/01/self-control.aspx
There are some more details to the study that you can research yourself but I won't get into those today. Hopefully you get the take away and that is that willpower is a limited resource!
So what can you do about this?
In my life I've set up systems around me that allow me to use as little willpower as possible on the daily mundane tasks so that I have more willpower for later. Here are some things I do that help me waste less willpower:
-Leave my keys, phone, and wallet in the same spot every day (no willpower spent thinking and searching)
-Set out my workout clothes each day (when I wake up I just have to walk in, put on my clothes, and leave)
-Do a budget at the beginning of every month (I don't make daily decisions about finances)
-I keep my computer very well organized (no willpower wasted searching for lost items)
-I have a separate to-do list of things that need to be done later, that I cannot do today, in a separate list with an alarm set for the date and time I can actually do that thing (no willpower thinking about things I can't do anything about) [example: I have a form I've completed that I can't submit until July 1. So set an alarm for July 1 and forget about it and don't put it on your normal to-do list!]
-I cook chicken once a week and put it in a container so I never have to settle for junk food when chicken is ready-to-eat in my refrigerator
-Sunday is a pretty relaxed day, so this is when I plan ahead on my week and double check that my calendar is right and that I have all the food I need for the week (during the week, no willpower wasted thinking about all the stuff I have coming up or if I'm going to run out of something mid-week)
This kind of thinking, what I like to call the "Life Systems" approach, allows your free time to be much more productive than ever before. You haven't wasted your willpower looking for keys, stressing about how much is in your checking account, forcing yourself to dig out your workout clothes from 3 different drawers, so you have plenty of willpower left to tackle all sorts of other things in your day that do demand your attention. These tiny tasks that drain us little by little can be the difference between getting something done at the end of the day. I enjoy coming up with ways to automate those things in my life that are necessary but not that fun to do so that I don't waste my willpower (and time) on them.
I hope this post has helped you get an insight into my productivity and allows you to search your own life for ways you are accidentally sucking away all your willpower and wondering how hyper-productive people are able to get so much stuff done. If you'd like to read more about this idea, and other concepts that have helped me be more productive, here are some books I highly recommend:
How to Fail at Almost Anything and Still Win Big - Scott Adams
The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth - Chris Hadfield
Another secret to willpower is that we will always tend to default to things we know we can do! It's easier to get things done when we know what we're doing and adding skills to your life opens up new doors. Setting up systems gives you time to focus your willpower to learn and grow to become better at whatever you desire. Webucator, an online eduction company that recently reached out to me as a part of their "Most Marketable Skills" project in the Webucator Asks Project, offers many self-paced courses online including Microsoft training courses (Word 2013 course is FREE for a limited time!), as well as many others, to help you expand your knowledge and succeed in today's world.
Hope this was informative and as always, feel free to email me with any questions you might have!
Now don't misunderstand this as me bragging about myself or trying to put others down in any way, because it's not. I view leadership as a service to others that I take very seriously, not as a hierarchy of importance, just a hierarchy of service. But that's a topic for another day.
How is it that I had the ability to work so hard and long while seemingly getting things done that others hadn't yet started or make study guides (with the help of many wonderful classmates) and flashcards for test after test after test?
Let me preface this by saying that some people are simply high energy while others are not. I consider myself a high energy person but I think that comes from playing to my strengths and who doesn't like doing something they're good at? I'm not, however, an extrovert that always has to be the center of attention and accomplish things to boost my ego, quite the opposite.
This post is about something else, something we commonly call "willpower".
Willpower is the ability to muster up the energy to do something that we otherwise might be inclined to put off until later, put off forever, or substitute something simple and more fun in its place. It takes great willpower to workout every day. It takes willpower to eat healthy. It takes willpower to save money. Why? Because there are a thousand other simpler and more intriguing options at our disposal.
Instead of working out we could:
Sleep in
Get to work a little early
Not go out in the dark cold morning
Instead of eating healthy we could:
Have some more chocolate (yum)
Eat the rest of the steak right now even though we're full
Go out to eat with our friends
Instead of saving money we could:
Get that new MacBook Air
Buy the TV that's just a little bigger than the one we wanted
Take a vacation now
What if you could hijack your own willpower and change your patterns? What if you could say "no" to good now so you could say "yes" to great later?
The following is a synopsis of a study I've read about countless times that changed my life. It taught me one of the most valuable lessons in my life: willpower is like a battery, it can and will eventually run out and must be recharged! (Read: Ego depletion). We can circumvent this by setting up systems in our life that don't force us to use willpower (or use far less than normal) so that we still have willpower for later. Here's the study, in summary:
2 groups of students are taken to a lab and seated at different desks in the same room. 1 group is given a bowl of cookies while the other a bowl of radishes. After each group is allowed to eat from their bowl, both groups are given a puzzle to complete. The group that ate the cookies worked on the puzzle for an average of 20 minutes longer than the students over at the table with the radishes! (Side now: the puzzle had no solution).
What does this mean? Essentially, it takes almost no willpower to resist cookies so these students had plenty of willpower saved up to work on the puzzle. Eating a radish is no fun and takes much more willpower and thus these students gave up easily on the puzzle since they had used all their willpower to eat the radish (and resist the cookies).
Link to full study description: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/01/self-control.aspx
There are some more details to the study that you can research yourself but I won't get into those today. Hopefully you get the take away and that is that willpower is a limited resource!
So what can you do about this?
In my life I've set up systems around me that allow me to use as little willpower as possible on the daily mundane tasks so that I have more willpower for later. Here are some things I do that help me waste less willpower:
-Leave my keys, phone, and wallet in the same spot every day (no willpower spent thinking and searching)
-Set out my workout clothes each day (when I wake up I just have to walk in, put on my clothes, and leave)
-Do a budget at the beginning of every month (I don't make daily decisions about finances)
-I keep my computer very well organized (no willpower wasted searching for lost items)
-I have a separate to-do list of things that need to be done later, that I cannot do today, in a separate list with an alarm set for the date and time I can actually do that thing (no willpower thinking about things I can't do anything about) [example: I have a form I've completed that I can't submit until July 1. So set an alarm for July 1 and forget about it and don't put it on your normal to-do list!]
-I cook chicken once a week and put it in a container so I never have to settle for junk food when chicken is ready-to-eat in my refrigerator
-Sunday is a pretty relaxed day, so this is when I plan ahead on my week and double check that my calendar is right and that I have all the food I need for the week (during the week, no willpower wasted thinking about all the stuff I have coming up or if I'm going to run out of something mid-week)
This kind of thinking, what I like to call the "Life Systems" approach, allows your free time to be much more productive than ever before. You haven't wasted your willpower looking for keys, stressing about how much is in your checking account, forcing yourself to dig out your workout clothes from 3 different drawers, so you have plenty of willpower left to tackle all sorts of other things in your day that do demand your attention. These tiny tasks that drain us little by little can be the difference between getting something done at the end of the day. I enjoy coming up with ways to automate those things in my life that are necessary but not that fun to do so that I don't waste my willpower (and time) on them.
I hope this post has helped you get an insight into my productivity and allows you to search your own life for ways you are accidentally sucking away all your willpower and wondering how hyper-productive people are able to get so much stuff done. If you'd like to read more about this idea, and other concepts that have helped me be more productive, here are some books I highly recommend:
How to Fail at Almost Anything and Still Win Big - Scott Adams
The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth - Chris Hadfield
Another secret to willpower is that we will always tend to default to things we know we can do! It's easier to get things done when we know what we're doing and adding skills to your life opens up new doors. Setting up systems gives you time to focus your willpower to learn and grow to become better at whatever you desire. Webucator, an online eduction company that recently reached out to me as a part of their "Most Marketable Skills" project in the Webucator Asks Project, offers many self-paced courses online including Microsoft training courses (Word 2013 course is FREE for a limited time!), as well as many others, to help you expand your knowledge and succeed in today's world.
Hope this was informative and as always, feel free to email me with any questions you might have!
Friday, May 16, 2014
"I'm a Dentist, Don't Get Too Excited"
"... and if someone has a heart attack you should still call 911."
For the movie people out there you'll recognize this line from The Hangover. It's a scene where Stu mentions something about being a doctor and his friend calls him out saying "he's a dentist, don't get too excited."
So here I am, finally done with school, and a dentist. But don't get too excited because for me this is really just the beginning. I've dreamed of this for a long time but really this is just my permission to being my career in a field that I find really fun and allows me to directly serve others. Toss in the Air Force gig and you've got the whole package. It really is a dream come true, I'm finally Dr. Matthew Lee!
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I haven't blogged in a solid 2 months and more happened in those 2 months than I can even wrap my head around right now. So let's rewind the tape:
1) WREB - Western Regional Examining Board
This was the regional exam I elected to take because I planned to get a license in Oklahoma and it was available at my school. Pretty easy decision. For the Air Force I can get a license anywhere but my home state is as easy as any. Details aside, I had to organize the back-up patient pool (since I was class president) and I'm glad I did because it really bailed a few people out. One of my patients was my brother and the other patient was not related to me but due to HIPAA, that's all I can really tell you. But he/she was wonderful. My endo section went very smoothly and I passed everything!
Here were my scores:
For the movie people out there you'll recognize this line from The Hangover. It's a scene where Stu mentions something about being a doctor and his friend calls him out saying "he's a dentist, don't get too excited."
So here I am, finally done with school, and a dentist. But don't get too excited because for me this is really just the beginning. I've dreamed of this for a long time but really this is just my permission to being my career in a field that I find really fun and allows me to directly serve others. Toss in the Air Force gig and you've got the whole package. It really is a dream come true, I'm finally Dr. Matthew Lee!
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I haven't blogged in a solid 2 months and more happened in those 2 months than I can even wrap my head around right now. So let's rewind the tape:
1) WREB - Western Regional Examining Board
This was the regional exam I elected to take because I planned to get a license in Oklahoma and it was available at my school. Pretty easy decision. For the Air Force I can get a license anywhere but my home state is as easy as any. Details aside, I had to organize the back-up patient pool (since I was class president) and I'm glad I did because it really bailed a few people out. One of my patients was my brother and the other patient was not related to me but due to HIPAA, that's all I can really tell you. But he/she was wonderful. My endo section went very smoothly and I passed everything!
Here were my scores:
Not too bad! Things went well and that was definitely the most stressful test of my life since the DAT.
2) Graduation requirements
This fell into place very nicely for me and I was fortunate that it did. I borrowed a crown prep from another student in case the 2 I had left fell through and I'm glad I did. I had just enough points to graduate and, in fact, both of the crowns in my patient family ended up falling through. Imagine that! Endo was a minor nightmare for many folks and I scrapped by with exactly how many I needed to graduate. It's a shame too because I actually found endodontics to be very fun and I'm really excited to learn some new methods to perform root canals in the future (Wave One?).
3) Speech! Speech! Speech!
So one of the cooler things I got to do as president was give a speech at our Senior Dinner. This is a few days before graduation and it's where our class along with their close family and our faculty get together and eat expensive food together and dress really nice. It's a blast (I had to help last year so I had been once before) and once of the best memories I'll have of dental school.
Back to the speech part. I had to give a speech (aka "reflection statements") and I found that very exciting. I'm usually quite introverted and typically don't assert myself unless it's requested of me. When it is requested of me, I go all out and try to do my best. I got a lot of compliments after the speech which was very nice to hear and a comment I heard a lot was "I had no idea you were so funny"! Well if you were class president for 3 years and constantly stressing out about not only yourself but everyone else, you'd be a pretty serious person, too. That was over and I could be myself and my true colors came out I suppose.
One of the coolest parts about the speech was when I promoted the hashtag #oucod2014 at the beginning. To do that I busted out my iPhone and took a panoramic x-ray picture of the audience and tweeted it to @oucod2014, our official class Twitter account. I encouraged people throughout the weekend to use #oucod2014 on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter so we could go back and search "#oucod2014" and pull up a bunch of posts and pictures from that night and the next few days, including graduation. We actually had pretty good participation and it was a lot of fun. Here's the pano I took on stage as well as a picture of me taking it:
 |
| It was more awkward for them than me, watching me slowly take a picture of everyone |
 |
| Photo by Shak Feroz |
 |
| Photo by Shak Feroz |
4) Email this paper and now you're a Captain
I have had tons of forms to fill out for the Air Force which I will definitely not go into (at least not here). One of them was my new Oath of Office. It doesn't actually have to be signed by someone in the military, just a Notary Public. I went that route since he had someone in that capacity at our school. I got the form from her in a PDF and sent it off to the proper Air Force authority. A couples hours later I got a replying saying I was "good to go" so I'm pretty sure that means I'm a captain now.
Cool!
We're moving to Colorado Springs at the end of June, I'm flying out to COT on June 30, back to Colorado Springs on Aug 1, and my AEGD starts on Aug 5. Whew!
That's all for now, sorry I've been such a bum about posting lately. I hope to ramp this up more soon and flesh out some of the static pages on this site as well to have more information available. I want to comb back through all the hundreds (seriously) of emails I've gotten from you guys and make sure all the relevant questions are addressed on the "Got a Question?" page.
Until I post again, email me if you have questions! And in the meantime, check out my official website at MatthewLeeDDS.com!
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