Mission Impossible - Building a New Social Network during Residency

I was initially going to title this post "My Social Life is Trash!" but I felt that was a bit too dramatic. In all honesty, it is safe to say my ability (or should I say motivation) to make new friends has been in the dumps. Back in med school, I had so much energy and motivation to socialize. I had just moved to Philadelphia and I was motivated to explore the city and meet new people. I attended a lot of events, went to happy hours, and built a nice social network. Unfortunately, my experience in New Orleans has been the total opposite. The major factor has simply been lack of time. On average, majority of residents work approximately 60 to 80 hours each week and activities needed for survival take priority. Activities like sleeping, eating, and trying to survive take more precedence than making new friends.

So where does that leave me? Sitting on the couch, wanting to attend social events and meet new people but at the end of the day, the thirst for rest and sleep prevail, and the cycle repeats itself. Not only is it hard to motivate myself to leave my apartment and mingle, the truth is that many of us already have a close-knit circle of friends, making it harder to build deep and meaningful relationships.

Thankfully, I have been able to build meaningful relationships with some cool residents in OB/GYN and other specialties. Because of them, I do not feel completely alone in this new city. I have never made a New Year's resolution but I would like to challenge myself in this new year to get off the couch, sacrifice a little sleep, mingle more, and take more advantage of everything New Orleans has to offer.