Ah, Match Day. How fondly I look back on your tranquility. My husband matched last year into one of the most competitive fields, which meant, naturally, that we were the picture of zen all day.

Across the board, medical students find out on Monday whether or not they matched, and then have a brief, stress free wait until Friday to find out where they will be spending the next 3-7 years. In the clarity of my year-worn memory, I remember that after the lightning quick period from Monday to Friday, everyone was at such inner peace that it felt like arriving to the spa for our match day festivities.

At our institution, the class members and their families would gather in a large room, pumped full of eucalyptus and spearmint aromatherapy. There we waited for an arbitrary time at which letters would be passed out and everyone would open them at the same time to learn their blessed fate.

A banquet of chocolate eclairs and cucumber water greeted us in the foyer. We all wore soft golden robes and listened to the gentle plucking of harps. Most importantly, we were surrounded by colleagues, friends for life, all of us sharing one truth: we had not a care in the world.

Personal waiters followed us around, meeting our every need for pizza, chocolate milk, more pizza. It was paradise, slightly interrupted when it was time to sit and listen to what felt like the shortest lineup of speakers explaining how lucky we were, like we didn’t already know. The Dean. The Vice Dean, the Dean’s niece who was only distantly associated with the medical school–they all had wonderful things to say. I could have listened all day…

They eventually handed out individual envelopes to us, each student one at a time. Thank goodness they chose to prolong our fleeting spa moments in this way. Each name rang through the beautiful conference hall with an elegant echo, especially the names that weren’t my husband’s.

Eventually we were forced to open the mysterious white envelope. I can’t describe how calm and steady we felt when we ripped open the letter and learned just how far away we would be moving from the life we created. All the way across the country, in our case.

The hall erupted in applause, the first time audible emotion was shared at our little spa day. Like I said, time will never alter a single detail of that day in my memory.

Good luck to everyone who is on their way to the spa this beautiful Match Day! May your day be as tranquil as ours was. 😉