About Me— BOFT V

Writer / 4th Year Medical Student / Questioner of everything

Me in some mountains of some exotic location where I almost died— edited by me, photo by somebody that I used to know

Growing up, I kind of always knew I was going to be a writer.

In 2nd grade, I wrote my first “novel” in a mangy red notebook I had lying around the house. It was a essentially a Yu-Gi-Oh GX self-insert fanfiction, and ranks among my best works of all time. Sadly, that thing will never get published, for its glory is too bright for the general public.

What I didn’t know was that was just the beginning of something I have grown to love, so much so I began to seriously ponder a career as a writer.

This of course was akin to seriously pondering a career of stylized poverty.

Thus, in order to avoid becoming a starving artist, I fell back to a much more reasonable, practical, sustainable career path: medicine. This is all thanks to my dad’s patented “reverse psychology grooming.”

Pray tell, what is this mouthful of a term I have just written out for you to read?

Well first, it has nothing to do with the kind of grooming that probably first popped into your mind. Reverse psychology grooming has to do with what my dad exposed to me growing up (still a different kind of grooming).

Ever since the beginning, my dad has always told me that getting into medicine was a bad idea. As a doctor, he was privy to the workings of medical training: the inhumane hours, the unfathomable amount of knowledge you’re expected to cram into your head in set periods of time, the sacrifices one would have to make — and the road was filled with potholes of them. So yes, becoming a doctor? Not the best idea, no sir, don’t do it.

But…

You should see all the trips he gets to go on, the financial stability, and the prestige you get when you have the letters MD plastered at the end of your name because all that sacrifice reaps bountiful rewards.

“But yeah, you probably shouldn’t do it, it’s pretty stressful.”

Reverse psychology grooming.

Six years and a pandemic later, look where that got me. To make a long story short, here’s a short list of what I’ve accomplished in this time

1. Got into a toxic relationship
2. Got out of said relationship
3. Had a “Rocky training montage” moment
4. Pissed off a doctor for calling her “miss”
5. Pissed off more doctors for trying to sleep reasonable hours because apparently, trying to have a healthy lifestyle in medicine is looked down upon
6. Survived/currently surviving high school petty drama the remake: this time with adult actors that are supposed to be more mentally and emotionally mature
7. Dealt with/currently dealing with some of my own toxic traits that often has to do with consolidating childhood trauma and bad experiences
8. Got rejected by a girl
9. Got rejected again by a different girl
10. Realized that in my effort to try and please everyone based on what they’re telling me, that really, they’re just as clueless if not more than I am.

And that is but a taste, a skim, a little tidbit. It’s a lot and so much more, to the point I basically told myself “You know, if you’re ever having a particularly hard time, just think: this is basically you getting research for your writing.”

“Research” that involves physical and emotional turmoil, several practices that ought to be considered human labor violations, and a whole lot of grit and resilience at the other side of it.

But there’s only so much resilience one man can take before he’s going to blow his lid off.

And that’s when BOFT V was born.

Birthed from the rebel spirit burning within, I aim to write about my experiences, provide insights and opinions, and possibly open discussions about medicine, writing, life, and the human condition.

In my journey to fully embrace the person I believe myself to be, and to tap into my full (and twisted) potential, I hope to engage with you and Medium as I begin this new chapter of my life.

I can only hope life doesn’t carry me away and prevent me from doing these things that I want to be doing.

Though then again, whatever may happen down the line, maybe that would ultimately be for the best. At this point, who knows?

That’s what makes life exciting.

Hope to see you around.

-V

***Currently, I’m active on X under @boft_v