I’ve given all that I have to offer and can’t go on. I’ve worked so hard for too long with little appreciation and no compensation. Completely exhausted and hopelessly depleted, I simply won’t survive residency training. Round and round like an underwater hamster wheel of insanity I cycle through: soak, wash, rinse, and spin. With three small children and residency on the horizon, I just can’t continue washing this family’s clothes. Please grant this scholarship so I can retire and get a chance at living the good life.
The story starts a few years out of the factory when my motherboard croaked which landed me in an appliance salvage warehouse. They fixed the problem and put me up for sale, which is when I got my second chance at life in the form of a frugal young couple. With the birth of their first child, Andrew and Jessica decided to give up laundromat trips and purchase me: their first appliance. At first, Andrew spent a great deal of time studying, and the job was quite pleasant aside from the baby vomit and salty running clothes. Activity started to pick up with the birth of their second little girl, however. That’s about the time they started talking about medical school and moving to the Midwest. It sounded exciting for them, but I didn’t expect to get dragged along. After all, I’m one of those first generation of “high efficiency” frontloading washer/dryer combos and not exactly the most sleek machine on the market.
They were trying to save a few dollars, so Drew called in some favors to get me loaded on the truck; then we moved three times in the sweltering Iowa heat before getting settled. The newfound humidity brought some funky 
new stink on those running clothes, but I tried to take it in stride. Soon a baby boy joined the family, but I had become pretty accustomed to washing filthy baby clothes. The real adjustment came with the array of impressive stains Andrew brought home from the research lab. I did my best, but c’mon ethidium bromide? Do you know it is actually used to stain DNA? I never really stood a chance against it. Then gross anatomy started (emphasis on the gross), and holy smokes: that formalin smell lingered in my hoses for months. Next hospital scrubs began to appear with a baseline sweaty aroma infused with a mystery musk that changed with each rotation. Blood was a common offender whether from sewing up a laceration, assisting in the operating room, or stopping up a pesky nosebleed. I tried not to pay attention during urology and OB/GYN, but I had to notice the amniotic fluid spots as he recounted the thrill of coaching a patient through a rapid, unmedicated birth and the rush of emotion from catching the baby and witnessing her first breath. I’ve spiffed up his white coat countless times, but I’ll never forget the tear-soaked shoulder after he helped a voiceless patient call his mother and explain that there was a concerning mass in his larynx partially obstructing his airway and robbing him of speech. I’ll admit, those are some irreplaceable memories, and I’ve appreciated the journey at times, but along the way I’ve frequently tried to get relief from the relentless task of keeping their clothes clean.
It’s not like the money isn’t there, it’s just a matter of priorities. Drew has had five jobs during medical school alone. He’s tutored, worked in the bookstore, received a research stipend, worked as a medical editor, and is now doing a paid externship. To top it off, he “donates” plasma for cash all because he cannot stand the thought of paying for anything outside of tuition on borrowed money. Don’t even get me started on Jessica, she works 30+ hours per week between her two part-time jobs and eludes paying for childcare. On top of that she keeps the household functioning, including fully loading me multiple times per day. These two are so financially intense that when their toddlers wanted to play tiny tot soccer, they enrolled them in childhood development research and signed them up as simulated pediatrics patients so they could earn their own money. If that’s not enough to convince you, the guy ran the 3.7 miles each way to the hospital every single day of third year to maximize his time, stay in shape and, you guessed it, save money. He occasionally buys discount shoes with plasma money but rarely replaces his shorts or shirts, and he wears a ridiculous 1990’s ski racing suit from a thrift store to keep frostbite away when the temps drop below freezing. This couple takes to heart the immortal words of Dave Ramsey of “living like no one else now so later they can live like no one else.” So, do you think he’s going to drop a bunch of borrowed cash to replace me? Not a chance.
Platinum Level Scholarship Sponsor
Look, it has been a great run, but I’m a Frankenstein appliance. Please don’t let me become the Brett Favre of clothes washing, and come out of pseudo retirement repeatedly. I’d much rather be like Peyton Manning, gracefully stepping down and out of the spotlight while I’ve still got something left to offer. If some unforeseen income were to come our way maybe, just maybe, I could convince him to sell me off before going to residency. You may be my last hope. You alone have the power to grant me the chance to live the good life by granting Andrew this scholarship.
What do you think? What is the cheapest thing you did to minimize your debt during med school? Was it worth it? How have good financial habits started early affected your life? Comment below!
Haha. Nice work andrew. Congrats on the scholarship. About the time I “discovered” WCI in med school, I remember the ghetto bike I bought at a garage sale and free helmet I got from the police department’s ride safely campaign. My wife was so embarrassed to see me ride to and from school.
Scholarship come as 1099? I got my etrade solo 401k with Roth option this week. Funny how excited it made me. Haha. Probably not the intention of your new found money though. Put your washer out of his misery.
Congratulations, Andrew (and Andrew’s washing machine)!
The scholarship money won’t fund your own retirement, but it will buy a new washer, dryer, and a nice bicycle to make that commute a tad more efficient. Your plasma donating days can also come to a clothes. I mean close.
Cheers!
-PoF
Thanks! The bike used to be my back up if I was running late until it got stolen last year. Perhaps it’s time to replace.
I had a bike stolen in med school, too. Darned cable lock!
Congratulations to Andrews washing machine but I hate to break it to you. Andrew won’t change his habits bc of this money. You are in business until he becomes an attending. Pray he doesn’t go the 7 year residency route. Keep us updated. Maybe WCI readers may actually try to retire you again.
You know me too well @thanksdoc;) 5-year residency in my future. I think I can get a few more years out of it. Thanks!
Who would have thunk a washing machine would win the grand prize? Way to go, AWM! I hope Andrew finds you a nice washing machine retirement village where you can live out your remaining days gracefully, perhaps washing the barely-soiled linens of a retired schoolteacher. Congratulations to you and Andrew’s family!
Andrew seems more Mr. Money Mustache than WCI, but very deserving. One critique for his washer/dryer….Iowa and “sweltering heat” are not two terms I would associate. Try moving south and that washer/dryer will understand true heat! Congrats!
You caught me getting carried away. It seemed pretty bad compared to where I lived before. Since writing this I did a month-long sub-I in Atlanta this summer and a week in Texas doing manual labor, I stand corrected. Thanks!
I’ve spent a month in Alabama, a month in Ohio, and a month in Texas as part of my medical school education. At a certain level of heat and humidity, it’s all pretty much the same! You walk out the door and you sweat like a pig until you walk back in.
As we say in the South, it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. I’ll take 100 in New Mexico over 85 in Kentucky any day. Or Iowa.
Yeah I’ve always felt sorry for the Mormon missionaries walking around in the Alabama heat late spring, summer and early fall.
Congrats, Andrew!
I really would have thought the winning essay would have had more substance in its story! Very strange this was picked over others…even the 2nd place winner?
Really? Not enough substance? It’s a well-written and extremely clever essay about a father of three who sells plasma and runs to work in sub-zero Iowa winters to help his family. How much more substance do you want?
Don’t like which essays win? Volunteer to be a judge yourself and encourage all your friends that think the same way about who should win scholarships to do the same. It’s not that time-consuming. But I’ll bet if you read all 389 essays, all 5 of the winners would be in your top 10. Maybe they wouldn’t all win, maybe the winners would come in a different order, but deciding the top 10 isn’t that tricky. They really stand out from their peers.
If you didn’t volunteer to be a judge, NO COMPLAINING ABOUT WHICH ESSAYS WIN. If you did volunteer to judge, take it out on your fellow judges, not me or the applicants.
Substance is in the eye of the beholder, in this case 45 sets of eyes.
Simply an observation! This essay clearly wins for creative writing, and congrats to him for writing a great piece.
I think many, including myself, question why content was not weighted higher by the judges – this is not comparable to #2 essay (or others)!
Maybe the judge who passed it into the second round, the 2/3 judges who read it in the second round and selected it as their favorite of 20, or the 6/10 judges who thought it was the best of the 10 finalists will weigh in and tell you why they picked it. But that’s not required and I allow them to remain anonymous if they wish to be so as to encourage more people to volunteer to be judges.
The last couple of years this contest was really close. This year was a blow-out by comparison. The instructions were “An 800-1200 word proofread essay written in English on any topic you choose”. Then it’s up to the judges to decide who wins. I think the judges did a great job this year- look at the five wonderful winners. Not an undeserving person among them.
I think it’s poor form to complain about the judges’ work when you weren’t willing to do it yourself and the only essays you read were the five finalists. If you had read all 389, I think you would have realized how rare one like this one is. Most essays are a med/dental/law/PA school admissions essay and after reading a dozen of them, they all start sounding the same, even if the writer is a Sudanese lesbian refugee rape victim who started an orphanage and found a cure for cancer while maintaining a 4.0 at Princeton and spending time shadowing 100 different doctors.
You keep bringing up “if you were a judge” and “if you had read all the essays”. I’m not formulating an argument. I’m stating my opinion which I believe is also supported by other readers.
Hopefully all of which will volunteer to be judges next year just like those who complained last year and then served as judges this year.
I doubt it. The majority of people will express an opinion of the verdict without being involved in the judgement.
John, you are quite correct. Very strange “groupthink” attitude here by WCI today. It is odd to see this kind of behavior.
What’s odd is that people can’t just say, “Congratulations! You wrote a great essay and are a very deserving winner.” Even if their opinion is that # 3 should be # 4 and # 2 should be # 1, griping about that when it is all said and done just causes division, makes people worry there is some systematic bias, and makes the winners either feel guilty that they’re white males and don’t deserve what they’ve earned or that they won just because they’re not white males and don’t deserve what they earned. It does zero good. If you want to make a difference, the time to do that is next year by volunteering to judge and recruiting other people to judge that share your views on “substance.”
How do people who agree with you earn their opinion, apart from being a judge?
What you’re asking is for everyone to say each essay is “deserving” of the place it received. No.
No. What I’m asking is that readers realize it isn’t classy to complain about how a scholarship contest is run AFTER it’s over on a post that is basically the awards ceremony for the scholarship. Especially if you didn’t volunteer to be a judge or didn’t contribute any significant money to the effort.
Sending an email saying, “Why don’t you do it this way?” Sure.
Complaining about it in the comments section of the announcement post? Sure.
But complaining about the process right here while the winner is “standing there up on stage” getting his award? Not so classy.
It says a whole lot more about the person complaining than the recipient, the judges, the contributors, and the sponsors. It makes it more difficult to get people to judge the contest when they feel like they’re going to be called biased. It makes it more difficult to get people to contribute and submit essays because they’re worried there is something wrong with how the contest is run. It makes it more difficult to get corporate sponsors (who provide about 3/4 of the funding) to sponsor it if it doesn’t look legitimate. It makes professional schools less likely to promote it (and thus spread the need for financial literacy.) In short, it could end up doing a whole lot less good than it otherwise would because a few people are clueless as to appropriate etiquette in a situation like this.
Last year I thought there might be something legitimate about the complaints, so this year I completely removed the staff of WCI from the process and took every single person who volunteered to judge so that I couldn’t be accused of any bias. That doesn’t seem to have done any good. Complainers will complain, haters will hate, and no good deed goes unpunished. And here I am once again spending my day responding to the same old comments from people who are disappointed their favorite essay wasn’t the favorite of the majority of the judges.
John, I’m with WCI. I don’t believe the comments section of the winner (or any of the other essays) is the place to “judge” whether they should have won or not. The judging had already been done.
There are lots of blogs and sites out there. Maybe I don’t get around enough, but I don’t see lots of them putting together this kind of scholarship opportunity.
Sometimes, “if you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all” is advice well heeded.
cd :O)
I disagree. I think you’re angry that I, and other readers, are expressing a dissenting opinion. You’ve said if you continue to get “crap” then you will “pull funds”. If this is about you, and readers behaving in the exact way you see fit, perhaps that is the best option. But I disagree once again, as this is not about you or judges or money etc. This is about the essay writers, and clearly each of the 5 winners wrote a great essay and are deserving of recognition – I disagree with the verdict, however.
Take it to the lounge on the forum or by email if you want to continue this discussion. This nonsense has gone on long enough.
As far as I’m concerned WCI, you’re the one that asked “what do you think”. You say you don’t like essays all about the person…these are not essays dude, these are people’s lives. If you didn’t want that, indicate it. I’m sure many had great stories and were overlooked because of some unspoken rule by you. These are not essays for your entertainment…they are their lives! Very improper of you WCI!
Not even you believe this essay was better than the rest. Not even you could look this dude in the eye and say he has a better story than even the 2nd place like John said. That’s when you say, wait, this judging process failed and I’m going to take a second look. Be a leader!
Remind me again which round you judged and how much you donated to the scholarship? I’ve forgotten. Seriously, you won’t even post using a real name. Just an anonymous lob from the peanut gallery. Take it to the forum if you want to discuss it more.
Applicants were not instructed to “tell their story.” They’re told they can write about anything they like and that the judges will choose which essay they like best. They can tell their story, tell someone else’s story, write a financial post, write a poem, whatever.
The invitation to comment (“What do you think? What is the cheapest thing you did to minimize your debt during med school? Was it worth it? How have good financial habits started early affected your life?”) was clearly not “What do you think? Should Andrew have won? Is WCI a racist organization? Should this be a contest where the person who has overcome the most hardship always wins? Comment below!”
I think one of the conditions of the win should be that he has to retire that poor thing. And get it a good detailing, too. :O)
In college, I ate dry Top Ramen. I sprinkled the powder on top. It was half being frugal, but half being I didn’t want to do dishes. :O)
Congrats Andrew.
And the Essay actually did have quite a bit of substance, just seen through the eyes of the wash machine. But come on, he ran back and forth to work and wore a cheap snow suit when it was cold. He does everything he can to earn extra funds and his wife works, too. Incredibly hard working and creative.
cd :O)
First, dry Top Ramen? Seriously? What’s wrong with you? Washing a bowl that you made Ramen in consists of rinsing it under the sink for 3 seconds. That’s disgusting. I’m not even sure it’s edible until it’s rehydrated.
Second, I also enjoyed the essay. I would have picked it # 1 if I were judging so I can hardly blame the 45 judges who did the same. Well-written, humorous, not focused on himself, shows the maturity gained during 4 years of med school (I always like the MS4 essays better than the MS1 starry-eyed revamps of their admissions essay), and actually contains a lot of substance as it demonstrates the financial struggles of a professional student couple (and this is a financial site) and demonstrates the struggles and difficulties of medical school when you read deeply. The first time you deliver a baby, doing scientific research with its challenges, the first time you give tragic news, the desensitizing experience of cutting into a human body for the first time etc. There’s a ton of substance in this essay, but even better it’s subtle and may even require two reads through rather than a “look at me, I’ve got substance” type essay you typically see from an MS1. Having read hundreds of submissions in the past, I would have been extremely surprised to have seen this essay finish outside the top 3.
Third, Andrew gets to do whatever he wants with the money. New bike, new washer-dryer, start an individual 401(k), take his wife to Paris, use it for interviewing and moving expenses or some combination of the above, or whatever else. And he doesn’t even have to tell us what he did with it!
I hope you know I was kidding about the requirement for how he spends his $. That is why I use my big-nose smiley face. :O) I am a goofball at heart. Although, clearly the wash machine would agree with me. :O)
And as to Top Ramen, we all have to find ways to cut corners you know. Thankfully I married “up” and haven’t had to have dry Top Ramen for quite a few years now. I also do more than my fair share of dishes, so I guess bad Karma got me anyway. :O)
That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of a big-nose smiley face. I like that :o)
Clever and good writing, congratulations.
That said, not my pick for the winning essay.
The lack of diversity is glaring and I won’t be donating again for a while.
“Sweltering heat” & Iowa… that was funny.
Lack of diversity??? You do realize that these were reviewed anonymously.
You seem very defensive, David.
Having served as a judge, I do understand the process.
Seems to be the common trend in our society these days; all essays reviewed anonymously and some liberal complains that there are no diversity in the winners. Glad judges picked winners based on merit rather than filling some quota.
I just wish people would focus on all the good this scholarship contest did instead of bringing politics into it. We directly and dramatically improved the financial situation of three medical students, gave a copy of The White Coat Investor to an entire class of medical students, spread the message of the importance of financial literacy throughout the medical schools of this nation, built ourselves into a stronger community, and had a lot of fun.
The judges and applicants should all give themselves a huge pat on the back for their work. I wish we could have given $20K to all 389 applicants, but alas, this site isn’t quite that profitable.
Further, the second place winner is a Hispanic female and the fifth place is a nontraditional student who talks about an LGBT clinic…
Joseph I feel sad for you that all you see is skin color and not the content of the writings. All of these winners are worthy, no matter their ethnicity that is out of their control. Congatulations Andrew! Very creative and best of luck. Keep us posted on your journey.
^^^^^^ my thoughts as well.
It’s not a diversity contest. It’s an essay contest. The judges got to decide how much weight to put on diversity (and what that meant to them) and how much on various kinds of “substance.” This is not a need-based scholarship. No financial data was required to apply.
If I keep getting this much crap about something that takes up so much of my staff’s paid time during the year, I might not be donating again for a while either. (Actually, I suggested that to my staff and they all said, “Don’t you dare!” They’re all very proud that we’ve been able to do something like this every year and I suppose if I really think about it, so am I.)
Seriously, if you don’t like who wins, be a judge and encourage all your like-minded friends to volunteer as well. NO JUDGES WERE TURNED AWAY. The only requirements to be a judge were the ability to read English and not be in school or residency. It was a coalition of the willing.
The bigotry in your post is staggering…
To be clear, I was responding to top post of this thread (Joseph).
I think “Joseph” is gone. I haven’t heard from “him” for quite a while, which is unusual. Apparently this scholarship contest was the last straw. Who would have thought giving away money would have cost me readers? Sometimes it feels like you can’t win.
I think there are far more here who believe in you and what you do then don’t. Read all of the good compliments and good comments. Don’t let a few bad ones get you down. You, the writers, the winners, the judges, the staff, and your site are winners. :O)
Thank you so much WCI and to all donors! I wish I could thank you all individually and describe how much this means to me. This writing style was actually quite outside my comfort zone and my normal rather serious, reserved temperament. My residency application was much more focused on my past achievements, overcoming adversity and my ideals that drove me to pursue the amazing field of medicine, but I decided to set those aside for this essay and have fun with it. My financial habits aren’t perfect, but we are doing the best we can. The other essays were all very well done and the applicants very deserving. Everyone has a story and financial needs abound for all of us in training. Thank you again, I am shocked and thrilled.
Andrew, very well deserved first prize for your essay! I loved it! Enjoy the reward and take the wife for a nice dinner out to celebrate this new found money.
Thank you Jacqueline, it means a lot. I took my wife out to celebrate, we even went big and got a sushi roll… just one though 🙂
Congratulations to Frankenstein for a well deserved retirement. No more agitation, vibration, spinning, nor steaming. Hope the next _ cycle _ of your life is wonderful.
Haha, that was clever! (and a welcome reprieve from the stuff above.)
FWIW, this was my favorite of the week.
Having spent summer vacas and Christmases with the grandparents in SE Iowa, I can assure you that Andrew’s commute sees both ends of the thermometer.
Congrats Andrew, great essay. I’m most impressed by your skills in appliance maintenance. My washer sounds like it’s on the brink of collapse… if you’re in Central Missouri anytime soon, can you swing by and take a look at it!? Very happy for you! -5th place
Congrats Andrew! Best essay of the five I read. You were channeling Jack London an excellent literary tool. I know you will spend the funds wisely. I now plan on donating to the scholarship next year.
Strong work, strong work!
Geez. Can the WCI scholarship be exempt from complaining and bickering….please?!?! Don’t we have enough of this already! It was judged by many people from various backgrounds. Please, just be happy for the winners. Choose positivity instead of negativity.
I want to say Congratulations on a great essay that I truly enjoyed. I mean, who didn’t want to know where the poor washer would end up next? 😉
I personally felt this essay had quite a bit of substance as well as creativity! Would I have chosen it to win? Who knows? I wasn’t judging, but I enjoyed all the essays and hope that all of the individual that won as well as those who didn’t will go on to have rewarding careers in medicine!
The lack of diversity is incredible.
Yea, the front-loading washers are always winning. There is surely a systematic bias against top-loaders.
Loved your reply WCI. I’m an underrepresented minority (Hispanic female with an accent and overcame huge adversities) and tbh the contest was won fair and square. Let the best essay win, there were plenty of judges and most of them agreed this one was the best essay in her opinions. It’s very easy to judge when one does not participate in the process of judging. It doesn’t help us URM to get an award just to fill a quota. If I earn or won something, I want it to be due to the merit of my work, not the color of my skin.
Amen to that. Someday MLK’s dream will come true. I wish there were a way to speed it up.
I think the vast majority of people on both sides of affirmative action debates feel the same way. Sure, there’s a few extremists on both ends, but for the most part, that’s what everyone wants. They just have different ideas about how to get there and our “leaders” use those to divide and polarize us for their own ends. I try to keep faith in the American people that we’ll get there eventually though. Probably after we try everything else! I was never a huge fan of Bill Clinton, but one of his quotes is one of my favorites:
[Ad hominem comments deleted.]
Great essay! The ability to work in your story and challenges you have faced in a subtle way is hard to do. I’ve really enjoyed reading all of the essays.
While I love the comment section of WCI, maybe the essays should be published with a locked comment section in the future? I think other essay contests will publish the winning essays but most (all?) do not allow the readers to comment directly on the essays and their opinions on which essay should have won. I also applaud how transparent the process was for determining a winner.
I had another idea while I was out running this evening before heading into my shift. Maybe I’ll add a sixth prize next year- a “reader’s choice” award, perhaps another $1K to the finalist that readers select by sharing the post on social media most often. I wouldn’t want to dedicate more of the prize to that method since it is obviously more easily gamed, but it would provide an outlet for those who can’t resist letting their opinion be known while furthering the goals of the site.
I guess what I was most disappointed about was the lack of etiquette. I wouldn’t think something like that would have to be explained, but I guess I should have laid that out as a ground rule at the beginning of the week and then just deleted all the complaining comments.
I like this idea, also another person’s idea of closing posts of the prize winners to comments (perhaps). Would readers vote on the top 5 only? Personally, I’d like to see the essays that made it through the first round of judging and let people vote with their dollars. $1 per vote, going to the scholarship fund of the Readers’ Choice winner, with a special page on WCI to cast votes.
Ooh, voting with dollars is good idea too. I’d love to figure out a way to get more readers contributing as the reader contributions make up a tiny percentage of the scholarship fund.
And no, I’m not going to run 60 essay posts (that’s how many went to the 2nd round). There are only about 150-200 posts all year on this blog.
Dear washer/dryer and Andrew,
Congratulations! I loved the essay! I thought it was a humerous and creative way to tell your story. I enjoyed all five finalist essays this week. I am so impressed with all these essays that I plan to be a generous donor to the WCI scholarship next year. Great program WCI and I hope you keep it going!
Well that escalated quickly.
Congrats to Andrew and the rest of the winners!
Lovely essay. Deserved first prize for uniqueness. Honestly I didn’t look at the race or gender. Not everyone can get first prize. I congratulate all five winners. Good job by the judges. Thanks to WCI for doing this.
Congratulations to Andrew and the other winners! I’d like to underscore a few points that WCI and others have made in the comments:
1. As a first-round judge, I received 11 essays identified by number only. No names, races, or genders, though of course some essays included identifying details. The bartender’s submission happened to be in my group, and that was my top pick of the 11 I read. There were a few others that I liked, and then there were several that read like syrupy admissions essays or tried a little too hard. There are probably some judges or would-be judges who would have chosen differently; that is to be expected. I believe that another judge’s preference for a “syrupy admissions” essay or an “overcoming obstacles” tale is just as valid as my preference for something else. That’s the beauty of crowd-sourcing the judging of this contest, and that makes it eminently fair and unbiased.
2. Jim, his staff, the corporate sponsors, the readers who donated, and the readers who volunteered to be judges are doing something to tangibly help a group of people who tend to incur tremendous financial debt. The publication of the winners’ essays is a time to celebrate the winners and the people who made this happen. It is – without question – classless to complain about who did or didn’t win in the comments section.
3. Why anyone would complain about lack of diversity is beyond me. *Anonymous* essays were judged by readers of presumably different backgrounds, and the final 5 essays demonstrated a diversity of life experience and content. Andrew’s essay, in my opinion, was excellent; it would have been in my top 5 regardless of his race –
to which the judges were blinded anyway.
4. Regarding diversity or lack thereof, WCI said it best: “Yea, the front-loading washers are always winning. There is surely a systematic bias against top-loaders.”
To say there is no systematic bias against white males in society and to compare that to washing machines is going a bit far. In fact it belittles the actual struggle of minorities to try to gain entrance and then be accepted in their respective fields. But the flippant answer is clearly what your audience wants. I used to enjoy this thread but now that the curtain has been pulled back on your opinions you have lost a reader. I’ve learned a lot from this blog but it’s time to move on.
I suggest not posting photos of applicants and using a first initial only to eliminate any perceived “bias”. The comments section is an inappropriate location for a diversity argument about an essay. I am sorry this has happened.
The judges didn’t get the photos or the names at all. All they got was the essays.
Glad you were able to learn a lot from this blog and sorry to see that our decision to spend/give over $100K in cash and prizes to medical students over the last three years, some of whom are minorities, has caused us to lose a reader. I hope you change your mind, but if not, you might try some of the other physician financial blogs out there. There are at least two written by minorities who have worked hard and gained entrance in their respective fields. Perhaps you will enjoy being taught about personal finance and investing by them more. Let me know if you need a URL.
[Unhelpful inflammatory comment deleted.]
FYI I started a thread in the lounge on this if anyone is interested in discussing it there instead.
Congrats to Andrew and the other winners. I enjoyed being a first round judge and look forward to doing it again next year.
Congrats to WCI for running a good, clean, and worthy competition.