On a day that will cause people much joy or much disappointment, I woke up forgetting entirely about Match Day. This is usually a big day for accountants as well, but my firm focuses a lot more on partnership and individual returns rather than corporations so I'm spared from an intense deadline for another four weeks. M had an exam today, so he wasn't focused on the Match either.
This is both of our first times being around for the ceremony. Last year M came to visit me on my birthday (shortly after Match) and missed the excitement.
I snuck away from work for a couple hours pretending I had a doctor's appointment. Technically I had a lunch appointment with a future doctor so I don't feel guilty. The first level of his building was packed. There weren't as many families as I thought there would be, but it seemed everyone had a least one person to celebrate with.
Ten minutes left till noon, one of the professors started trying to get everyone excited: "I'm sure you will all be Matched to wonderful places, well, at least some of you will be." I guess the people that needed to scramble probably weren't there, everyone else chuckled.
Then the countdown began. 10...9...8 ....... 1! OPEN YOUR ENVELOPES! Everyone started shrieking and hugging and laughing as they opened their envelopes and digested where they would were Matched. One couple stood out for me because they were doing the opposite. The girl was holding her envelope with her hand clasped over her mouth. Her significant other rubbed her back and tried to comfort her. They stood that way for a very long time.
I can't help but wonder, why is this done in public? When we got our SAT scores and college acceptances, it was a private affair. Both M and I checked our MCAT and CPA scores online in the privacy of our home. His acceptance to medical school came in the form of a thick envelope to his house. Do you have to go through these Match Day shennanigans? Can you just stay at home and refresh the browser till noon? Can you sit in your PJs with a beer?
I don't know if I want to go through this in two years. I don't want the first and second year students, and their random guests (like me) peering down below on a very private part of my life!
Hope the others who went through it enjoyed it!