Who is Marilyn?

Who is Marilyn?

Blows away dust It’s been a while I posted a piece on here. I was actually under the impression that if I wasn’t paying, I couldn’t post which was why I stopped at the time. I am now aware that said impression was actually false. In the words of Fela, “Let’s start what we have come into the room – in this case the app – to do”

“Introductions: Who I am within and beyond the stethoscope. A telescopic view into who I am becoming.”

That was the prompt which warranted this piece.

PS: I’ll be more expressive here because there are certain guidelines in the LinkedIn challenge that prevented me from mentioning certain things so look out for the notes in parentheses ().

“Who is Marilyn?”

I don’t know the club I’m wearing, this was for a photoshoot before I’ll hear my name in world cup discussions.

There are multiple facets to my person which is why my peers would give you multiple answers depending on the niche of interest that brought us together.

It’s quite fascinating when different people have different things to say about you – stark similarities of course, while highlighting areas they’ve seen you to excel in. Identity at its core is how people perceive you either from direct relations or distant observation. That’s why defining my identity is important and that is exactly what I aim to achieve here.

Marilyn is a medical student. That’s probably your first impression of me on this platform (I was talking about LinkedIn in this since this piece was originally meant for it) seeing that my profile picture is myself in scrubs with a stethoscope hanging from my neck.

I am a 5th year medical student studying at Babcock university and I have volunteered in both service and leadership roles under multiple subcommittees and initiatives for NiMSA (Nigerian Medical Students Association) and BUAMS (Babcock University Association of Medical Students).

One thing about me: I absolutely love the clinical aspect of my course – classroom lectures are genuinely the worst due to their draining and repetitive pattern. I love the hands on approach involved in volunteering for outreaches, educating people on important health related concepts and mastering clinical procedures (Side note, I mastered inserting a urinary catheter last night so go me!). I love see patients present with symptoms and formulating differentials that turn out to be accurate or somewhat close to the diagnosis. Exploring different specialties is interesting, especially when I come across one I really resonate with. I love uncovering the “why” and “how” of the human body in various conditions. One day, I’ll become Dr. Nafarnda Marilyn, a consultant in either Anaesthesiology, Cosmetic Dermatology or Psychiatry (One of which my school is not so focused on – psychiatry should be a stand alone course with its own specific posting but alas it’s jumbled with internal medicine and they don’t take us to the psych hospital during our postings – and another it doesn’t have at all – dermatology. How ironic!).

Character-wise, you could associate me with a lot of things based on how our paths have crossed. I’ll skip the standard cliché of “I am kind and hardworking” because while those are true, my character and the way you perceive me ultimately depend on our interactions how you interpret the way I present myself.

Beyond the stethoscope, Marilyn is a media enthusiast (I actually wanted to write “Marilyn is a raver!” because that would’ve been such a cool opening to my non medical self and it’s definitely not wrong).

I really do love working in media across various niches: content creation, content strategization, mobile videography, video editing, graphic design, article and script writing. If you follow me on other platforms, you’d see that I create content around certain niches: medical school, skincare, fashion and rave culture. I don’t want to be perceived as a medical student whose life is solely centred around her studies. But rather as a multifaceted vibrant creative with a life outside the hospital walls. I romanticize my student life while still maintaining the harsh reality of how demanding this course can be. I share a passion for fashion which is seen through my make-up, styling and outfit transitions, my interest in skincare which is seen in my routine vlogs and product reviews. And sharing how raving (there it is!) serves as my well-deserved escape from the burnout of medical school.

Capturing wonderful moments of events and compiling them into a beautiful visuals that can be beheld and interpreted by the public is so lovely. The process can be tasking especially the editing phase, but once everything comes together properly, you’d forget the stress involved. A mentor in this field once told me that editing becomes easy when you have candid shots to work with – they were absolutely right! While I am still refining my skill, I am nowhere near expert level. Regardless, I’m glad I embraced this interest and can now integrate it into my identity.

In my creative journey, I have assumed leadership roles over teams where we brainstormed and strategised on ideas for brand building, ranging from regular day-to-day content to creating a new segment or modifications to already existing segments with to drive the brand’s purpose. This has opened me to working with exceptionally brilliant minds and realizing that sometimes, it’s the brainstorming and strategization of ideas that takes deepest commitment of time.

I am inherently a design oriented person in the sense that whenever I look at the world, visual concepts instantly come to mind. I’m still mastering design softwares and core concepts but I yearn for the day that I can break the world down into design elements (It’s way cooler than it sounds!). Creative blocks are inevitable: you don’t feel any ideas coming in or you might not necessarily be able to bring your idea to life because it doesn’t quite match the vivid picture in your head. These aren’t strange scenarios, it’s all part of the creative process.

I’ve always had a knack for putting my thoughts on paper. I initially started with poetry though I write less of it now, I have evolved into an article writer. I am grateful for platforms such as Substack and Medium that provide avenues to share my pieces with the world. Lately, my thoughts have been consumed by the state of the country prompting me to write pieces on it. I’ve also experienced flashes of ideas for concept shoots or acting scenes drove me in the direction of scriptwriting. This part of myself isn’t out there as I am yet to execute my scripts (Can someone please collab with me?)

In a handful of words, this is who I think Marilyn is. With what you know and have seen/read, who am I to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts!