Week 1 - Medicine: Why did you decide to pursue medicine? What has motivated you to continue? What keeps you calm? For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a doctor. My mom used to tell stories about the tiny human version of myself telling people that I wanted to be a "brain doctor" and not a "heart doctor" because if I messed up someone's brain, at least they wouldn't totally die. Yes, I know -- completely backward and morbid logic for a child. But regardless, it had always just been a matter of fact that I was going to one day become a doctor. When trying to write my personal statement for medical school and practicing interview questions, I reflected hard on this question repeatedly. And let me tell you -- trying to put into words the reason behind my biggest dream since a child was extremely difficult for me. I had no tragedy. No one in my family was a physician. I hadn't watched anyone I loved endure some tough medical illness...
Like wildflowers, you must allow yourself to grow in all the places that people never thought you would.