Kneading my gloved hands into latex-encased oblivion, I watched the five year old girl, who lay limp as the doll she was holding in the consultation hours ago, await her third and final open-heart surgery, the Fontan Procedure.

The room echoed with the methodical beeps from a monitor and the muffled shuffle of careful feet walking in the same direction as to control the flow of air and prevent possible contamination.  

Enter Dr. Raymond, as she cut through the surgically stagnant air, hands washed and gaze directed. Her eyes blazed with a pure purpose so clear that even I could feel its gravity around me; she was going to save this child’s life.

Not only was I never the same, I learned two things: Dr. Raymond is a woman worth following, and through the pursuit of knowledge, I plan to be the same.

Long before my transformative shadowing experience, I have known that medicine fascinates me. As one of the most rigorous yet noble professions a curious mind can pursue, medicine, with its intrinsic complexity, humanity, and excitement, stirs my inner scholar.

What I crave is that special link between healer and healed, curer and case. Today my goal is clear. I want patients to trust and endow me with their most prized possession: their health.

A truly educated individual is someone who has adapted their mind, hand, and heart to combat the obstacles in life, harnessing an instilled inquisitive mindset to discover the world around them. This thirst for knowledge and growth drives the field of medicine and every aspect of an honest scholar’s life.

My education is the single most significant thing my parents will ever provide for me and the most significant thing I can continue to provide for myself. I learn to heal. I learn to lead. I learn to challenge the known and become an ambitious doctor in an equally ambitious world.