How has your upbringing shaped where you are today?

• “As a medical student people ask you if anybody in your family is doctor or in medicine and I would always say no but half of my neighbors are. I grew up in a pretty affluent area where half of my neighbors are medical professionals. Growing up around adults who work in the medical field made my goal of being a physician feel attainable.”

Can you talk to me about specific instances that influenced you to diverge from the route that you were on? How did these instances lead you to your current situation?

• “I never really been in hospitals because my family is medically blessed. I did some volunteering in hospitals and worked in a lab and ruled out what I strongly liked and what I strongly disliked. But, I also think I had some relevant experience of my own with doctors that knew what they were doing and was relatively good at their job. By seeing them help me I thought to myself I want to be able to do this for somebody else.  I had an injury before high school and a physician came in from his vacation at the lake with his family to evaluate me  and assess if I needed surgery or not. To me it meant the world but to him it was just a Friday, and to be able to impact people’s lives like that is something I continue to want to be a part of my life and because I could make it my career I did.” 

Do you believe the grey area is temporary or permanent?

• “I think temporary but recurrent. Whenever you hit a hiccup in the road you are back in the grey area. I assume as we age it will be less frequent for the both of us but I can’t speak to that because I am not old yet. I think it was just, I’m going to college, then you go to college and it becomes a little less grey. However, when you are done with college I think that’s when the grey area begins. But I can tell you when you go get a professional degree you are back in it. You are thinking where do I go? What do i prioritize? Do I need be near my family? Do I need to be in the best program? Once again these questions come up and you are deciding who am I going to be?”

When beginning college, what were your initial feelings and thoughts?

• “I felt excited and terrified. It was the first time I had really left home. I didn’t go to summer camp and I had maybe only left home for a week and now I was moving away from my hometown. Other than knowing one friend at school, I was starting from nothing. When you begin college, you are rebuilding your life, so it gave me anxiety. I was excited because it was a new phase. But I was nervous about leaving my friends and support system behind, however, that didn’t last very long. It was one of those things if anyone else experienced it they never told me.” 

What was your 4-year plan? 

• “I think my plan was to do well in my classes because that’s what I am here for and I planned on being engaged in things along the way and see where life took me. But, I remember being surprised. I’m not a terribly religious person but I think the classes I got the most out of I wasn’t anticipating was the mandatory philosophy and theology classes. We had excellent professors who got you to think about thinking. Think about how do you approach things and what do you believe in? You learned the history of the basis of our society, but do you believe in it? I think that transformed my thought process. My family even said I came back super liberal. I think it opened my eyes to a part of the world I never paid attention to. I became so much more engaged in social justice and politics in a way I have never been before.”

Is there anything thing you learned from post-graduation and would like to share? 

• “What I learned and continue to learn is to find a good mentor and use them. The people who can help you the most are the one who have already done it. If you want to be a trailblazer get somebody who did something related to give you advice so that you are not flying blind. Uncertainty, pride and lack of understanding how the system works, I have learned it works better if you network and get help. The more I opened up and asked people for help in college and after college has helped tremendously.”