Why I Want
to be a

I could talk about how much I want to help others or my interest in science. But the truth is, I want to be fulfilled. I need to do something meaningful with my life, and I want to change the lives of other people. Maybe this is a selfish reason, or maybe not.

The human body has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. Even at a very young age, I would always memorize strange anatomy facts and blurt them out in the middle of class. The more my classmates stared and my teachers complimented my knowledge, the more captivated I became. After watching the movie Gifted Hands, my fascination with the brain exploded, and everything changed. I was never able to wrap my mind around how a mush of tissue and neurons could produce the intelligence to have made almost everything around us. How it controls each and every intricate part and process of our body, and how we can exercise it to increase its capabilities. I mean, have you ever wondered about how strange it is that we have thoughts and what they even are? I do. A lot. The prospect gives me goosebumps.

But fascination isn’t enough to build a life on. At some point, it had to be bigger than random anatomy facts and dreams of being a surgeon. The change wasn’t big or dramatic. It wasn’t some kind of medical miracle or life change emergency. It was slow and subtle. I started realizing that medicine kept showing up everywhere, in the books I read, movies I watched, in the way I paid attention to people’s injuries and illnesses more than I meant to.​

That responsibility should terrify me. But it doesn't. It feels right. It's my purpose.

(If you would like to read more about my academic journey, you can check out this article on Diary of the Mind.)