1. When I was twelve years old, a drunk driver hit the car my mother was driving while I was in the backseat. I have very few memories of the accident, but I do faintly recall a serious but calming face as I was gently lifted out of the car. The paramedic held my hand as we traveled to the hospital. I was in the hospital for several weeks and that same paramedic came to visit me almost every day. During my stay, I also got to know the various doctors and nurses in the hospital on a personal level. I remember feeling anxiety about my condition, but not sadness or even fear. It seemed to me that those around me, particularly my family, were more fearful of what might happen to me than I was. I don’t believe it was innocence or ignorance, but rather a trust in the abilities of my doctors. It was as if my doctors and I had a silent bond. Now that I’m older I fear death and sickness in a more intense way than I remember experiencing it as a child. My experience as a child sparked a keen interest in how we approach pediatric care, especially as it relates to our psychological and emotional support of children facing serious medical conditions. It was here that I experienced first-hand the power and compassion of medicine, not only in healing but also in bringing unlikely individuals together, such as adults and children, in uncommon yet profound ways. And it was here that I began to take seriously the possibility of becoming a pediatric surgeon.
When I was 9, my mom was assaulted by her husband. He broke her orbital bone around her eye, broke her nose, and split her scalp to the skull. She used her body to shield me, as I was the object of his anger, had he have gotten to me, I would be dead. She sacrificed herself for ME. I watched the blood stream down her face in the ambulance And it was at that moment I KNEW I had to save her and countless women like her from being abused. I put my nose into a medical book and I intend to be a doctor. To honor my mom, to stick up for women and children who don’t have a voice and to make sure my Mom receives the best care of anyone, ever.
