Keeping it real

We visited the medical school today. I was very excited to find out how medical school truly is from a student who is experiencing it at that moment. I have heard the perspectives of many students who have attended medical school, but sometimes they are so far removed from the experience that they can’t give me an accurate account. As I have gotten older, I have been wondering if medical school is truly practical. I don’t come from a rich family that can afford to support me, and I am beginning to realize that having my own family is very important to me.

At times, it seems nearly impossible for a woman raising a family to successfully make it through med school. As fate would have it, our student guide for the medical school visit just happened to be a woman with a family, so as we walked down the halls of the UNC hospital I soaked up the information she shared like the sun dries a sponge on a hot summer day. Her honesty put me at ease. She said it is hard and that she sheds a few tears at times, but that she succeeds because she truly loves medicine.

As we walked the corridors of the hospital, we passed a woman with the huge grin on her face; if she had not had on her white coat, I would have thought she was mental. It was great to see how excited she was to see young students interested in medicine. She totally took over the tour and began to answer our questions and became our “pseudo” guide. At first, I was somewhat taken aback by her domination of our tour, but I slowly began to appreciate her passion. The passion she had in her was amazing. I truly hope that whatever career I choose I can have that same excitement that she still had after a long day of work.