My Light-Bulb Moment by Kristine

My Light-Bulb Moment by Kristine - June 2020 Scholarship Essay

A tingling chill crept down my spine as the surgeon created the first incision on his patient’s head, eventually sliding off the scalp with a pair of tweezers and exposing a blood-stained skull. I held my breath as the surgeon carefully removed a flap of bone from the patient’s skull and delicately peeled off the dura mater. There laid the root of the patient’s pain: a crimson blood clot as big as a pancake. Through irrigation, the neurosurgeon eventually washed away the blood clot, revealing the brain in all its splendor. That moment, something happened – my light-bulb moment. That was the moment I realized that I wanted to become a doctor. It was a sudden realization that altered the course of my academic pursuits, my future goals, and literally my life.
My passion for medicine has intensified from the day I watched that craniotomy in my school’s Medical Club. In the summer of my sophomore year, I started a tiny, non-monetized blog to educate myself in medicine. There, I was able to analyze surgeries and discuss medical controversies. As the years passed, my passion for the altruistic aspect of medicine grew in tandem with my passion for the scientific aspect of medicine. The ability to literally save lives every day while doing something that academically interests me made a career in medicine ideal for me.
It may be true that pursuing a career in medicine is not an easy route. The long hours spent studying for the MCAT and the USMLE does not seem appealing to many people, and a career dedicated to life-long learning steers many away from a profession in medicine. That, however, does not phase me. I know that the ultimate goal of my medical journey is not to make a six-figure salary, but to serve my community by ensuring that every patient I meet is healthy. But even beyond saving and improving lives, I hope that my future profession in medicine will inspire minorities to pursue a career in a homogenous workforce and look towards the day when diversity becomes a commonality.
Whether it be performing a cardiac transplant, a craniotomy, or a physical exam, I know that whatever I do as a physician will have a positive impact on the people in my community, and that is the magnet attracting me towards medicine.