I was inspired to become a doctor at six years old. I wasn't interested in being a doctor yet (I wanted to become a paleontologist) but this was when I met my pediatric pulmonologist for the first time. I had been hospitalized for asthma exacerbations multiple times, and my long list of allergies (pets, dust, and especially Christmas trees) limited my ability to do things like go to my friends' houses or visit family for the holidays. My pediatrician worked hard to find a pulmonologist who would change all that. Luckily for me, she did. In addition to getting my asthma under control, my pulmonologist taught me about how my lungs worked and showed me a model of a bronchiole. This first anatomy and physiology lesson stuck with me for a decade and ultimately inspired me to become a pediatrician myself. My strong desire to become a pediatrician did not make the pathway to get there any easier. Nobody in my family had ever become a doctor, and I often felt alone on my journey. I knew that first I would have to go to college, and I also knew that my family would not have the money to pay for it. My parents divorced when I was very young, and my mother went back to school in the hopes of supporting my sister and me. My dad worked construction, often 80-hour weeks during the summer months, only to have his savings wiped out by unemployment in the wintertime. Needless to say, by the time I was ready for college, neither of my parents had much saved. I was accepted to my dream college but had to turn down the offer when it didn't come with a scholarship. I chose a school that offered a half-scholarship and worked 3 part-time jobs to cover my other expenses. This helped but did not eliminate my need to take out student loans to complete my degree. However, my pre-med advisor taught me that getting to medical school doesn't just require a degree, it also requires experience. That's where my pediatrician came to the rescue. She let me spend time in her clinic shadowing, wrote me letters of recommendation, and coached me through the interview process. With her help, I was accepted to medical school but again had to turn down acceptances that didn't attach a scholarship offer. Luckily, my state school offered me a half-scholarship, and my student loans have covered the rest. I have no regrets about the path that led me to medical school, and I would do it all over in a heartbeat. I am incredibly excited to be in my final year of medical school, with my dream of being a pediatrician so close to being realized. Being a pediatrician is a great privilege because you have the opportunity to positively impact the futures of young people, and that doesn't just extend to their physical health. You get to be a part of their hopes and dreams for the future as well. The pediatricians I have known and worked with have all been incredible mentors, and I am grateful for their guidance and support. Looking forward to my eventual practice, I hope to be as good of a mentor to the next generation as my pediatrician was to me. If I'm lucky, I might even inspire some of my patients to join me in the world of medicine!

My path to becoming a pediatrician began when I was six years old. I wasn't interested in being a doctor yet (I wanted to become a paleontologist- what kid doesn't love dinosaurs) but this was when I met my pediatric pulmonologist for the first time. I had been hospitalized for asthma exacerbations multiple times, and my long list of allergies (pets, dust, and especially Christmas trees) limited my ability to do things like go to my friends' houses or visit family for the holidays. My primary care pediatrician worked hard to find a pulmonologist who could change all that. What I remembered the most about these visits was not the two-hour car ride to get there, or that my mom took me for ice cream after every visit. It wasn't even that he always wore a fun tie. It was the two plastic models of bronchioles in his office. The first was an asthmatic bronchiole, inflamed and full of mucus. The second bronchiole looked pristine. I wanted my medications to make my lungs look like the final model. With my pediatric pulmonologist's help, that became a reality. Eventually, I would come off medications completely. This allowed me to become a competitive horseback rider, play tennis at the collegiate level, and travel not just for the holidays but for study abroad. Years later, I still had the image of those bronchioles in my head. I thought about the impact that both my primary care pediatrician and pulmonologist had on my life and knew that I was making the right choice to become a pediatrician. In medical school, my first pediatrics experience came in the form of the Pediatrics Interest Group. As Volunteer Coordinator, I worked on several initiatives including writing Valentine's Day cards to hospitalized children, knitting baby blankets for newborns at our hospital, and organizing supply drives for the local Ronald McDonald House. I also led our collaboration with a local nonprofit working to mitigate educational disparities. I assisted group members in becoming tutors for local high school students and also served as a Math and Spanish tutor myself. These early experiences helped to confirm my interest in pediatrics. Later, I had my first clinical experience, working on the floors as a third-year medical student. Some of my favorite patients on the floor were the children with asthma exacerbations. Being able to send them home healthier than they had arrived meant a lot to me, as someone who had once been in their shoes. This is now my final year of medical school, and I've applied to residency positions in pediatrics on both coastlines. While I wait for my Match Day letter, I've continued my pediatric rotations, and have had incredible experiences in Pediatric Hematology, Endocrinology, Hospital Medicine and Neonatal Intensive Care. Although I don't know yet which of these specialties within pediatrics I will pursue after residency, I know that I will have the incredible privilege of making a positive impact on the lives of the children I work with every day. Just as my pediatricians did for me.