I often reflect on how I ended up as one of relatively few who successfully made it to medical school: it began with my parents, who instilled in me the values of service from a young age. I grew up strongly attached to my faith, learning from the many people who willingly dedicated their limited time on the weekend to teach us, mentor us, and guide us. I was determined to do the same thing for the next generation. As I began to pave my own path in high school, I fell in love with playing football. In a pivotal time in my psychosocial development, I was driven to excel and I developed many of the skills that made me shine as a prospective medical student. My work ethic greatly improved as I learned to work hard behind the scenes as opposed to artificially working hard for the praise of others. My leadership skills were tested while I was captain as I learned to motivate my peers to stay focused and work hard. I improved my ability to collaborate with others who are different from me as many of my teammates were not the same peers I had as classmates. I accelerated in developing interpersonal skills that are essential to any career, even more so in medicine. At the moment, I was oblivious to the exponential growth I was undergoing. But as I reflect, I am so grateful that I persevered through the long practices and the unrelenting summer heat because it contributed to who I am today. It has now been seven years of serving the same group of boys at my church. They were in 3rd grade and I was a senior in high school. Now they are sophomores and I am in my 3rd year of medical school. The growth I have witnessed is humbling to reflect on. The relationships I have built with these boys continue to inspire my service. Their growth throughout the years to young men manifested through different interests, and I was blessed to witness it and guide them along the way. The opportunity to pursue my passion for playing football was a blessing, as I unfortunately witnessed many of my teammates suffer career-ending injuries. I know that football is not the only way to develop skills that are critical to our future careers. But for any child to pursue their interests, physical and mental health must come first. I am still early in my medical career, but the joy I feel when seeing a child leave the hospital in better shape than when I first met them is truly unmatched. The immediate sense of compassion when meeting my pediatric patients and their parents for the first time is undeniable. And the question comes to mind: how can I serve you to empower you to pursue your goals?