The lot of us has most likely participated in some form of video game or online game. We play them as ways to pass by time or simply because they help us relax and remove ourselves from the real world. While all of this is nice during the moment, we fail to realize the impacts it has on us in our daily lives. Our communication and social relationships suffer whenever we play uncontrollably. Without a controlled environment to play in, we remove ourselves for hours from our parents, friends and acquaintances. We miss out on things happening in the world and in our own lives because we don’t take the time to look up from our screens to continue to strengthen our real life relationships. Not only this, but it has impacts on our mental health as well. When kids of a younger age have unlimited access to the internet, their minds wander and they can stumble upon things that can have detrimental effects on their young and persuadable minds. Medically speaking, whenever we stare at our screens, our posture worsens and our eye sight deteriorates because we refrain from blinking for long periods of time. Technology and video games are important and they can positively influence us if used correctly; but if they are abused and our personal health is not taken care of we can lead ourselves into a rabbit hole of loneliness and future medical issues.

I’m not embarrassed to admit I was raised within a struggling household. I was born into a family of one: my mother, Francheska Rios. She gave birth to me September 7, 2005, in Wisconsin. With my father being gone and my mother having a new born, money was always tight. Two years later, my mother married and gave birth to my sibling, making me the happiest girl in the world. Some time later, when I reached the age of six, I began suffering from chronic pains (CRMO) which were previously ignored by my other doctors. My life was uprooted as we moved to Florida, closer to doctors who specialized in my condition. The move was hard on my family and my mom and step-dad divorced, making it once again just my mom and I, and occasionally my younger sibling. In order to pay for my medical visits and the private education of my sibling and I, my mother took a job working nights in a retirement home - making sure she could spend the days with us. My mother has taught me several things and inspired me to become a pediatrician in the future. One of the most valuable things she taught me was: to keep trying, and never give up. Be persist and pursue your dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem. With this always in my mind, I’ve taken on new challenges such as: self teaching myself ASL (now attending classes), beginning violin classes and learning how to play volleyball (I started in 7th grade). I now face one my biggest challenges - earning a medical degree. I refuse to give up this challenge, just like I refused to give up the others. I’d never give up on this dream, and when I do become a pediatrician, I’ll give my patients the trust and time my previous doctors did not give to me.