We could barely understand the man in the wheelchair. He was alone on a sidewalk beside a busy road in Kensington. Meeting him reminded me of another situation I had been in recently. My grandparents live in India, so my family sometimes visits to spend time with them. In the past few years, these trips have taken on a new dimension as my grandmother progresses through the stages of advanced Parkinson’s. On our most recent visit this past Christmas, she struggled to speak to us, and we could barely make out what she was saying. Some of my friends and I volunteered in Kensington, Philadelphia about four months later. The organization we were joining provides support to people dealing with homelessness in Kensington. We walked around the neighborhood in the cold, greeting people and offering them food and clothing. Many of them really appreciated having someone to talk to. The man in the wheelchair, however, needed something from us, but we could not understand what he was asking us for. We eventually realized that he wanted us to help him access an elevator at a nearby train station, allowing him to get indoors out of the cold. Although my grandmother’s situation is very different, I found that in both moments someone had a need that I could try to meet. Need. This word has shaped my plan for the future because it is a common thread in the things that I am passionate about. I want my career to help meet people’s needs, especially where those needs are most urgently felt. I am pursuing a double major in biology and theology, on the premed track. My plan is to acquire the knowledge and training necessary to be a doctor for people who have limited access to quality healthcare. But I also want to help meet a deeper need that I believe we all share — the need for compassion and understanding. I would be in a unique position to meet this universal need as a doctor. While biology allows me to prepare for med school, majoring in theology allows me to explore who we are as human beings, and how I can best help someone who is suffering. My education will ensure that I am ready to meet the needs of the people I will eventually be serving full-time. To prepare for this role right now, I have found ways to meet needs in my community and beyond. In high school, I traveled to Kentucky with my youth group to repair homes for people who are struggling to afford the necessary construction. Talking and laughing with the homeowners, and seeing the impact our work had for their homes, was a highlight of these trips for me. As a first year college student this year, I started volunteering at a local nursing home with other students from my university, and became a co-leader for the group in my second semester. I love getting to know the residents and listening to their stories. These experiences mean a lot to me because they allow me to meet a need that I see and make a difference to someone. For a person dealing with a disability and homelessness, that might mean a need for compassionate assistance. For a person struggling with illness, like my grandmother, it might mean needing a doctor who takes the time to listen. As I continue preparing for my future career through my experiences and education, I know that I want to develop a talent for understanding how I can best meet someone’s needs, both physically and emotionally.