In the entire Spanish language, this phrase is perhaps my favorite: “dar a luz”, meaning “to give birth”. If one translates this idiom word-for-word, it means quite literally to “give them - the child - to the light”. What a wonderful thing it is to give one’s child to the light of life, each contributing their own flickering flame to the world. Their lights fueling our spirits. Their lights sharing hope. Their lights changing the world. Each child, no matter how early developed, has an incredible impact by just existing. Just think of the goodness that might come when they are given the opportunity to share their intrinsic lights with us, their family, friends, and strangers who await them. At the very core, this is what drives my passion for life. I truly did not know how enamored I was with life until I was eleven. The vivid memory of little-me in the California Science Museum is the moment I continuously return to. That day, I found myself gravitating towards the biology exhibits, particularly one wherein I was introduced to eleven incredibly preserved embryos and fetuses. The exhibit was rightly called “The Human Miracle” - every beautifully intricate cell contributing to the greater being we know to be a child. By the end, I had seen how a human life develops in the span of nine months. I left with the memory of an unborn child sucking his thumb in the downward position, ready to embrace the world. It was so fascinating that I wanted to know more. Over the years, I would learn that a child’s heart begins beating around three weeks of gestation, before his mother even knows she is pregnant. At ten weeks, he is already fully formed - every large organ and small fingerprint in place. As I began to take higher level biology courses in high school, I voluntarily did my own research and documented all these “fun facts” in a journal that I keep to this day. I even pursued my academic inspirations by finding articles on successful fetoscopic, or in-womb, surgeries then sharing them with my Human Anatomy class. Out of all of these, I find this fact most fascinating: some of an unborn child’s cells will remain in his mother beyond pregnancy. Scientists have discovered that when mothers experience traumatic attacks on their health, these very cells supply cellular aid for the sake of preserving the her health. As if the bond between mother and child could not be more strong, science has only confirmed with confidence what we already know to be true: unborn life is innately good and worth preserving. I am filled with pure fascination; it inspires my dream of serving mothers, families, and the unborn as an Obstetric Gynecologist. I will be present in those rooms when children see their first rays of light. I will see family members meet each other for the first time, tears of unspeakable joy flowing down. And because it is inescapable, I will also see families break. I will see tears of loss. But then again, what is loss if not love truly present? In all of these moments, I will be a witness to the goodness of life. To the goodness of giving these children a chance of sharing their lights.