1. I am a student majoring in Honors Biomedical Sciences, and my interest in healthcare came from noticing how personal medicine is. My first exposure to medicine was volunteering at Ben Taub Hospital in high school. I loved working in Labor and Delivery and OB Clinic, where I transported lab samples and ran urine tests. After that, I knew I wanted to explore obstetrics, so the next year, I interned at Memorial Hermann in OBED. There, I observed vaginal and cesarean deliveries, and learned about dilation checks and membrane rupture techniques. An experience that left a lasting impression was witnessing a neonatal death. The room, filled with urgency, fell into silence. After nearly thirty minutes of resuscitation, the team had to stop, and a nurse gently gave the mother a choice: to hold her baby, have a family member do so, or not see the baby at all. The mother’s sobs echoed through the room, and I realized medicine isn’t just saving lives, it’s also standing beside people in their most painful, human experiences. These moments are the ones I carry with me and the ones that remind me why I'm on the journey I am. 2. To me, empathy is the ability to understand another person’s experience, and it is what transforms medicine from a science into a service. Empathy, especially in healthcare, is recognizing that behind every symptom is a story. As someone who hopes to become an OB/GYN, empathy is the foundation of the kind of physician I aspire to be. In women’s health, strong emotions are often connected to physical experiences; pregnancy, loss, birth, and recovery all carry deep personal meaning. During my mentorship at Memorial Hermann, I learned how empathy is not always about what you can fix, but how you can be there when nothing else can be done. Empathy also means recognizing the unique circumstances that shape every patient’s health. At Ben Taub Hospital, I met patients who came from underserved communities, where language barriers, financial strain, and limited access to care made treatment more difficult. These experiences reminded me that medicine isn't one-size-fits-all. A human-centered approach means understanding how social, emotional, and cultural factors influence each patient’s experience, and adapting care to meet them where they are. In my future career, I want to carry that approach into every patient interaction. That means listening without interruption, explaining procedures in plain language, and acknowledging fears as valid rather than dismissing them. It means using research and data to identify medical solutions, as well as to improve communication and and access to care. I want my work to reflect that compassion and clinical knowledge are not separate skills, and that they are equally necessary to heal. From the past year, I had noticed a lack of research addressing disparities in women’s health, so I undertook a research project surveying OB/GYN professionals about the obstacles they face in providing the best care for patients. That experience helped me understand how systemic issues can limit patient well-being and motivated me to find solutions through both medicine and public health. As a freshman at the University of Houston now, I'm continuing to advocate for women's health and work with AMWA, the American Medical Women's Association, especially as a member of the Women's Advocacy Committee. Under AMWA, I will also present my research at an upcoming conference to bring awareness to the issues that exist in obstetrics. So for me, empathy is a clinical necessity. It shapes decisions and puts action behind words. To practice medicine with empathy is to honor the humanity that connects all of us, and that is the kind of physician I strive to be.