My favorite scientist is Rachel Carson, who was a marine biologist, environmental scientist, and author. Her book Silent Spring (1962) highlighted the dangers of environmental pollution and warned against the use of chemical pesticides. It had far-reaching consequences, which include the nationwide ban on dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and other pesticides. The book even led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and sparked the global environmental movement.

To understand what it means to leave a legacy, it is helpful to observe how we remember people who have passed. For example, we remember Mother Theresa for her dedication to the poor, Albert Einstein for his contributions to science, and Martin Luther King Jr. for his pacifism and leadership in the Civil Rights Movement. On a smaller, more personal scale, I remember my grandmother for her humor and contagious smile and my neighbor for her kindness in allowing me to play in her sprinklers every summer. Although all of the aforementioned individuals are remembered differently, they all share the common attribute of leaving a lasting impact on other people’s lives. Thus, to leave a legacy is to change someone’s, anyone’s, life in a meaningful way that is remembered even after one’s death. We can think of a legacy as an intangible manifestation of your being that carries on your memory and how you made others feel. However, legacies cannot be ranked against one another in terms of worth. While it is true that one legacy, like Mother Theresa’s, may affect more people than another, for example, my grandmother’s, it does not mean that the former is more valuable. Instead, it simply means that Mother Theresa’s legacy has the quality of being bigger and reaching more people. I will form my legacy through my commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of my community as a dentist. I will work to remove pain, improve my patients’ confidence and quality of life, alleviate oral health disparities in underserviced communities, and more. Although small, my legacy will certainly leave a positive impact on other people’s lives.

This photo was taken on the day we brought Max home. He trotted up to a stuffed bear over twice his size and started rubbing his nose against it affectionately. It completely melted all of our hearts, and I'm sure it will melt yours as well!

Hello, I'm Sarah! My bold moment isn't as grand as the others submitted, but I've been practicing splits every day for a year now, and I finally nailed it! I'm proud of my achievement, which has taught me to not be afraid of trying something new; you can achieve anything you put your mind to. Next up: doing a cartwheel. 🤸🏻😬