Healthcare has always been a part of my life. Growing up, my mother survived her battle with uterine cancer and went on to be her father’s caretaker after his leukemia diagnosis. Being the youngest of two siblings, my mom took me everywhere. I went with my mother and grandfather to countless doctor’s appointments, chemotherapy sessions, and procedures. I learned how to decipher lab results, blood pressure readings, and how to fill out intake forms. I did all of this up until my grandfather passed when I was 15. I learned all of this, and it never left me. I tried to leave the world of medicine behind and pursue the arts, even attending a performing arts high school. I knew deep down that’s not what I wanted to do. Coming from a low income area, I thought pursuing science and the medical field was for people of more privileged backgrounds. After years of studying the arts I was left unsatisfied, and I found myself drawn back to science and medicine. I changed my major three times. I struggled adjusting to rigorous STEM courses. I struggled even staying in school after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at just 19. My diagnosis made me push myself even harder. I wanted to understand what was happening to my body. I wanted to understand what had happened to my mother and my grandfather. I wanted to gain the knowledge my wonderful doctors had so that I could help people as well. I pushed myself to finally complete my Associates Degree in Biology. I pushed myself to be accepted into California State University Long Beach. I pushed myself to become a monitor technician at Kaiser Permanente. I pushed myself to become a CNA. I pushed myself to become a Board Certified Autism Technician with Center for Autism and Related Disorders. I have pushed and pushed and here I stand still pushing and pursuing. I am grateful to be studying at a wonderful four-year university. I am grateful to have found a research lab to participate in, where I study the morphological plasticity of sand dollar larvae. I am grateful for the clients I provide ABA therapy for, and for the growth I get to see because of the services I provide. I am grateful for the patients whose hearts I watch over every night. I am grateful to be where I am because I pushed myself. I am in the midst of applying to Post Baccalaureate programs and graduating with my Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Cell Biology and Physiology with a minor in Chemistry. I dream of the day I match into a residency program. My experience with healthcare, both personal and professional, drive me to be the type physician I have encountered over and over again. I want to pass on the patience, compassion, and knowledge that the physicians around me have shown me. I want to be the physician that saves someone’s mother or delays a grandfather’s cancer progression or makes a young girl less afraid to take on life with a new diagnosis. I know I can be and I know I will be.