I personally aspire to become an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital of Special Surgery in New York City. My mom mentions to me that other people think that she has forced me to become that, because of the classic Asian stereotype. However, that is false. I am emotionally and physically invested, for I believe it is my purpose, more so, to assist others while doing something I love.
Growing up, my dad has taught me math. “You either know it, or you don’t”, he reiterates. That has amazed me ever since. The fact that math always has a definitive and clear answer, and that you cannot argue against it, is what I enjoy the most about it. Math has become a metaphor for the way I tackle problems. There are always solutions to your problems. In more ways than one, similar to math, you can use different methods. In the end, like the solutions to math problems, there will always be an answer. It may be difficult at first, but as with practice and experience, comes knowledge and efficiency.
Fast forward a few years later, I was met with a life changing experience. The patient was anesthetized. The physician, with keen sight and precise movement, operated on the patient’s head with ease, creating an incision with masterful beauty, like a painter with his strokes. Cell cultures and microscopes teemed the desk. I was a shadow that day, but that experience dictated my dreams to become a physician. That is where I belong.
