Why I Took Up Medicine (and other Frustrations in Life)
I have a confession to make. I never wanted to be a doctor in the beginning. As far as I can remember, I wanted to be a scientist. When I was in elementary, I have always been fascinated with science and space and experiments and research and all those sort of stuff. I was always delighted by stuff related to the subject. My first set of books I received as a gift was the set of Young People's science encyclopedia. When the years transitioned to the age of computers, the first CD-ROM I bought for my PC was a set of Grolier's science encyclopedia.
However, while I was falling in love with science, I was not really faithful to her. Besides Science, I was deeply in love with The Arts, particularly poetry and prose. When I was barely 8 years old, I would "write" books, turning old notebooks into either a "comic book" or a "pocket book". I used to keep them in bundles, writing stories in my not-so-perfect english or drawing up comic book characters with my not-so-artistic sketches. Poetry has become an extension of myself, a cryptic expression of suppressed sentiments.
I have a confession to make. I never wanted to be a doctor in the beginning. As far as I can remember, I wanted to be a scientist. When I was in elementary, I have always been fascinated with science and space and experiments and research and all those sort of stuff. I was always delighted by stuff related to the subject. My first set of books I received as a gift was the set of Young People's science encyclopedia. When the years transitioned to the age of computers, the first CD-ROM I bought for my PC was a set of Grolier's science encyclopedia.
However, while I was falling in love with science, I was not really faithful to her. Besides Science, I was deeply in love with The Arts, particularly poetry and prose. When I was barely 8 years old, I would "write" books, turning old notebooks into either a "comic book" or a "pocket book". I used to keep them in bundles, writing stories in my not-so-perfect english or drawing up comic book characters with my not-so-artistic sketches. Poetry has become an extension of myself, a cryptic expression of suppressed sentiments.
But there was a time when I abandoned this love affair and focused more on the logic and reason and science. When I was told that "writing" won't get you that far or would not even earn you the needed income you would have, I did not take writing seriously. But science, well, the fascination has never ceased to exist.
It was my knowledge of science that gave my confidence. For me, to gain enough mastery of this difficult subject must be truly an achievement so I told myself, "If I could do that, then I could do anything." And thus my confidence extended to other aspects of my life. I developed the confidence in public speaking, in competitions, even in situations where I was given responsibilities of leading a group or team. Ironically, this self-confidence found its fulfillment in the field of a former love: the arts. It appeared I could not really escape the clasp of a lover's embrace, especially the one I have abandoned for shallow reasons.
And then came second year high school where I met my Biology Teacher, Mrs. Myrna Juplo. Since my first class with her, she has become an eternal mentor. Her way of teaching the subject has opened my eyes into the drama that is Life Science. I was so fixated with biology that even until now I still kept my high school biology textbook. By the end of the school year, I told myself I should be a biologist and maybe--just maybe---become a medical doctor. Mrs. Juplo then, while she admittingly saw the potential of me becoming a doctor, thought I would be better as a Lasallian Brother. Even after I graduated high school, she was really telling me that I should be a religious instead.
But by the time I was to graduate from high school, I was neither wanting to be a religious or a doctor. I was then wanting to become a lawyer. I felt then that the skills I have developed, through self-confidence, have brought me to a road that led to becoming a lawyer. By the time I was graduating from high school, I was involved in various organizations, joined various competitions, attended various conferences and seminars both local, national and international and got involved with community work that has broadened my perspective in life. My involvement in Campus Peer Ministry, Boys and Girls Week (where I was elected as 4th Boy Councilor), World Futures Studies Federation (held in Brisbane, Australia) and being a youth president in my purok, all of these exposed me to one thing which pulled me out of this narcissistic relationship with science: service.
Although I was applying for pre-med in WVSU and even in UP-Miag-ao where my cousin Mae used to teach, I was thinking of enrolling for pol.sci here in USLS. By some stroke of fate, I was made to believe that USLS was not yet accepting pol.sci first year students. I got hold of the wrong catalogue of courses, which was actually a catalogue of courses for the previous year, the year when USLS was not yet accepting pol.sci first year students. So, I decided to enroll for biology instead.
And that is where I started my road to medicine. There were opportunities when I was given the chance to make the choice, of taking the detour and proceed to pol. sci. or take a different road and study abroad.
But somehow, I decided to follow this road and hope that the God Who Turns Things Around shall make good fortune out of the wrong choices.
However, while I was falling in love with science, I was not really faithful to her. Besides Science, I was deeply in love with The Arts, particularly poetry and prose. When I was barely 8 years old, I would "write" books, turning old notebooks into either a "comic book" or a "pocket book". I used to keep them in bundles, writing stories in my not-so-perfect english or drawing up comic book characters with my not-so-artistic sketches. Poetry has become an extension of myself, a cryptic expression of suppressed sentiments.
I have a confession to make. I never wanted to be a doctor in the beginning. As far as I can remember, I wanted to be a scientist. When I was in elementary, I have always been fascinated with science and space and experiments and research and all those sort of stuff. I was always delighted by stuff related to the subject. My first set of books I received as a gift was the set of Young People's science encyclopedia. When the years transitioned to the age of computers, the first CD-ROM I bought for my PC was a set of Grolier's science encyclopedia.
However, while I was falling in love with science, I was not really faithful to her. Besides Science, I was deeply in love with The Arts, particularly poetry and prose. When I was barely 8 years old, I would "write" books, turning old notebooks into either a "comic book" or a "pocket book". I used to keep them in bundles, writing stories in my not-so-perfect english or drawing up comic book characters with my not-so-artistic sketches. Poetry has become an extension of myself, a cryptic expression of suppressed sentiments.
But there was a time when I abandoned this love affair and focused more on the logic and reason and science. When I was told that "writing" won't get you that far or would not even earn you the needed income you would have, I did not take writing seriously. But science, well, the fascination has never ceased to exist.
It was my knowledge of science that gave my confidence. For me, to gain enough mastery of this difficult subject must be truly an achievement so I told myself, "If I could do that, then I could do anything." And thus my confidence extended to other aspects of my life. I developed the confidence in public speaking, in competitions, even in situations where I was given responsibilities of leading a group or team. Ironically, this self-confidence found its fulfillment in the field of a former love: the arts. It appeared I could not really escape the clasp of a lover's embrace, especially the one I have abandoned for shallow reasons.
And then came second year high school where I met my Biology Teacher, Mrs. Myrna Juplo. Since my first class with her, she has become an eternal mentor. Her way of teaching the subject has opened my eyes into the drama that is Life Science. I was so fixated with biology that even until now I still kept my high school biology textbook. By the end of the school year, I told myself I should be a biologist and maybe--just maybe---become a medical doctor. Mrs. Juplo then, while she admittingly saw the potential of me becoming a doctor, thought I would be better as a Lasallian Brother. Even after I graduated high school, she was really telling me that I should be a religious instead.
But by the time I was to graduate from high school, I was neither wanting to be a religious or a doctor. I was then wanting to become a lawyer. I felt then that the skills I have developed, through self-confidence, have brought me to a road that led to becoming a lawyer. By the time I was graduating from high school, I was involved in various organizations, joined various competitions, attended various conferences and seminars both local, national and international and got involved with community work that has broadened my perspective in life. My involvement in Campus Peer Ministry, Boys and Girls Week (where I was elected as 4th Boy Councilor), World Futures Studies Federation (held in Brisbane, Australia) and being a youth president in my purok, all of these exposed me to one thing which pulled me out of this narcissistic relationship with science: service.
Although I was applying for pre-med in WVSU and even in UP-Miag-ao where my cousin Mae used to teach, I was thinking of enrolling for pol.sci here in USLS. By some stroke of fate, I was made to believe that USLS was not yet accepting pol.sci first year students. I got hold of the wrong catalogue of courses, which was actually a catalogue of courses for the previous year, the year when USLS was not yet accepting pol.sci first year students. So, I decided to enroll for biology instead.
And that is where I started my road to medicine. There were opportunities when I was given the chance to make the choice, of taking the detour and proceed to pol. sci. or take a different road and study abroad.
But somehow, I decided to follow this road and hope that the God Who Turns Things Around shall make good fortune out of the wrong choices.
Comments