At three in the morning the phone rang. A trembling voice told me the news that my friend had slipped into a coma due to an inoperable brain aneurysm. A few days later, her family decided to stop her life support after confirming that she was completely brain dead. The fact that nothing could be done for her nowadays, despite all our technological advances, was a great shock to me. Also, the fact that he was younger than me made me realize how short and precious every life is. His death inspired me to pursue medicine so that one day, others in similarly desperate situations would have a chance to survive. My dream is that one day I will help bring medicine closer to curing someone with a currently incurable disease. To determine whether or not clinical medicine was the right career for me, I began shadowing Dr. Richard Turner in the ER. Through my experiences with him, I learned that medicine is a problem-solving process. As I watched, he would take a patient's history and try to piece together the correct diagnosis by deciding which scenarios were more likely than others. I was drawn to the dynamic nature of each patient's diagnosis and the need for an open mind. My hobby of flying has taught me to look at everything in life with a new perspective and evaluate the situation from as many angles as possible. Watching Dr. Turner confirmed my perception of a medical career and the nature of the work involved. Since I love puzzles and problems, the problem-solving aspect also increased my desire to become a doctor. Additionally, I am interested in expanding the field of medicine through research. I began working with Dr. Tyrone Hayes after taking his...half of the paper......the opportunity to act as a triage nurse measuring the weight and blood pressure of our 1600 patients and seeing firsthand person how difficult it must be to receive quality medical care in their country. Many walked for hours and then waited to be seen in the rain. For them, healthcare is more of a privilege than a right. This appears to be true even in the United States, where the uninsured are being turned away from many hospitals and into hospitals that often lack the resources for expensive surgeries. This experience inspired me to serve the most disadvantaged. My passion for medicine was fueled and tested through these experiences. I believe there is a lot to improve in terms of equality and treatment. I hope that through my future work and study, others will not have to face a similar situation to me, but will have hope and promise for a better and healthier life.