Looking back my college journey has taken more twists and turned than I could have ever imagined. I think my journey could never ever be classified as "cookie cutter" or "sticking to plan" and you know what I think about that? THANK GOD. I came into college with the dream of being a rural doctor that cares for people in communities that are not lucky enough to be surrounded by hospitals and clinics and that dream still holds true today. How I am accomplishing that goal, though, has been anything but what my four-year plan I made freshman year predicted. I entered my first chemistry class thinking, "Okay, I can handle this". It wasn't all that bad and if I tried hard enough I could keep myself interested. When the reality of the science major I had chosen started to hit me was my sophomore year. The information became more and more obscure, the classes became more and more competitive, and the stakes only got higher every day. When I looked around I knew something was missing, though. I was doing fine in all of my classes (which was a rare feat in that demanding year of college) but something more as missing. I had my goal set in my mind but I didn't feel fulfilled. That fulfillment came when I decided to check off the box next to my fine art credit. Me being the efficient cold product of biology that I was I asked around for what people said would be the easiest and least time consuming of all the classes offered that semester. The general consensus was that "Beginning Acting" was my best bet. I went into that class thinking of it only as that thing that was taking time away from Biochem. Man did that change. I discovered what I had been missing the whole time I had been at school. Expression. Art. Creativity. Sure you get some of that in the sciences but not the way you get it in the arts. For the first time in years, I was creating again. I was interacting with people and making myself vulnerable. I was enjoying something and being forced to partake in that enjoyment three days a week even when I would rather be slaving over my biochemistry notes. You know what I learned from the experience even more so than about my inherent need for expressing myself? I learned that no pre-med should ever feel the need to apologize for not being in love with science. You should never feel ashamed to admit that being in the lab can feel suffocating and the thought of doing one more practice problem might make you vomit. In the end, the science classes we take are getting us closer to a higher goal and it is okay to realize that. You are allowed to love something other than your textbooks. The sooner you can realize that the sooner you can allow yourself to do something that you love on the way to being able to serve the people you love. I am proud to say that I am now a Biology major with minors in chemistry and theater I am happy that I am doing what I love.