This semester I grasped an opportunity to apply to a fellowship that takes you abroad to shadow the magicians of medicine: doctors. Along with my letter of acceptance, however, came a realization that I would learn much more from this experience as a byproduct of what it intends to teach me in the first place. With the insight I will gain from the euphoric experience, and the knowledge that I will be able to put to use, I know for sure I’ll leave smarter than when I came. But I also know that I will leave with more confidence, more independence, and more self-awareness.

I am an extremely family-oriented person. My family members are the closest and dearest to my heart. As each semester of being a student with high hopes of being accepted into medical school passes, the stress load increases as does the number of organizations I become a part of, and the number of obligations I have to adhere to. The one constancy that I have in my life however, is my home in Staten Island. I know I can leave my dorm at any second, and come home to a kitchen filled with food, eyes filled with worries, and an atmosphere full of love. I have traveled to many places before, sat in the cushioned seats of many different airplanes, but I always had my family's guidance nearby to support me.

This December, however, I am embarking on a journey for one. I am traveling to Spain by myself, independently finding my way from Madrid to Guadalajara, and independently existing for what I hope will be an incredible week and a half of my life. I will be spending New Years, which I have celebrated a consecutive 19 years with my family, roaming the streets of Guadalajara with dreamy eyes, and a saturated brain. I will wake up early and attend to my shifts at the hospital, where I hope to see everything that I have ever dreamed of witnessing, and where I hope to help with everything inside of me, to make at least a subtle difference somewhere away from my home. I will meet brilliant people, gregarious and talented students, and become one with the nature at my new destination. It will only last for a little while, but the change it will stimulate within my disposition will last a lifetime.