In my case, I though I had everything figured out, I had taken the MCAT twice before graduating. Luckily I am a planner so I quickly realized I wanted to enjoy other aspects of college that I had left behind because I was so focused on being a “pre-med student.” I remember one day during my sophomore year that I asked myself, If I were to graduate College, would I be satisfied with what I had done so far? The answer was NO, and at that moment I realized, there was so much more to college, and to life itself than just medicine. Medicine was my career not my life and now looking back as a future PA student, I am blessed to be able to say I have found a balance in my life and I will be truly happy doing what I love.
Because I was not satisfied with only being involved in pre-medical organizations or working as a Medical Assistant and constantly juggling volunteering at the hospital and other million activities I was involved with at the moment, I searched for something more. Something that would make me grow as an individual and as a person, something that would make me happy and that was for my own benefit and not of my career. I found a latin service based sorority, where the members were other driven latin women from various backgrounds. Because I wanted to have the full college experience, I went through the rigorous process of joining Kappa Delta Chi Sorority Incorporated and this forever changed my life. Having a sisterhood impacted my life as a college student in so many ways. It was my escape from being a pre-medical student, it was my support system, it was what shaped my values during college, and what motivated me to continue my fight with medicine regardless of what obstacles I encountered.
Something else I decided to seek during my last semester in college was traveling. After participating in a medical mission to Lima, Peru during my freshman year, I realized the world had so much to offer. Normally pre-medical students don’t have the opportunity to study abroad because we are so busy with such heavy course loads to make sure we can apply to medical school. In my case, I had many credits from dual enrollment and I did all my summers to make sure I was going to finish one semester ahead of time. It was January 2016 when I received the Benjamin Franklin Scholarship to volunteer abroad in Morocco. I worked in an orphanage taking care of newborns and children with physical and mental disabilities. Besides this being an amazing clinical experience and living with a host family, I had the opportunity to travel Morocco and backpack Europe with two other friends from FSU. This was by far one of the most memorable experiences of my life and where my desire for traveling and exploring the world began.
I had no Idea what I was going to do when I got back to the United States, all I knew was that my graduation was April 29th, but after that the future seemed unclear. Regardless I enjoyed every bit of my trip and did not think about my plans after graduation, that was something I was going to deal with when I got back.