Post by Sydney Glasco

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠” -𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢 This is a quote from 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝐴𝑖𝑟, a memoir I recently read. The doctor tells the story of his life: his upbringing, his medical training, and—near the end of his neurosurgery residency—his terminal cancer diagnosis. It offers brutally honest insight into the medical field. To me, the most inspiring thing about this quote is that he wrote it at a time in his life where nothing felt fair. At the age of thirty-six, his entire career was ahead of him. Despite this, he chose to encourage others to strive toward a better life as he reached his death. This book gave me perspective, and that’s something I’m constantly seeking to gain. I highly recommend it! Vanderbilt University Auburn University Clemson University East Tennessee State University University of Tennessee, Knoxville Emory University Wake Forest University The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of Georgia University of Southern California The University of Alabama