#AspireToInspire
Second round of exams has finally come and gone and boy was it painful. Everyone told us that it was downhill after first block but it sure was a lie haha. We did have less than 120 lectures to study but it was nonetheless a lot of material. I have come to the conclusion now that from here on forth it will never be downhill nor will it be easy. Coming into this second round of exams I was under pressure as my grades from first block were not the best. I felt defeated, lost, overwhelmed, and so un-motivated. Nonetheless, reflecting back in all the struggles and hurdles in my life, i knew that a storm is always momentarily and that when the night seems the darkest, it is because the sun is about to shine in your life. Hence, I did what only a great fighter can do, “float like a butterfly, [and] sting like a bee!”
Muhammad Ali, considered one of the greatest fighters of all time, once said, that “Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is un-even”. Thus, I knew that if I wanted to over come my opponents, I needed to conquer fear and give it my all. The last weeks prior to exams I had no life. i literally studied about 19 hrs a day and during exam week, I was sleeping about 2-3 hrs per day. It sounds crazy as most advisors always say that you need rest, sleep, etc. but how can one rest and sleep in peace when you need to win a war? While the enemy is sleeping is when he is most vulnerable, hence I fought the good battle and in the end I came out victorious. I have gotten the best grades I have yet to get in my medical school career. I have learned to conquer fear, I have learned to fall and get back up on my own. I have learned that you can loose a battle but not the war.
My experience so far this year has been extraordinarily unique. Medical school has taught me to be strong, it has shown me my weakness and made vulnerable, yet in doing so, it has allowed me to polish these weakness and has made me stronger than ever. In this same manner, I do have to say that I cannot take full credit. I have had the best study partner, the best friend, and the best brother ever along my side. I have come to realize that your true best friends are made in the halls of medical school and in the wards. Whenever I have felt unmotivated, my friend Andrew has motivated me and pushed me to keep on forth. Hence, today I want to give a big shout out to him. If it wasn’t for his patience in tutoring me in neuroscience, I would not have been able to conquer it. I cannot emphasize how importance it is to have friends who are at your level or above, friends that can make you, shape you and elevate you. For as iron sharpens iron, so does a friend, sharpens a friend!