I realized recently that life is a long gradual process of giving up. Elder people seem so wise because they have lived so much of life, but in reality what they have done is lose hope. But the key—the way to win is to fight that urge to give up, not because of ignorance and living a fake, gilded life, but because you truly have faith. I’ve realized that this blind belief when you have no proof that there is a reason for everything, and this wholesome trust in a Greater Being is what defines faith.
I come from a lineage of women in India who have saved their hope for posterity. My grandma wanted to be a doctor. She always scored the highest in her school and loved learning. However, just as she was graduating, her mother fell sick and she had to attend to her full time. Shortly after, her parents had her married so that she could be financially stable. She then raised my dad and sent him to the United States for higher education, hoping for his success.
My mother also grew up in India and witnessed destitute all around her. The streets of India are filled with beggars and people who are so dirt poor that they are disregarded as humans. My mom dreamed of going into political science and actually helping these people. As she grew older, she became more and more aware of the dirty corrupt politics in place and became as fervent as ever to make a change. However, being an Indian woman she had to go to an all girls’ college close to home that only offered majors in Literature and History. Right after graduating college, her parents married her off to my dad so that they may have a successful future in the United States. Once here, she didn’t care much about politics because to her, Americans had it good. There weren’t beggars on the streets and everyone was treated as a citizen. So, she adopted the suburban mindset and a solution to poverty seemed out of her reach.
I chose to study medicine because I want to directly improve the lives of people every day. However, attending college and being surrounded by pre-meds and interacting with doctors shows me the field has lost its valor. I’m sorry for generalizing, but many doctors cheat their patients by running unnecessary labs and tests to increase their salary. The image of a doctor now is someone living in a big house and driving a European car. Plus most medications are just an impersonal quick fix. I wanted to drop out of pre-med and do something more personal, but my parents will not hear of it anymore. For this reason I choose to pursue rural medicine. Being the first woman in the family who can have a career she grew up dreaming about, I have a great responsibility.
I’ve experienced some of this giving up that comes with the years. Even though people always say current society is screwed, I realize each civilization had their problems. Although morals are loose and selfish now, we are better in terms of things like child labor. Society was never ideal. And it can never be fully fixed. Our job isn’t to create a utopian world. Our job is to try. And even when problems persist—which they will—the key is to keep the faith. And allow that faith to motivate you to reach your potential in fulfilling your duty to making the world a better place. Even if it never fully will be.