Gateway to Honors

On one fateful trip to Europe, I discovered my life's mission.

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I love ice cream. Actually, love is an understatement. I adore ice cream, and if I could, I would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. However, I never had the privilege of eating ice cream for every meal, because my family always had a strict one-ice-cream-per-day rule. All that changed one day on a tour of Germany with a youth orchestra. My sister and I were shopping in a mall in Berlin, when our conductor offered to buy us ice cream. Of course we accepted the offer and carried on with our day. Later we passed the window of a tiny ice cream parlor tucked into one stone wall of a church. The ice cream was offered at a great deal, with one euro per scoop. My sister and I decided we could not possibly pass by without getting any today, our last day in the city. We loaded up on luscious ice cream cones and headed back to the house of our host mom. That night our host mom asked us to play music for her. We got out our instruments and played several duets. She seemed so grateful that we played, and she happily pulled out a carton of ice cream. My sister and I looked at each other with laughing eyes and ate our third helping of ice cream for the day. And that was that. Three servings of ice cream, some fun duets, and a very grateful host mom. Or was that all? The next morning our host mom left early for work, but above a breakfast table laden with treats we found a note: “Thank you for the best time of my life.” My mind was swirling. WE had created the best time of her life, simply by playing a little music? I could hardly comprehend her words. I had been simply having fun, enjoying ice cream, and making music with my sister! I was overwhelmed with excitement about the impact we had made. Little did I know, the joy that I had felt from reading her note would plant a seed that would grow into a great passion to bring happiness and relief to others. It was on that trip that I first learned the incredible difference a little kindness and love can bring to people’s lives, and since then, I have chosen to dedicate my life to a mission of providing that same love and joy to many more people through medicine.