What Are Your Goals?

      Now that I had received most of the information about the process to become a physician, my mentor Nick Cozzi and I dove in a little deeper to talk about setting goals. Nick explained to me that setting goals is an extremely important aspect of medical school, and that it helps the candidates to understand exactly what they should know by a certain point in time.
     Goal-setting techniques are not just used in medical school, however. Goal-setting is something that is used almost everywhere. Individuals have their personal goals, whether they were goals that were set consciously or not. Setting goals is one of the most important strategies to keep a person motivated toward achieving success. They keep our mind focused on the outcome that we strive to obtain and make us brainstorm on how we can obtain it.
     Nick and I agreed that it would be helpful to me if I set a few goals for myself in order to become familiar with the process. They could be any kind of goals: personal goals, academic goals, future goals, etc. Nick said that when I come up with these goals, I will present them to him, and he will assist me in any way possible with fully achieving them. I came up with a few goals, which I will gladly share:

1. To work toward raising my GPA in order to be invited to the National Honors Society next year.
2. To listen more, and talk less.
3. To research and visit colleges in order to get a better idea of where I am interested in going, and how hard I need to work to get there.
4. To get involved in the community more through volunteering and service.
5. To "shadow" a physician, observing an average day on the job.
   
    Now that I have set these goals, I am extremely motivated to work hard so that I may achieve them. I created each of these goals in order to better myself and improve my work ethic. I highly encourage my peers to consider creating a few goals like I did, and following them through until they are achieved.

A Whole New Perspective

     Ever since the young age of 9 or 10, I have known exactly what I would like to do with my life, something that is extremely rare at such a young childhood age. Even as a junior in high school, I receive reactions of shock and sometimes disbelief when I explain to people that I want to be a pediatric neurosurgeon. I have found this career to be thought of as far-fetched and unrealistic. Most people believe that you have to be a genius to achieve this, and I am not nearly a genius. Sometimes these reactions and inaccurate perceptions lead to waning confidence in myself, and I often worried, "What if they are right? What if I don't have what it takes to be a neurosurgeon? What if I'm setting my sights too big?"
    The truth is that I did not know much about the process I will have to go through while I am on the road to becoming a pediatric neurosurgeon. The extent of what I knew was what I learned from watching Greys Anatomy. One thing I knew for sure was that it will not be easy. This is probably the main reason why I allowed people to lower my confidence. I was uneducated. I truly did not know if I am capable of having this career in the future, but I sure knew that I wanted to.
    When Ms. Brusky explained that I had the opportunity of participating in a mentorship program, I became ecstatic. I was finally about to learn from a real person who could provide me with the proper education and help me determine whether this is really a life for me.
     Nick Cozzi, a first year medical student at Central Michigan University who has a major in Neuroscience, gave me all the answers I was looking for and more. Nick is an alumnus of Marist High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a notably hardworking person. Upon our first phone conversation, once we introduced ourselves, we discovered that we are quite similar. We both come from supportive families, we are extremely motivated and dedicated, and we received the same high school education. This is something that I found extremely comforting, because it made me realize that if Nick is able to get to this point in his life, then so am I. He walked me through every step of medical school, described the work load, gave me advice on how to stay confident, and connected me to volunteer opportunities that I might be interested in. He explained everything so thoroughly, providing me with similes for complete understanding, causing every doubt in my mind to  vanish. The best piece of advice that Nick gave to me was "If somebody tells you that you can't do something, prove them wrong, and prove yourself right." By the end of our conversation, I was instilled with determination and excitement for my future. I am eternally grateful for this new teacher, role model, and friend, and I cannot wait for our next conversation.