My Unusual Path to Med School | PART 3
The Final Options
Here I am. At the end of my senior year with three options.
Number 1 – Go to medical school like everyone wants you to and like you are supposed to.
Number 2 – Go teach English in France to middle school and high school students because you’ve always wanted to visit Paris.
Number 3 – Go teach English at the Medical University of Warsaw with the Fulbright Program to stand out with this prestigious scholarship.
Having options can be both a gift and a burden. It is amazing to know that you have so many opportunities as a young person to choose your path and experience as many different things as you can. At the same time, the process of making a decision can be daunting, exhausting, but also character-building. It can reveal very quickly what your true desires and values are based on where your gut pulls you.
The Decision-Making Process
I struggled a lot during this time to make a decision. I had three amazing options and I had no idea what to do (well my gut knew all along). So, I spoke with my parents, with my friends, but most importantly my mentors. I visited all of my favorite professors over the past four years and looked for insight.
I knew I wasn’t going to base my final decision on the words of anyone else, but it was helpful to see different perspectives from professionals who had built successful careers and had lived through so many more things than I had. Of course, they all advised me different things based on their views.
But, interestingly, all of them agreed on one thing, I should postpone medical school.
They were right. The voices resonated in my head very clearly. I didn’t feel ready just yet to continue down the path of medical education. I needed time to travel abroad, to experience life outside of university, and to truly reflect on who I am and what I want my life to look like. I knew that I was not ready and that this wasn’t the right time for me to start. And that is okay.
I remember seeking advice on Student Doctor Network, a discussion forum for premedical students. People were quite negative towards me when I asked if I should decline medical school and how that would affect my chances in the future as a re-applicant. They told me I would be blacklisted, that I would never get into medical school ever again, that I was wasting an opportunity that others would die for, that I was selfish, and it went on and on. It was hard to tune these people out, but I am so glad that I did.
If there is one important thing you can take away from my experience, it is that YOU are the one living your life. Not someone on an anonymous forum, not your family, not your friends, nor your professors. You have to take risks in order to learn what you want out of your life.
The Final Decision
At first, I wanted to defer medical school for a year while I go abroad with Fulbright. This would have been the most ideal and safest option, so I started inquiring with my institution regarding the possibilities of deferral. Unfortunately, they weren’t very supportive. In light of this information, I felt even more of a push to postpone medical school. This did not feel like the right time or place for me. If they weren’t going to support my decision to take on this amazing opportunity, then I didn’t feel like this was the institution that would help me grow in the future.
At this point, without much hesitation, I emailed the medical university and informed them that I was withdrawing my acceptance.
A few days later, on a whim, my mom pushed me to start a Princeton Review Course for the MCAT, so I could re-take it for a third, and hopefully final time. I had refrained previously from taking any prep courses because I didn’t have the money to pay for it, but my mom said she would help me out. Honestly, I had given up on the MCAT and come to terms with my score, but because she pushed a bit, and because I knew that my potential was much more than what my scores had reflected, I signed up.
After 12 weeks of strict and disciplined studying (something I had never done for my previous attempts), I took the MCAT for the third time. Three days later, I packed my bags and flew to Poland to start my time as an English Teaching Assistant at the Medical University of Warsaw.
GAP Year
Since then, I have never looked back or had regrets about making this decision. My Fulbright year in Poland was a time of growth. I felt like for the first time in my life I was truly and genuinely happy. I became significantly more open and extroverted, I made connections with so many people around the world and I finally had the chance to travel. I visited over 13 countries in the span of 9 months.
Because I loved my time in Europe so much, I ended up living in Poland for two years and then moved to France to work for another year.
Initially, Fulbright started out as a way for me to boost my resume and make me stand out for the next application cycle, but what started off as 9 months abroad, turned into 3 amazing gap years.
