Full Circle

This week I had my Final Presentation Night Speech. Don’t worry, it wasn't the real thing but the first practice in a long series of practices. For me practicing for my own final presentation night took me back to my first final presentation night in Independence High School. It was the first time I had really seen what exactly I got myself into. All of the new ISM students were scared either excited about what lay ahead. I was both.

That day I ended up coming earlier than most so I was able to see more people than others. I saw general surgery presentations, forensic psychology, computer programing and even ministry. For me, when I saw something like ministry I was shocked. That was the career that showed me the real intentions of ISM. ISM is not a class to take just to look good on college applications or for GPA. It is a class to truly find yourself and what you want to do. Obviously for a career like ministry, just putting ISM on an application is not really going to help. But showing what you learned from ISM and keeping those skills is really the part that will benefit you. But I wasn't sure I would ever develop these skills. The kids I spoke to seemed so in control and so sure in their steps. They knew so much and conducted themselves so well. I, at the time, was quieter and did not know that much about the career I was getting into. I wondered if I would ever get a mentor and even be able to create something that was even was comparable to what these kids had done. Thus the fear I had grew even stronger as the mentor ceremony occurred. Then there were individual presentations, which would bring on a new motion.

For the individual presentations, I went along with my friend Sahana to a neonatologist room. We both went to the neonatologist room because she wanted to do neotology and I wanted to do neonatal surgery. That’s when I saw the magic of ISM. I saw a mentor and student relationship that was so close yet professional, with mutual admiration. I saw a girl get so emotionally invested in her stints that she started crying when I asked her about the death of the patient. I saw a high school student take what she was given and create something spectacular. That is when I felt excitement It not longer felt impossible to me. Sure, the fear lived on, but the excitement truly overpowered me and that’s what kep me going throughout the year.

Looking back, it's funny to see how much things change. Both my friend and I ended up broadening our topics. She to pediatrics, me to pediatric surgery. I did struggle with getting a mentor, that part I was right about, but I ended up getting one anyway. I created and know more than most high school students entering the field do. I speak with a greater ease than ever before. My struggles did not disappear, but they lessened. My achievements grew and new ones were created. So much had changed and so much more will change. And I am more than ready for it.