Aiming for a life well lived by helping others

In one decade, it is hard to keep track of the knowledge gained, memories made and relationships built. This vast amount of time, filled with countless experiences made day by day, makes my future seem unpredictable. As of now, I am preoccupied with looming deadlines, test dates and a daily mountain of school work. Sitting at a desk and typing this story, I can only imagine what my life will be like.

In a decade, I know my life will have changed drastically: I will have completed my undergraduate degree from a university (not trying to enforce the Saratoga stereotype, but I hope a good one). If all goes according to plan, I will have completed medical school, residency and fellowship and I will have a stable job as a doctor.

I will be that guy walking around a hospital or clinic, seeing 25 patients every day and finally coming back home afterward to a nice relaxing couple of hours of paperwork. And though I say it like it is a bad thing, which it probably is, I know that it will be worth it 60 years from now knowing I spent my life helping others in one of the best ways on the planet.

In terms of where I will be living, I don’t really know. But I do know at first, right after my college years, I will have to go through a roommate system before saving enough money to move into my own apartment.

If costs for living in a Bay Area are affordable, I’ll try to be here, but if not, I’ll explore another metropolitan area, perhaps New York, Boston or Chicago. As a kid from California, I’m ready to experience colder climates for at least some part of my life. Living in a cramped and populated city means that I will have to use public transportation. Now, I know that most people might not mind using public transit and have gotten used to it after years of taking it, but as a kid who has grown up in the suburbs, I do know it will take at least a few months before I can navigate smoothly through the labyrinth that is a big city.

I will also keep in close contact with the friends I have right now, visiting them from time to time and maybe even settling down in the same area as them. We will still be poking each other on Facebook and spamming each other on chats as we do today. And, having three cousins in Saratoga right now, I will definitely keep in contact with them (and I can’t forget my four other cousins).

As time progresses, we will only get busier and the frequent visits we might make to each other’s houses will slowly dwindle, or even stop at some point. But I know we will make it a priority to catch up between weeks of not seeing each other and faintly continue this “tradition.”

In all, I hope to live a good, healthy, humble and prosperous life. I want to be a person who lives life to its fullest and finds joy in the simplest of things. However cliché this last part might sound, I want to spend my life helping others — whether that be through working as a doctor or through the countless opportunities present for charity work.