The Journey Begins...

Getting accepted to medical school is one thing, but having to convince brown parents to let you go is a whole another level. Can you imagine a brown girl asking her parents to let her move across the world all alone to pursue her dreams? HAHA! That's the first response I see my parents giving me, and this is how it all went down.

To start off this was probably one of the hardest decision that I had to make; moving away from home, and it was not just moving to another city or province; it was literally moving oceans away. I have never lived without my family before and just the thought of leaving them behind crushed my soul. For a long time I could not gather the courage to speak to my parents about it because I do come from a family where girls are not allowed to leave home like that, it is extremely rare. So I decided to get some help by talking to my sister first, it was much easier to explain to her than my parents. Once I was able to have an open conversation with my sister where I laid everything out to her, she began to understand me and the decision I had made. I showed her all the homework I had done, told her about the good and bad things, basically everything I told myself I shared that information with her. When she was able to see how prepared and confident I was, she helped me speak to my parents and helped me convince them.

After endless fights, arguments, moments of weakness, and going back and forth my family finally got on board, and once that happened things started to feel more real, tickets got booked, packing started, and next thing you know I am on my way to the airport. There were a lot of mixed feelings, emotions, doubt, and moments of second-guessing myself. The moment I started saying bye to everyone I was holding back tears and trying to stay strong for my family, I tried to laugh and make the situation light but inside I was completely broken. As I walked out the front door with my nephew crying behind me, I was fighting with myself with every step I took and as soon I was in the car I broke down. There were feelings that I had never felt before and they are intense, I felt like I was never going to see my family, friends, my house, my room or even this street ever again. 3 weeks later as I am finally able to write this I still choke when I recall those moments.

However, I was extremely lucky to have a friend who came all the way here with me to help me settle into my new life. She helped me through my emotional times and moments of weakness and second-guessing my decision. The process became a little smoother because I had a friend beside me and I honestly believe if I were to come here alone for the first time it would have been much harder for me, but I was lucky to have her beside me. Another good thing happened was that before I started school my friend and I traveled a through Europe, we got to visit places that were on our bucket list. Being able to do that before jumping into medical school and starting a new life was very beneficial for me even though it was a very short time it made a huge difference.

This was the first step of the long journey I have ahead, and so far I can say I do not regret my decision, and it's because I have been hanging onto the excitement as tightly as I can; I know this is just the start and the next steps are going to challenge me in every way. In order for me to get through those tough times, I have to hold onto this feeling. I am able to do that because of the amazing support system I have. I am blessed to have a family who supports me so much and is there for me every step of the way. I am thankful for the loving and caring friends I have who have unconditional love for me and are there for me whenever I need them.

Also, this is my first blog post so please bare with me as I figure this blogging world out. I will be writing about my the Europe trip and all the beautiful places I got to visit, the pro's and cons and how I build this new life of mine and of course MED SCHOOL!! I am writing these blog posts with the intention of being a little guide to the next girl who wants to venture out to pursue her dreams. I want to tell all those girls out there who think it is not possible to do something like this. You can do everything you set your mind to, and whatever you chose make sure you love it so much that you are willing to fight the world for it.