It was 8am in the morning. The sun had just risen above the horizon on calm water as 6 boats lined up to the starting line. Each boat had its own distinct color and was ornamented with a dragon head in the front. As I sat in one of these boats with 21 other paddlers, my heart and mind was racing while I tried to remain calm and collected. In a brief moment, the announcer shouts, "PADDLERS ARE YOU READY". I immediately focused in and drove my blade through the water, waiting for the call. "ATTENTION PLEASE. GO". I pull the first stroke to my hip. Following the beat of the drum and the paddlers in front in unison.

My interest in medicine initially sparked after reading a Bearinstein bears book. As a 6 year old, I was intrigued by the role of a physician, who had the responsibility to take care of those who were sick. I was fascinated by the mechanics of the human body and the systems involved to work with each other. I had this idealized image of a physician simply going around to visit patients and simply solving every problem or health condition the patient may have had. However, I realized that the role of a physician is much more complicated. When I was 13, my father was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer and started to experience manic depression. I still remember the day when EMTs rushed into our house and had to rush my father out to the hospital while family members left me to take care of my baby sister. I was frustrated at the uncertainty of diseases in life and how helpless I felt. I wanted to make sure that nobody else had to experience the same ordeal that I had. This was also the time when I started to become exposed to idea alternative medicine in the treatment of cancer. As my father consumed Chinese herbal medicine, I started to notice how it reduced the effects caused by radiation and chemotherapy. My father's oncologist was an integrative oncologist who paved the way to advocate the idea of combining integrative and western medicine together for optimum health. I was inspired by his ability to think of such an unprecidented thought that I wanted to aspire to become a phsycian that combined the two modalities. I worked hard throughout high school, serving in multiple leadership roels and enaging in volunteering roles at the hematology/oncology clinic at UCSF. As a result of my hard work, I was the first member in my family to attend university and to receive a full ride scholarship. 

Despite my achievments in high school, I lost my focus in college as I participated in multiple leadership roles and extracurricular activities. Despite these leadership roles, I continued to aspire to pursue a career in medicine but was distracted by the responsibilities required for these roles. During the second semester of my freshman year, I was elected to become the youngest captain for the Cal Dragonboat team. I was faced with the challenge of restructuring a team that did not perform well in competitions. I motivated my teammates and completely set up daily practices on the water and land. I lead the lead to perform well and as a result, the team is now one of the most competitive collegiate dragonboat teams in the state. While serving as captain, I became aware of the limitations of the human body and taught teammates different stretches and exercises to strengthen parts of their body. During the sophomore and junior year of college, I was involved with clinical research at the UCSF spine clinic which exposed patient interaction and surgeries. While observing an lamenectomy, I was fascinated by the surgical team and how well they worked together in healing the patient. It reminded me of the abilities of serving as captain for the dragonboat team. 

I became involved with the Students for Integrative Medicine club, by becoming a workshop facilitator and inviting health professionals in the Bay area to come to campus and discuss their field of work. I learned a lot about different modalities of health, such as chiropractics, naturopath, aarevadic medicine and TCM. 

Working at the chiropractic office has exposed ot me clinical care. Every day I see over 30 patients and interact with them. The most rewarding part of the job is the ability to connect with them and understand their how they're feeling for that moment and finding ways for me to teach them stretches and lifestyle tips to help them prior to seeing the chiropractor. I realized that I have the ability to heal someone with my hands and this is why I wanted to pursue osteopathic medicine.