HONORS 300R – MY INTELLECTUAL AND SPIRITUAL QUEST

My intellectual quest can be summed up in just two words: education, and stewardship. My ultimate goal is to acquire as much knowledge on this earth as I can so that I can use it to help and educate others. By pursuing medicine, a field where learning never ends and where new research is constantly being attained, I believe that I can fulfill my intellectual quest.

Even as a young child, I have always had this drive to learn, not only from teachers and books, but also from involving myself in sports teams, choirs, volunteer work, and travelling to other countries. Every opportunity that has not passed me by has sculpted me into who I am today.

Without having realized it before, I have noticed that throughout my life, my own way marks had been set, discretely, from the day I mastered the alphabet, struggled with high school chemistry, to the day I was accepted into BYU. Every inch along my educational path is getting me closer to becoming the physician I have always wanted to be.

I cannot remember the exact moment I decided on becoming a doctor, but for all of my twenty years of living, no other profession has trumped this one. My passion is to heal others whom are ill and unhealthy and to make a difference in their lives. I can only do this if I have the appropriate knowledge. Sharing this knowledge and informing people about their bodies, can allow them to help themselves also, and I hope they can be inspired this way. What good is having knowledge if it cannot be shared and passed on?

Both my grandfather and closest aunt are OB/GYN. I believe that a combination of both my grandfather delivering me as a baby, the first to hold me, and the great role model my aunt is for me has been a great influence. Their same passion for medicine too, runs in my blood.

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Intellect and spirituality, for me, are not separate and discrete from each other. They are analogous to my vital organs; intellect is like my brain, spirituality, is my heart. I could not live with one and not the other; both keep me alive and make me a whole person.

My spiritual quest in just two words: truth and happiness. Although these terms seem vague, I interpret them in an important and meaningful way. My search for truth is through Jesus Christ; it would be useless to look anywhere else. Coming to BYU, even as a catholic, has greatly strengthened my spirituality. I do not know if it is because I am in an environment with so many spiritual people, who are living, or striving to live, the gospel, but I have noticed a change in my life, for the better, and I have drawn closer to Christ. He is the light, and I can always look to Him for guidance.

One of the main components of my happiness, and one of my favorite Latter-day Saint emphases, is on the family. I love my family; they are the root of my happiness. From them I have learned to be a compassionate, loving and trusting individual. My quest has been to use these tools and apply them to the people I meet, since we are all apart of God’s family. Such a task is not always easy. Just like with sibling rivalry, conflicts arise amongst other people, and it can be difficult to be so compassionate, loving or trusting.

This quest, like my intellectual quest, has been challenging at times, and it is during these times when I seek Christ’s help. One quote I admire from Dag Hammarskjold’s “Markings”, is:
Does he sacrifice himself for others, yet for his own sake – in megalomania?
Or does he realize himself for the sake of others? The
Difference is that between a monster and a man. “A new
Commandment I give unto you: that ye love one another.” (page 69).

Christ paid the penalty for all of my sins, and I must not forget that. The small trials that I experience cannot compare to His atoning sacrifice. I must remember Christ’s love and the love of my family, especially when things have dampened my happiness.

Like the happiness my family has given me, I, too, hope to build my own family on the principles of support and happiness.