A Minority Even in My Field

Yesterday I went to a national medical field convention. It was for black students at Michigan State University who were going into the medical field. At first I was hesitant on going because I didn't understand what the speakers were going to say. Would they tell me that I am a minority in the field? Would they tell me that things are going to be harder for me? Would they tell me that I would have to become a hermit studying and preparing for tests? I've already heard this countless times before, so what else could they tell me.

I arrived at the event and took my seat. The first speaker began to talk. She went on to talk about the small number of black students that actually finish college and the small number of black students who actually make it to become a doctor. She was pondering the possiblilties as to why this was so. She eventually came to the conclusion that it was a lack of support from the families and people in the field and a lack of diversity in the staff of the colleges.

Then, the next speaker came up and he talked about his difficulties coming up in the medical field, even his difficulties when he was already established in the field performing his practice. The disrespect that he had to go through and tolerate was really disheartening to me, but he also talked about how he got through it and how he learned to shake things off and persevere.

The speakers really touched me because they seemed genuine and really told their personal experiences as far as coming up in their field. Also an overlapping theme in both their speeches was that mentoring was such a fundamental part of becoming successful. They talked to me after the program and gave me their information so I could have someone to call up if I ever needed help with anything going into my field.

I was grateful that I learned an abundance from those two keynote speakers and that they took the time to reach out to me. I know that I want to become a sports medicine doctor and I am up for the challenge!

Image Credit:
http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/the-doctor
http://bossip.com/1231986/a-lil-positivity-hbcu-xavier-university-sends-more-black-students-to-medical-school-than-any-other-us-college/