You’re probably thinking who was the genius that gave the choice of their future to a 16-year-old. It’s a question I have asked multiple times. Truth of the matter is that it’s been this way for a long time and probably won’t be changing anytime soon. The way 16-year-old teenagers are being educated might change but that is a discussion for another day. This article will discuss what a passion looks like.

At age 16, I was hugging trees while soaring high. I was convinced that I wanted to be an artist, that I would make it, that I was going to be that artist everyone spoke about and sold art for millions with ease. Well, that never happened. I pursued art in high school and went on to study fine art. It was horrible, apparently, I was too romanticised, wasn’t Van Gogh a romantic? The guy cut his ear off and sent it to his girlfriend, his colours were soft and his images impressionistic, I digress. I didn’t become an artist.

I decided that I needed to study something so I studied English and Anthropology, in the hope of going into nutrition. During my studies in anthropology, I discovered medicine. At 25, I realised that I made the biggest mistake of my life, I didn’t take mathematics and physical science, the 2 subjects that are required to get into anything medical. Many people suggested that I look into working within the pharmaceutical field, but that didn’t hit the spot for me. I want to be on the front lines, solving problems and helping people.

The truth of the matter is that when I was sixteen, I didn’t know what I wanted, I was still finding myself and figuring out what I could and couldn’t handle, now, it’s a bit late. Some people say it’s never too late, in this case med-school is too late. What I’m trying to get at is that this decision of subjects in school is important, working harder in high school and doing maths and physical science might help you in the future.

With that being said, having a degree in Anthropology and English has taken me places. I can work well with people and look, I’m writing, something I enjoy, something I may even be good at. All is not lost, but living with a passion that some doctors can only dream of is a bitter pill that I wish on no one, so think before you make a choice that could impact you for the rest of your life. 

Although dark and gloomy, the bitter pill has made me resourceful in getting as close as I can to the medical field as humanly possible. In Anthropology there is a section dedicated to medical anthropology, the work of some medical anthropologists is amazing and it tackles a larger issue, which is the warped and unequal system of the medical system. I would love to fix people, but what I would love more is to be able to fix the system that fixes all the people, not just some. See? Resourceful.

Having come to this conclusion has made me more passionate about medicine than looking at interesting cases on the internet and it has inspired me. If you ask me now how I am going to do this, I would not be able to tell you, it is only a thought that has developed recently and needs a lot of work before it becomes something more.

Here is something to think about, if you were too late to the party while hugging trees and soaring high, it is not too late and sometimes it takes a wrong turn to get to the right place! With this being said, there is so much merit in being able to choose the correct subjects and pursuing something that you really want to do. Some of us are lucky enough to know that at 16, however, if you don’t, that is also okay. Gap years, internships and job shadowing are all tools that can set you up to make an informed decision about your life. You might change your mind and then change it again, but it is never too late to start something new.