Bouncing Back from Failure – My Journey to Medical School

My story begins with this quote from a sixth-grade teacher in a classroom: “All you do is disrupt my teaching; you won’t succeed in life!” After hearing this, I wrestled over these words over and over, thinking to myself, am I fit to continue in school? In elementary school, I read below my grade level and continuously fell behind the rest of the class. My self-esteem plummeted as I watched the rest of the students pass their tests and receive compliments for their good behavior. My fifth-grade educators observed this, so they hired a learning specialist to evaluate any learning or behavioral deficiencies I potentially had. Unfortunately, the specialist misdiagnosed me with a severe attention deficit disorder, which resulted in my placement into special education during my sixth-grade year. Each time I was dropped off at school, I quickly covered my head with a hoodie and ran into the special education room because I feared being ostracized by classmates and friends. In the classroom, the educator ordered me to stay quiet, finish worksheets, and listen to audiobooks at a small corner desk for an hour. Because of the inadequate support, I often became frustrated and refused to finish my work. My last bit of confidence was shattered, as well as any desire I had to perform.  As my report cards reflected these poor experiences, I involved myself in small gangs in middle school. I sought out a sense of belonging outside the classroom. Some of my peers had relative...
Source: Academic Medicine Blog - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Source Type: blogs