I wasn’t the kind of person that knew what college I wanted to go to in middle school. Some kids aimed high, and have been dreaming of going to their dream schools since they were little. All they talked about was getting into Princeton or Harvard to make their alumni parents proud. I didn’t think of college at all.

My sister attended Michigan State. That was her dream. As a kid, I didn’t really think about my dreams. I just wanted to live my life to the fullest and have fun. I was just a kid living and following along with life, with no thought of what my future would look like.

The Journey

It was my freshman year of high school, and I was new to everything. My aunt was a registered nurse and persuaded me to go into the medical field. My stepdad at the time was a doctor, and so was his daughter. Watching them learn so much about the human body and helping to heal others inspired me, and made this my new dream career.

Now that I knew I wanted to become a doctor, the next thing I had to figure out was what type of doctor. One day I was casually watching YouTube videos when a video about a girl’s scoliosis journey popped up. I watched it and was very intrigued with scoliosis, and dreamed of becoming an orthopedist.

My sister then encouraged me to start the popular Netflix series, “Grey’s Anatomy.” I instantly fell in love with the main character, Addison. She was fearless, courageous, and an assiduous doctor. Sharing some of the same character traits as her, I decided I wanted to and can be a gynecologist like Addison. I thought a lot about it and there’s no other profession I would enjoy more than being a gynecologist.

The Dream

The dream started. I dreamed about helping women, especially African American women. Even though Jim Crow laws are no longer around and segregation has ended, there is still persistent racism in the doctor’s office.

I have heard many horrendous stories about white doctors leaving their African American patients to bleed out after birthing their babies. There are not a lot of African American doctors, let alone African American gynecologists.

Being one of the few would help inspire other people of color to go into the medical field and make our Black patients feel more welcome and safe. By doing this, we can decrease the reoccurrence of racism in the office and promote equality.

By: Micah Grison

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Wp Paaraz’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License

Inset Image Courtesy of Carla Guimarães’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License