Man, has this year flown by. You know the expression—“time flies when you’re having fun?” Well, to be perfectly honest, in this case I can’t say I agree. Don’t get me wrong, 2016 hasn’t been all bad, but if I were to describe this year in a word, I’d say it was difficult—on all levels. Despite the challenges and the failures I’ve experienced, the one constant I’ve had in my life is my family.
Being an only child, I’d say I have a relatively unique relationship with my parents. Never having siblings, my parents kind of stepped into that role when needed, not to mention they were and still are my confidants, best friends and honestly my favorite people in this world. Throughout this year, while I was dealing with difficult class schedules, applying to medical schools, and transitioning into my senior year of college, I experienced many setbacks and failures, and there were times when I didn’t have the energy or the motivation to get through these difficult times. Alternatively, it was through these same experiences that my parents support never wavered.Their unwavering faith in my abilities to succeed became my desire to work more, try harder and learn to be undeterred by my failures, both in academics and in my personal life. It wasn’t until recently when I realized the extent of their contributions to where I am today. As such, I now truly understand the value of having people in your inner circle, people you trust and love unconditionally. Luckily for me, I have two amazing parents who’ve fulfilled those exact roles for my entire life. It just may have taken me some time to realize that.
The nice thing is that it isn’t just my parents who have always been there for me. As someone with a mom who is the youngest of ten and a dad who is the oldest of eight, I’ve always been surrounded by an abundance of cousins, aunts, and uncles. Sure, some may live further than others, and there are instances when I may not hear from some family members for long periods of time, but they’re all always just a phone call away. The best part is that I get all the benefits of having siblings—the great advice and fun times—without the typical fights or arguments that arise.
As a whole, although I had some of the most challenging experiences in the last several months, I look back on this year with the acknowledgement that the struggles I had helped me grow and develop as an individual. Most importantly, I now recognize the value of family, even more so than I had before. Now, I don’t believe that a family requires blood relatives. Rather, I view family as a group of people with whom you clique and occasionally bicker with, but know that at the end of the day, their love and support will always be there. In my case, however, I’d say I’m pretty lucky. It turns out that the family that I was born into also happened to be my chosen family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Image Credit: Kalkidan Asegad