As a child I dreamed of working in a hospital. Although, as I grew the field I wanted to pursue became very vague to me. I needed a way to figure out what I wanted to be in life. Volunteer work always appealed to me and being in a hospital setting is just what I needed to figure out my future career path.
Soon after I contacted a local hospital and inquired about teenage volunteer positions. The reply I received was unexpected but welcomed. The Volunteer Director at Mobile Infirmary Hospital was desperately in need of help for the fall session and eagerly awaited my interview. Without any reservation, I was awarded the position and soon began work.
Once I started I was given peculiar jobs- i.e. stuffing envelopes and answering phones. After a week passed, and the Director was pleased with my work, I began delivering flowers (which proved to be the most influential part of my hospital work). I got to be involved with the patients. I received the chance to help brighten their day. All the suffering I witnessed in the hospital in a matter of months was unbelievable. Some of these people had no one in the world to count on as visitors besides their doctors and nurses.
As I went in a room to deliver flowers I felt a sense of warmth as I brought smiles and cheerful conversation. I felt I had moved many people and I came away with a great deal of pride. This experience had provided me with an answer. I wanted to be a doctor. Not just any doctor, but one who cared when a person had “no one in the world.” Not only did this experience change my life but it helped me change the lives of many others around me.
