Well, with everything that’s going on, I need an outlet of some sort, a place to talk about my goals openly, a place to start a conversation with others who are going through (or have gone through) the same thing. As the Proverb says, “Two are better than one,” and “a cord of three strands is not easily broken.”

The Dream

When you’re 18 years old and you announce to your family that you want to go to medical school, you quickly become a source of pride to the whole family. But when you’re 31 and you make the same declaration, people look at you like you’re crazy. Once you reach a certain age, you’re no longer encouraged to follow your dreams, to live life to the fullest. Rather, you’re mildly scolded and reminded of your responsibilities.

My question is this. Why can’t we be responsible and still shoot for our dreams at the same time? As a 31-year-old man with a wife and a 9-month-old daughter, I’m inescapably aware of my responsibilities, and I’m also aware that because of our current financial situation, medical school may never happen for me. But that doesn’t mean a man can’t dream, does it? As long as my responsibilities are being met, and as long as I’m keeping my family top priority in the planning process, why is it so crazy that I want to find a way to make this work?

The Reality

Having said all of this, I should mention that I fully understand and appreciate the reasons behind the reactions. When you hear that a 31-year-old family man with debt problems wants to give up his full-time time job to go to medical school, it’s natural to be concerned. A barrage of questions immediately comes to mind. How are you going to pay for it? How are you going to pay your CURRENT bills while you’re in school? What is your family going to do if you can’t pay your mortgage and/or car payments? And the truth is that I currently don’t know how to answer any of these questions. So I have to gently remind people that I’m not just going to jump in and do this recklessly. In fact, until I can answer all of the above questions, I believe that I have no business actively pursuing this dream.

The Present

So, here I sit at the same desk, working the same jobs, doing everything I can to pay the bills and provide for my family. Will my dream of someday practicing medicine ever come to fruition? I can honestly say that I have no idea. But until I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it’s too late for me, I’m not giving up hope.