Adam Smith and Free Enterprise playlist

My grandma would always tell me that “you would be something great that you yourself could change the world and lift up people around you”. Her words stuck to me and became my backbone from age 10 until now. I believed in myself, and I believed I was meant to help people with any form of uniqueness. As a background, my grandma has been terminally ill for years, and this has been a challenge for me throughout my high school career. However, this has also shaped me to become a more determined, ambitious person, and I am determined to live the life my grandmother can never reach, and I am determined to achieve several goals. One of the challenges that my grandma is currently faced with, is a skin disease called “psoriasis”. With this and her struggle, I've always wanted to pursue my studies in the future, with a focus on studying skin disorders. Her struggle has encouraged me now to want to become a dermatologist, so I can further help people just like her. In the United States, there are very few African American dermatologists. Even more, there are fewer female dermatologists in the U.S. with the current population being only 12.8% of the Dermatology field. Therefore, my goal in the future is to help people who have skin conditions and diseases, in order for them to live a more rewarding life. My grandma raised 8 children and really hasn’t had the opportunities that most people have. Life has definitely been a struggle for her, and she’s never been able to enjoy some of the finer things in life that others have experienced. She has focused on raising her children and she has much to be proud of. She’s also been faced with many financial burdens, so enjoying life to its fullest has definitely been a challenge.

It’s a goal of many parents to give their children a better life than what they have had, and they don’t want their children to be faced with the same obstacles in life that they themselves went through. I don't want to live a depressing life working and paying bills when there is so much more out there to do. It’s been hard for me to see my grandmother struggling the way that she has. With this, I enjoy telling her funny stories about my life, and vice-versa. On one visit, she told me “Yeah, I might've raised a bunch of lousy kids, but they grew up being respectful and doing their own thing, and for me, I'm just left here to pay my bills, I don't think that's living, just to work your whole life without enjoyment. That's not how it should be.” I was surprised at her statement, and I realized my grandma has been doing the same thing for years with her routine. She's now just watching her kids grow up into adults and continue with the family bloodline. Sadly, my grandmother has never really received a break from her hard reality or hasn’t been able to enjoy a life of luxury. Seeing her struggle and hearing her stories has inspired me to be more disciplined with myself into doing things the right way, and not taking the easy way out. Therefore, I want to create a future for me where I don't have to just keep working my whole life, just to pay bills. My mother, who has also dealt with several health issues in life, has also inspired me. I have now been raised to become a strong woman like my mother, and I am determined to see my goals fulfilled in the future. This has now become my passion for what I want to do in life. I've never dealt with a close family member dying before, but I'm sure I will always remember my grandmother telling me that “I'll always be with you. Don't look behind you into the past. This will only drag you down. Continue to look ahead towards your future, and continue to shape your life into becoming the way you want to live your life forever”.

Ultimately, this experience has made me become even more determined in life, and to reach my dreams and live a glorious and fulfilled life, with the understanding of the meaning “to truly live it!”