My family is pretty complicated. We have drug addicts, some who didn't graduate from high school, some who had kids early, some who didn't go to college, some who steal, but then you have some who didn't do well in the beginning and came out a great person. My grandmother who is so much of a great person that she inspired me to become a cardiologist.

My grandmother is the most phenomenal woman ever. As I was growing up in Trenton, she suffered depression from many things: molestations, people stealing from her, and she was a bad alcoholic, but somehow she managed to take care of me with the help of my mother. Sometimes she would cry to me and I wouldn't know what to do. I was young and I didn't understand what was fully going on. Now that I’m older, I realize my grandmother crumbled. The things that happened to her were not everyday things. They weren’t things everyone goes through. She didn’t let her troubles stop her from taking care of me, and that is why I will never let anyone get in the way of my dream: to be a cardiologist.

When I was in pre-k, my nanny briefly told me she had heart problems. She started to call me Doogie, Doogie Howser, the kid doctor off the tv show. She said she called me that because I was bright like him and she thought I would be a doctor when I grew up. When I said I wanted to be a cardiologist, I was seven and instead I said heart doctor after my Nanny thoroughly told me about her disease she once had. She had arrhythmia; a disorder where your heart beats too fast or too slow. She said she would pass out often. She had it before I was born. In the early 90’s, she was defibrillated. Almost 2 minutes before she could have died. All through elementary and middle school, people would ask me what I wanted to be and i would say “a Cardiologist”, then they would say “why?”, and I would simply say “because my grandmother suffered from heart problems.” Now when people ask me that question my answer is not that simple.

Before I moved to Baltimore, I didn’t notice how significant my grandmother was in my life. I didn’t know how important she was. Leading to my preteen years, I began to get out of hand, rude, and selfish, so to better myself I asked to come with my aunt. In Baltimore is where I realized the importance of my grandmother. Being far away from her opened my eyes to see that she was my rock. She was there by my side when no one else wasn't. She let me slide even when I was wrong. I cried to her, and sometimes she even cried to me. She taught me life values. She gave me my dream to be a cardiologist. Because of all these things, I feel as though it is my responsibility to become a cardiologist; I owe her. Her life means something to my own life. To save that kind of person would be an honor. To save someone who will mean so much to another person and make a difference in someone else's life is why I want to be a cardiologist. Those kind of people need to be saved; they make another person great. That is my answer now. That is the reason I want to be a cardiologist.

Now that I realize so much, I am deeper into my dream to be a cardiologist. It's not just a dream; it's my destiny. It is my purpose in life: to save beautiful lives, just as that cardiologist saved my grandmother. I think if I never knew my grandmother, I would not know my purpose, so for her I am grateful, and for her I will become a cardiologist. Noone or nothing will get in the way of my destiny.