An aspiring med student just sent me this email:

Hey Leah,

My name is ***** and I read your blog about going to med school. I actually got accepted to med school in Poland and I have a daughter who is almost 2 1/2 years old. I've been struggling with the decision to go or not (my husband has to stay here due to his work), so maybe I can get some encouragement from you.

Are you leaving US to go to med school by yourself or is your husband and daughter going with you? I know that if my husband would go with me I would not look back, but since he can't it is very hard to go alone and be away from my family...

Hope to talk to you soon,
*****


My reply was roughly the following ( I tried to save it but it didn't),

Hi *****,

I am attending med school with my daughter in the Fall. My husband is staying here in the US to work. I cannot tell you what it may be like as I am not there yet. I also cannot tell you that I think that it will be easy, because it won't. But, nothing worth fighting for is easy. I let my dream of being a physician go when I was in my early twenties and I am not letting it get away from me this time. I cannot let my daughter grow up to believe that you run away from dreams because they are difficult and make you sacrifice comfort. Yes, it will be hard for us. We, with children, will have to spend our free time with them instead of doing something for ourselves. We will have to time manage better than any other student because staying up all night to study will not be an option for us. We will have to use the time when they are in daycare to study and not to socialize. We won't be able to exercise and eat right all of the time because we will be time limited and obligated to school and to our children. But, it can be done. It has been done. I am not looking back. But, I am scared as hell. My mind races at night thinking of all of the unknowns---that makes my heart pound with fear. However, I do know that no amount of fear or anxiety is going to match up to that feeling we will feel when we are at that finish line.

I hope this has helped,

LP


I also hope this helps others in our situation.