I grew up in Keokuk, IA with my father a factory worker and my mother a stay at home mom until they couldn’t afford it any longer and she started working in an office for a corn processing plant. I decided to be pre-med because my mom’s friend was a nurse and told me the doctor does the fun things and tells the nurse what to do - I was completely clueless what I was getting myself into! I had only been to a doctor 4 times in my life from what I recalled! I came to U of IA because it was cheapest and the only university with a medical school. Although I was near the top of my class in my small town, i was nothing special with the caliber of students here at college! My first semester was a huge wake up call and I had to learn how to study. My counselor told me I would never make it to medical school so I needed another plan - so I never went back until the required exit meeting before graduating. I fortunately met a professor that offered me a research position to do an honors project with who helped mentor me and wrote me the reference letter that I believe led to me getting into medical school. Again, this was another very difficult experience that no one in my family could understand and I was met with other people who said I didn’t belong in Emergency Medicine - my plan for residency. I again had to find my own way and proved them wrong as well. It was clear the advantages that the majority of my classmates had with parents who were physicians. I think a good mentor to make recommendations along the path for those first generation college students who want to go into medicine would have been invaluable. I hope to find someone who could benefit from my assistance.