WHO I AM MATTERS

 

Where do I come from?

I come from a large Italian family in a small Illinois town.

 

Where am I going?

I’ve always wanted to move out of the Midwest so I know I will be living in California next year. Otherwise, I am not sure where I’m headed. Medical school. Working in the medical device industry. I’m trying to enjoy every step of the way.

 

How do I plan to get there?

I love the saying, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” I plan to work hard and stay true to myself and my passions. If I don’t try to become what I want to be, I will never know if I can accomplish my goals.

 

How am I like my parents?

My parents taught all four of their children to love loudly and to never give up on ourselves. I know for certain that they have these qualities, and I’d like to think I am like them in this way. Professor Hansen’s Prince reference reminded me of how much my mom loves Prince. Below is a picture of my sisters, parents, and I at Paisley Park (Prince’s house). 

 


 

How am I UNLIKE my parents?

I lack the life experiences they have, and therefore I lack wisdom and haven’t learned many lessons they already have.

 

Have you developed your own expectations for yourself?

In some ways yes, others no. I think my own expectations intertwine into ones my family has for me as well. Professionally, I want to be a good doctor one day and I want to put in the work to do so, but I know my family also wants me to be successful in the future. Personally, however, I want to raise my family as my mother raised me. This is definitely an expectation I alone set for myself.

 

Dr. Nancy Ascher, UCSF’s first female chair of surgery and one of only twenty women in her medical school class is my model of someone who lives life with great passion and responsibility not just for herself but for others. (Highly recommend everyone to watch Surgeon’s Cut on Netflix.)

 

I’ve always loved zebras. I love their unique markings and that they always stick together. I used to love horses but found out I was allergic when I was in first grade, so instead I decided I loved zebras and have loved them ever since.

 

My favorite flower is a sunflower. I didn’t learn until later in life it was a weed. Even though they are toxic I still find them beautiful. When I was young my grandma had a gardening plot that I loved to visit and work on with her. My favorite part about it was the sunflowers she planted every summer. They grew tremendously tall, but killed everything else. I remember how frustrated my grandma would get at how fast they would grow, but I was absolutely fascinated by them. Here is a sunflower garden that I visited in Hawaii. 




 


 

Sun: Sagittarius

Moon: Aquarius

Rising: Gemini


Comments

  1. elanfahJanuary 16, 2022 at 12:51 PM

    Hey Zoe,

    Thanks for sharing a little bit about yourself. For the role model question mine was Kobe Bryant and he would frequently quote the saying, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take," so I really liked that comment. Also, I'm from California (LA to be more specific) and I can say that it's really the best and I would highly recommend moving here if you're trying to move away from your hometown. Lastly, the way you answered the question on expectations was really similar to mine in that my expectations are based off of a mix of my own and my parents expectations of myself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2022 at 5:09 PM

    Hi Zoe!
    I like how you decided that you were going to love zebras. I went through a zebra print phase in middle school. My entire room was basically covered in it. Also, I always thought I wanted to move away from the east coast and live in California. Now that I'm here, I don't think I want to stay much longer after I'm done at USC. I just thought that was interesting because we're a little bit opposite in that sense.
    -Samantha

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jack PerezJanuary 17, 2022 at 9:19 PM

    Thank you for sharing Zoe. Being from California and living here my whole life I may be biased but, I definitely agree that California is the place to be. I found it really interesting when you said that sunflowers are weeds because I honestly never knew that. I also think it's awesome that you want to go to medical school. I'm a big fan of medical shows and after watching a lot of them over the years I definitely have a great deal of respect for the people going into/in that field of work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ibJanuary 18, 2022 at 11:52 AM

    Hi Zoe,

    Midwest babyy! I feel like I rarely meet midwesterners out here so its good to have you in class. Medical school sounds like hard work but I love your attitude of enjoying every step of the process and I think that that is an important attitude to have in all parts of life. I like how one of your goals in life is to raise a family and bring up kids like how your mother raised you, I think thats great that you appreciate your childhood as much as to want the same for your future kids.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bryan WuJanuary 18, 2022 at 10:05 PM

    Hey Zoe,

    I really enjoyed reading your blog! I also never knew that sunflowers were weeds until today. My mom really loves sunflowers too and we even have a print of Van Gogh's sunflowers hanging on the wall in our dining room. I visited a sunflower farm in Japan a few years ago, and seeing so many sunflowers in person is totally different from seeing them in pictures!

    Bryan

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 19, 2022 at 9:11 AM

    Hi Zoe,

    Thank you for your comment on my post! I greatly appreciate your kind words. I think that it is very cool that you come from a large family. I feel that deep connections with your family members are so valuable and I am happy for you that you have that. I related to you on how your parents raised you to "love loudly." Though I have not heard that phrase until now, I am grateful to say that my parents raised me to love loudly as well. I think a key to being happy is to spread love as much as you can. I love sunflowers as well and found your take on how they are toxic yet beautiful funny.

    Thank you for sharing,

    Mason

    ReplyDelete

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