Elizabeth Durante '11
Last spring I was traveling in Durban, South Africa when I saw a little girl crying. I went over to pick her up, and she pointed at her mouth and stuck out her tongue. I realized she was crying because she had open sores in her mouth. I was frustrated, because back in the States, when I get cold sores, all I have to do is go to CVS and buy a minor anesthetic to soothe the area. It was that exact moment when I knew I wanted to be a doctor.
A certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), I had traveled to South Africa with the New London Collegiate Ministry to build relations between communities and to visit local AIDS hospices. The trip had such a profound impact on me that another classmate, Stefanie Hinman, and I planned to travel to Uganda for a similar mission. During spring break we traveled to an orphanage in Kaberamaido, Uganda to provide medical services and to stock the shelves of the clinic with much-needed supplies.
To help raise money for medical supplies, we turned to our fellow students. With help from UMOJA, Connecticut College's African/African-American student organization, we organized a benefit concert on campus that raised more than $400.
I plan to major in psychology and, eventually, I hope to become a surgeon. One day I hope to travel with Doctors Without Borders.
I love the connection with other human beings that medicine offers. No matter where they grew up, how old they are, how rich or poor, a patient is a patient. They are human beings with human feelings and, more importantly, human needs.