After three cycles of rejection I finally made it to medical school (and started working on my business)
As an inner-city London kid growing up, I didn’t have much guidance on my way to medical school. I was taught to focus on getting the grades. Yes, grades are important but there was a period where my grades were frankly not up to scratch. On my journey, I realised that self-improvement in multiple areas was essential to finally achieving a place at the Leeds School of Medicine; a goal I had since the age of 10.
At school, I didn’t know anyone else who was interested in becoming a doctor, nor did I get much support to obtain work experience relevant to my career aspirations. There was no emphasis on extra-curricular activities or developing transferable skills. Everyone just had to do what everyone else was doing and that was all. What could I say? I was just a kid.
Most of peers were interested in becoming actors, athletes, music artists etc., because that was popular in the media. There were no ‘careers days’ for STEM subjects at school, but we had sports days. There was a time I was convinced that becoming a sprinter, footballer or boxer was my future — as they say: you’re the average of the people you spend the most time with. I had early curfews at home because of ‘bad influences’.
I had ambition, but no clue how to properly channel it. Lack of opportunities, and my introverted personality, made things take longer than I thought. My passion went far ahead of my limited skill set. I had a lot of ‘catching up’ to do if I was ever going to gain a place at medical school.
I started my first degree in 2012. Over time I took advantage of many opportunities I never had as a kid and I developed at a rate I never thought was possible. Once I ‘caught up’, voilà, the dream finally became a reality. I developed the thick skin, the consistency, the discipline, the resilience, the patience and the courage to see my dream of medical school through. I am now on my way to becoming the first doctor in my family!
‘Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.’ — Roman philosopher Seneca
In hindsight, I’m glad I persevered through the long process of 3 rejections before finally getting a YES in Spring 2017 after 4 application cycles. The process developed my character and I learnt many valuable lessons. I also completed a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree along the way! There were times I didn’t think I’d make it, times I wanted to throw in the towel, but I kept on going.
Pursuing medical school was a higher calling — I made it a life-and-death priority. Ironically, after each rejection my confidence grew because I knew I was getting closer to a YES. I shifted my mindset from: ‘Why me?’ to ‘Try me!’ The tipping point was after my painful second application rejection. Things were looking bleak, I was at the one of the lowest points in my life and I was about to give up.
It was shortly after this I saw a video on YouTube about how people, who started with very little or nothing, turned their lives around. This gave me hope and I immersed myself in the world of self-improvement. It was a world I never knew existed in a society that chastises people for making mistakes: if you don’t become ‘successful’ quickly you’re seen as a failure.
Life is a marathon, not a sprint — I was never taught this at school.
I was never taught about the benefits of failures and challenges for character development. They are all opportunities to grow, get stronger and make a comeback. I realised that to achieve something of great value I had to step outside my comfort zone; I had to do things I had never done before to grow into the person able to convince the admissions team I was the right choice for a place at medical school.
Why am I telling you this story? The character I built during my journey to medical school gave me the confidence to start working on my own business, MyStudentFitness, an online personal training service for busy students. In summer 2018, I decided to stop procrastinating and stopped treating my idea like a hobby. I’ve trimmed the fat from how I use my time to keep on top of a demanding medical school schedule while building the business. Work happens in the early hours of the morning in my bedroom (my current wake up time has been 3:30AM roughly 95% of time) and during gaps in my university timetable. It also includes most of my weekends.
I can’t predict the future, but all I know is that I have a vision to help individual students develop a healthy balance between regular exercise, socialising and studying. It has been tough at times because I’ve added a heavy load on top of my university schedule, but I look at the bigger picture. I am happy to sacrifice now and then hopefully enjoy the fruits my labour later.
Regardless of whether my endeavour succeeds or fails, I’m glad I have developed the mindset and work ethic to work on my ideas. I have overcome my fear of failure and rejection and concern about what other people think about my long-term vision and actions. I have developed the confidence to express myself on the stage we call life. I can’t wait to see how far I can go. I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given to prove myself and the lessons I’ve learnt along the way.
Don’t let a failure, even several failures, hold you back.
See each failure as a stepping stone in the bigger picture. The mixture of successes and failures is what makes a great story. A story of only successes would be boring and I’m sure you’d agree with that. The heroes and heroines, many of us look up to, are those who overcame major adversity and became legends.
The mother of a good friend of mine once said to me that every setback pulls the catapult sling farther and farther back and once the sling is fully stretched, and it’s time to release, your flying potential is unparalleled. Focus on what makes you come alive, your interests (not just grades). When things aren’t going as you would like, your commitment to the process will allow you to use failures as a foundation to make life-changing comebacks.
