I thought I would start this blog by explaining a little bit about myself. For those who don’t know me, my name is Philip. Although, I go by many names. I was born in Melbourne, Australia, 31 years ago to Sri Lankan parents that migrated here to escape the civil war going on in their homeland. Since I was a kid, I knew that I wanted to do something to help people. And I’m sure this relates to many of you because this is something that is innate in all of us. I would think of those less fortunate, people living in poverty, people who get sick for no reason at all, and wondered why this was so? I wanted to do something one day where I would be in service to people and change their lives forever. And so at the age of 6, I told my whole family I wanted to be a doctor.

My family had a lot to do with molding my mind since the day I was born. They are very traditional Sri Lankans that believe in education and the status that it holds in society. They are also very religious. So the ideals instilled into me at that age, were that of education and God. As a kid it’s not always easy to listen to what you want in your heart. We are all born with a passion or desire, but through time and through the environment around us, all of that begins to change. I knew that being a doctor would make my family happy. And because I loved my family so much, I tried to be as good of a son as I could. I would go to church every Sunday, and at school I would try my hardest to excel so that I would make my parents proud – To be the doctor that everyone was hoping I would be.

In high school, I was doing alright. I wasn’t someone that stuck out of the crowd. I did things quietly, and had my small group of friends. When the time came for the final exams, I worked my butt off. But even though I worked so hard, I was plagued by insecurities. I’d always wonder why I wasn’t scoring so high and why others were smarter than me. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t match it with the other kids who scored better than me on their tests and exams. Family expectations were also high and those in the Sri Lankan community were curious as to know what future laid in front of me. By the end of high school, my results showed that I would not be able to get into medical school. In fact, I had career advisers tell me to give up on my dream to be a doctor. That I was simply not intelligent enough to get in. “But what if I could get a transfer from another course?”, I asked. To which they answered, “It’s a very difficult task.” And to that I replied, “If I can’t transfer in Australia, I’ll find a way to do medicine overseas.” You see, I was determined to be a doctor no matter what or by how the means. All the other options I was given was not something I was willing to accept because I knew this was my dream. The reply I received was, “I’m sorry but even if you managed a transfer to a medical school overseas, you wouldn’t even be able to complete the course because you just don’t have the ability to do it.”

I don’t hold any grudges because that’s not who I am. They only said what they thought at the time would help me succeed in life. But for some reason, I didn’t let their advice deter me from my goals, no matter how unrealistic it seemed. My final high school grades were very low compared to what was being asked to gain admission into a medical course. I actually lied to people about my score. A medical course required a score of 99, and I had managed a score of 83. And while this was still a good score, it was nowhere near the elite students who excelled in every subject they took at school. I was embarrassed. Not only for myself, but for my family and friends. There was so much expectation lying on this. What was I to do?