COM Outlook Winter 2021

24 | DR. KIRAN C. PATEL COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE I was born in Havana, Cuba, where my family and I lived in conditions that were not the best. To have better life opportunities and receive the best education possible, I needed to move to the United States. Despite being a country full of opportunities, many immigrants like myself struggled through adver- sities when they first migrated to the United States. About three years after I moved here, I realized that the life experiences and hardships I encountered played a role in molding my character. I moved to the United States when I was 18 and quickly realized the importance of not only learning the language, but also the customs of an entirely new culture. Because English was not my first language, it created a considerable language barrier, as well as disadvantages. I had to quickly learn to adapt and work twice as hard as everyone around me as I pursued my goals to get a job and obtain higher educa- tion. Becoming productive in society and achieving my dream of becoming a physician were challenges I was willing to tackle. The desire to achieve a better life led me to begin working at The Home Depot, where I learned to have a great work ethic and develop my English communication skills. In the beginning, however, it was tough. I was viewed as a young man who did not know anything about construction since I was unable to identify a hammer. I was also viewed as the useless guy who was incapable of communicating. If that wasn’t awful enough, my coworkers, who I thought I could count on for support, would make fun of my accent and the way I would mispronounce certain words. Their actions affected me the most, as I didn’t even want to socialize with them for fear of being ridiculed. Continually dealing with unpleasant stares, name-calling, and even impatience from custom- ers because of the language barrier did not bring me down. Instead, it motivated me. I worked hard to be better every day and pushed myself to learn and create strategies to earn the respect I deserved. As time passed, I persevered and reminded myself, “This could only get better.” Once I started college, my struggles allowed me to develop different strategies that contributed to overcoming the language barrier that could have hindered my future success. When I look back to my 18-year-old self, I am proud of the young man who had the maturity to deal with these hardships, as they molded and instilled ambition, dedication, and discipline in me. These attributes, which strength- ened every aspect of my abilities, impacted how I will live forever and made my future physician career goals worthwhile. Marcos A. Clavijo Fernández is a third-year KPCOM student. BY MARCOS A. CLAVIJO FERNÁNDEZ overcoming anti - immigrant attitudes Their actions affected me the most, as I didn’t even want to socialize with them for fear of being ridiculed.