When I realized that I wanted to leave the Satmar community I decided to prepare for my transition by getting an education. With only a religious education under my belt it was a big leap to attend college. Now, I am preparing for medical school.
When I first started at Touro College, I didn’t know what a GPA, a transcript, or a syllabus were. I couldn’t ask anyone, not my parents, not my siblings. It was all completely foreign to me. I was insecure and nervous, to say the least.
At first, I wasn’t really sure whether I had it in me to finish college and get a degree. But as time went on, and with the tremendous help of the Footsteps staff and volunteers ‘” who mentored and tutored me ‘” I began to realize that perhaps I could achieve more. I realized that maybe, just maybe, I could actually do something big. I decided that I wanted to be a doctor.
Thanks to Footsteps’ encouragement I eventually applied to Hunter College and I am now completing my studies in the Pre-Med program. I will start medical school at Jefferson Medical College in the fall of 2016.
Through Footsteps I have met a lot of people, including one member with a similar background who went on to become a doctor. This helped me see that I could also achieve great heights, as long as I put in the work. It wasn’t just a dream anymore.
