Third Narrative: I once dreamed of becoming a doctor

Liquid Nitrogen, one of the most important chemicals used in Molecular Biology Experiments (Photo by Isagani Serrano)

Yes. You read it right. Back when I was young, I desired to be a doctor. I mentioned that teaching is my dream job but children usually dream of many things before figuring out what they wanted to do with their lives and for me, there was a point in my life when I felt the strong desire to heal people. After all, the medical field is a noble profession.

However, this dream was immediately tucked away somewhere beyond my reach. Why? Because of money and mental capacity. Studying medicine is costly in the Philippines and I know my parents will not be capable of financing my education should I decide to pursue medicine. While there are scholarships available to get admitted to medical schools, I also know that my mental capabilities are not that awesome to be qualified for a scholarship.

As you may have known, I took BS Agriculture in college, far from that dream of becoming a doctor. I could take the National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) and try to get admitted to medical schools but I chose not to. I am content in my Agriculture degree and sold out in pursuing agriculture-related careers. Few years after I got my bachelor’s degree, I went back to UPLB to enroll as a graduate student through a government-funded scholarship and earned my Master of Science in Agronomy degree last 2017.

It’s 2019, approximately 22 years since I dreamed of becoming a doctor. After having so many dreams and goals in mind (some of them, I achieved, most of them didn’t come to life), there’s this dream that I wanted to achieve ever since I studied Agriculture. I’ve been working on it for the past two years and after all the investments that I’ve given to for that dream (sweat, tears, money, time, etc) I can finally say that I am one step closer to achieving it.

The agriculturist will soon (hopefully) become a doctor. Not a medical doctor as what she dreamed of as a child, but a Ph.D. degree holder. I got admitted to a doctorate program and will soon try to achieve another dream, that is to have a "Dr." before my name or a "Ph.D." after my surname.

I might not become a doctor that heals the body, but I want to be a doctor who heals agriculture. I will try my best to be a person who uses science as a tool to help Filipino farmers and advance knowledge and research in the agriculture industry.