Watershed Moment

Afonso Neto

    It was the 4th of January, 2010, a warm bright day in the Southern Hemisphere. One of those days when you can just go out with your friends and enjoy the pleasure of life. Also one of those days when you just forget your problems. Despite the blue sky and the red color of the sun printed on my skin, it seemed to me like a dark, gloomy day.

    Things are not so easy when you realize that an important moment of your life just came to you as a storm. No time to prepare yourself. No time to teach to your young mind the consequences of the facts. And the fact that I was trying to put in my mind was that I had to prepare myself for the entrance exam for Medical School.

    I had just finished high school and I had not done well in my first attempt at the entrance exam. The solution my parents found was to enroll me in one of the best standard exam preparation schools in my state. I know it might seem a great idea. However, at that moment, what was running in my mind was my mother’s words: “Honey, you have to learn how to live alone”.

    Her words rang true because this exam preparation school was located in Recife, the capital of my state. Translating this into my 16-year-old world: Very, very far from home. At that time of my life, I had never thought about what my life would be like without my parents surrounding me. It was a kind of shock when reality hit me. I was that kind of person who is too attached to family and friends. And living in another city meant leaving them.

I had the choice to stay at home. I could just find some job to make money and finally leave home. A much smoother process, I thought. But if I do that I will have to give up my dream of becoming a Doctor, my confused mind told to me.

    I was drowning in my own thoughts when my father came to my door and asked if I was ready. Ready for what? I wondered. For the rest of my life that I couldn’t see? He did not complete his question, nor did I ask for clarification. I just walked thoughtfully through my home to the garage as fast as could and put my bag in the car. I did that too fast, maybe. But I can remember I did that as a child who runs through the darkness, trying to avoid any possible ghosts that might appear. My ghost was my entire life I lived in that house. My childhood.

In an attempt to show strength, I turned to my parents' tearful faces and, in response to my father’s question, I said, “Yes! I am ready”

    Now that I am a Medical Student I look back at that sunny day and wondering about the secrets of life I think about that “yes” and its importance in my life. What if I had said “no”? How would my life be today? Would I be sorry?

    I like to compare that “yes” as a watershed. People always have moments like this in their lives. I was just 16 years old when I had to choose that decision, but I had to mature my mind to choose the best one. Even though it seemed it was going to drown me, I chose the strongest current which instead of throwing me down a dangerous waterfall, quietly guided me to a calm lake.

    Putting it in different words, sometimes we have to abdicate the lull and grab ourselves to the storms. Going out of our comfort zone is difficult, but it shows us the best paths, and the strongest flows.