"As I started growing up and learning a little more about life, I understood that a job is going to be something you are doing for somewhere around half of your life so if you’re surviving that rather than enjoying it you pretty much wasted your life." Fadi’s journey towards medicine began in Syria, it then found its way to California, South Dakota, and eventually Utah. He explains that while cultural influence may encourage young Syrian’s into medicine or engineering, it was ultimately his love of biology and passion for helping people that made up his mind. We discuss what it’s like to move to a country you’ve never been to, the organic flow of experiences that build a strong application, finding friends and a sense of community, and building strengths from areas of weakness.