Why did you make the career choice you did, again?



            I can’t really explain why I have chosen the career that I have. Whenever people ask me what I want to do with my life, I say, “I really want to work in medical research.”  That’s basically my solution for not having to explain everything to people who didn’t really want to know.  But sometimes, people just ask for it. 

            They say, “Oh, you mean, like with cancer or something?”  It’s not really my fault.  Once they have said that, we’re in for the long-haul.  I will have to explain what I want to do, and usually this is followed up with, because they don’t really know what hemophilia is.

            “Well, kind of,” I’ll explain.  “I really want to research genetic bleeding disorders.”  When I say this, I have to be very sure to really, really annunciate.  If not, I’ll get some sort of response about how they didn’t know that eating disorders were genetic. It’s kind of the same way that when I say that I’m a Clinical Lab Science major, they think that I’ve said, “Political Lab Science.”  When they changed my major to Medical Lab Science, I thought this phenomenon would disappear.  Now they just think that I said, “Magical Lab Science.”

            Anyways, returning to the task at hand.  After they have learned that I’m not talking about eating disorders, there will be one of a few options:

1)      “Oh, awesome!” This variety is the one where they actually know what those are, but don’t know a lot about them, and then we have a conversation about what it actually means for someone’s life to have a bleeding disorder
2)      “Oh, awesome!” This variety has different inflection, and is the one where they have no idea what a bleeding disorder is, and either don’t care, or are too proud to admit it.
3)      “What’s a bleeding disorder?” This can have a lot of great education connected to it.
4)      “You mean like hemophilia and stuff?”  This one can also have a lot of education connected to it as well, mostly because the people who respond this way are the people who don’t really know much about hemophilia, but believe it to be the disease where people can die from paper cuts.
5)      “I have a friend/family member/someone in my home ward with hemophilia!”  This one is a fun one, because then we really have a good connection together.

            I can’t really explain what it is that made me decide to work with hemophilia.  Mostly, I used to really like to read encyclopedias, and I once read about Alexei Romanov.  Ever since then, I’ve really just been fascinated by hemophilia.  And yes, it’s odd for someone with no connection to it to become so interested in it, but I really care.  It’s my passion.  I have a few passions in my life—probably more than most people.  My father always said that I was a passionate person.  But, I guess, everyone should have a passion of some kind.  In the play, Camelot, King Arthur says, “Don’t let your passions destroy your dreams.”  Luckily, my passion is my dream.

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