Every summer since I was in eighth grade I have volunteered at MaineGeneral Hospital in the Cancer Wing. I would throw on a pair of khakis and a white polo at six in the morning each Thursday and volunteer from 8-12. Although many people that come into the Cancer Wing are in an  incredible amount of pain, more than half of them never show it. They are always kind and many like to crack a joke or tease me. I have met numerous people that have changed my life entirely. Two of these people, helped me decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

It was the summer before my senior year of high school and as always I was volunteering. The day was pretty miserable and you could tell that the patients were done with the rain and tiredness of the outside world. I was trying my best to put on a smile and try to brighten their day but I was feeling the tiredness too. Then, in rolled a couple, holding hands, and giggling about something that only the two of them would have gotten. The CNA positioned their seats so they were facing each other. The husband started talking and his wife got treatment, he loved her with all his heart. He said that once she passed away, there was no point in him living. I sat with them for almost my entire volunteering shift, just listening to their stories. I was blown away by these two amazing people. 

After their treatment was over, I hung by the nurses station for awhile quizzing them on the two patients and if there were other patients like them. The nurses said that all the patients had stories and they heard at least one amazing story everyday. I knew right then that I wanted to listen to these stories for the rest of my life. I decided that day that I wanted to do something in the medical field with oncology patients. I can thank that amazing couple and the lovely nurses at MaineGeneral for showing me the light.

This story can relate to an idea from David Gilbert, in the excerpt from his book, he talks about how we talk to people that have experienced things we want to experience, so we can decide whether we want to actually experience it or not. He refers to this idea has a surrogate. I used my conversations with the nurses as a surrogate for what I want to do in the future. I also think that volunteering, as a whole, is a surrogate for having the opportunity to experience careers.