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I was just about to give up on my life long dream

It was an incredibly tough time in my life. A few years ago, I felt as though my world was crumbling. Everything seemed to be going wrong for me. To start with, I was overworked and overwhelmed trying to finish my college degree while holding down a night job as a nurse. I was working through a hurtful breakup, my parents were going away for almost two months leaving me alone in the house, and my computer crashed; but these were only the minor situations. The real crisis was that I had received my score on the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test), a test that determines if one is admitted into medical school, and I had done too poorly to gain entry. This was an exam I studied for day and night for months. Being a doctor was my lifelong dream, and then I had to kiss it all goodbye after years of working as a nurse to pay my way through pre-med. I felt that all those years with little sleep and hard work were a total waste. Mourning the loss of my aspirations, I was very depressed, desperate and crushed. I figured I should find another career since this didn't work, and I didn't want to stay a nurse and constantly be reminded of a failed dream as I saw all the new, young doctors all the time.

As I cried to my mother, who almost canceled her trip to be with me, she told me to pray for help and guidance. That's all I could do, and so I did exactly that. A few days later, a close friend was comforting me over the phone as I cried. He told me an anecdote about President Abraham Lincoln that I was not aware of. He told me that everything he did in his early life was failure after failure and then, as we all know, he was a success. Those were his words. The very next day I went to the store. As I was waiting in line something caught my attention. I looked up and saw the monitor on the cashier's booth facing me. There on it was a picture of Abraham Lincoln and the inscription next to his image which said: “Failed, Failed, Failed. And then… Persistance. Pass It On.” At that exact same second my cell phone rang. I picked it up and it was my same friend who, the night before, told me almost those exact same words!!!

It was obvious to me that this was a message not to give up. From that day on things started getting better and the problems started fixing themselves. Most importantly, today I am halfway finished through medical school and I am preparing for my first board exam. I have a perfect grade point average and am at the top of my class. This billboard helped shape my path, as I believe it was sent to me as guidance.

Story was submitted anonymously