When I was fourteen, my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Seeing her distressed and struggling was heart-wrenching, and I often felt powerless to help. Throughout it all, her physician was a lifeline for our whole family, teaching us how to redirect my grandmother’s agitation by eliciting pleasant, long-term memories of her childhood in Canada. Although there was no way to alter the progression of my grandmother’s illness, her physician’s compassion and steady presence made a lasting impact on me. Despite the emotional challenges of the doctor’s profession, I admired his remarkable resilience and ability to focus on what he could control. He inspired my first thoughts of pursuing a career in medicine. The lifelong learning and critical-thinking skills inherent in medicine further confirmed my desire to pursue a career as a physician.