When I moved to the United States from Germany for my junior year of high school, I knew I wanted to become a doctor. While I had clarity about my goal, I had no roadmap for how to get there.

The U.S. medical system was foreign to me. My school couldn’t guide me, and my parents, though supportive, had no way of helping with the process. I had no mentors, no connections, and no understanding of what colleges were looking for in a future pre-medical student, so I felt lost.

I met Dr. Sabesan while shadowing her for just a week in high school, and in that time, I not only discovered orthopaedics, I also found clarity: this was the work I wanted to do, and she was the kind of doctor I wanted to become.

After graduation, she took me into her clinic and research team. Through her, I discovered the power of research- the reason we know exactly what we know now in medicine, and the joy of patient care, where I could see people’s lives change before my eyes. She became the only source of guidance I had in a system that otherwise felt closed off to me.

Even then, my college journey started out hard. I ended up at a school with no medical program, no faculty support, and no premed environment. I still felt uncertain and overwhelmed. The reasons keeping me motivated were incredible people that make up YourMedMom- Aghdas, Elizabeth, Lana, Jocelyn, and Dr. Sabesan – who walked with me through transferring schools in pursuit of better academics, navigating my first semesters, and standing by me through research conferences, posters, and presentations.

This is why I helped build YourMedMom.

I know firsthand how far the right mentorship and community can take you, because I lived it. I relied fully on the support of Dr. Sabesan and her amazing students, and it’s the reason I’ve come this far. I don’t want any other students, women, mothers, or those without a built-in network of support to go through that alone.

YourMedMom exists to be the community I didn’t have. The mentorship I relied on. The guidance that carried me forward. Because with the right support, that dream is not only possible, it’s already unfolding.