Last night I was at dinner with a couple of friends. A good friend of mine from class was sitting across from me, and at one point, the topic of generosity came up. The discussion helped elucidate a concept that I’ve always believed, but never really put onto paper, so I guess now is a good enough time than ever.

I have always been really big on kindness. I like kind and courteous people. A lot.

The basic concept I want to propose is that when it comes to success, being nice and kind goes a long way. I think more so than we often realize.

Appreciation

I have to admit, it’s nice to feel appreciated when you do a good deed, like when you help someone. It actually really annoys me when I help someone out and I don’t get a simple thank you in return – thanking someone for taking their time to help you is so simple and makes such a huge emotional difference, that it boggles my mind when people don’t do this.

I remember one time in an undergraduate biology class a complete stranger asked me if I could send them the notes I had typed up that day since they came a bit late. I said sure. I emailed them to her and never heard back.

I receive quite a few emails here at MedHopeful and while I’m more than happy to answer questions and provide personal advice, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth when nothing comes back in return – not even a simple thank you.

What happens? The next time you email me, I’m going to remember you as the person who wasn’t even courteous enough to say thank you – and it would probably be naive to think that wouldn’t consciously or subconsciously affect any advice I provide in the future.

And I’m sure you might be a nice, great person, but look at the impression that was left behind instead. Not saying thanks implies being ungrateful, even if you were in fact grateful.

When you get help, take the time to say thanks. All it takes is a second, but it goes a long way to building good, strong relationships.

Generosity

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Hello World! Since this is my first ever post, I figured that I’ll keep it light, telling you guys a bit more about myself (stuff that wasn’t already covered in About), along with a tangent, and some of my plans with MedHopeful.

Being ‘serious’

Josh and I recently had a discussion about first impressions, and as the topic shifted to our first impressions of each other – we first met at O-Week – he told me that his first impression of me was “serious”. I responded with a “what?!”, but to be fair, I had already known that I had given off that vibe.

On the first day of O-Week, we had a welcome talk delivered by the Associate Dean, where he said something along the lines of: “It’s traditional for the Associate Dean to present statistics about the entering class…This year, we have one 19-year-old student…” A small buzz in the auditorium arose, and I simply shrunk in my seat, thinking to myself, “No one will know it’s me.”

I had gone through the whole medical school application process without disclosing my age, and had no intention of doing so in medical school either. In undergrad, I realized that letting people know that you are younger than your peers is a double-edged sword. On one edge, you felt ahead of the game, but on the other, some will question your capabilities and maturity level.

It turns out that a good friend from high school, who was also in my class, had literally squealed in excitement, saying, “Oh! Oh! I know who it is!” By the end of the day, my cover was blown, and I spent the rest of week overcompensating by pretending to be an overly mature and incredibly serious person, before I couldn’t keep it up anymore.

Different types of impressions

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