I spent a decade working toward one goal: becoming a doctor. The long hours, the studying, the pressure—it was all part of the plan. But then, life threw a curveball. I moved to Scotland for two years with my husband, and everything I thought I wanted started to shift.
A One-Way Ticket to the Unknown
In 2021, I bought a one-way ticket to a country I’d never set foot in. Scotland wasn’t part of my life plan. Medical school was. But when my husband was awarded a Marshall Scholarship to study in the UK for two years, I had a choice to make. Stay behind and keep grinding toward my medical career, or take a detour and move abroad with him.
I hesitated. Medicine had been my goal since I was a teenager, and stepping away from that path felt risky. But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I told myself it was just a temporary break—a chance to recharge before returning to the grind. I deferred my acceptance to medical school until 2023, confident that I’d be back on track soon enough.
From Rigid Schedules to Unexpected Freedom
Life in Scotland was unlike anything I’d experienced before. The pace was different. The expectations were different. And for the first time in a decade, I had free time—real, unstructured, guilt-free free time.
- I took long walks through Edinburgh’s cobblestone streets, just because I could.
- I read books that weren’t medical textbooks.
- I met people from all over the world and listened to their stories.
- I learned to cook meals from scratch instead of microwaving whatever I could eat in five minutes.
It was liberating, but also unsettling. I had spent so many years defining myself by my academic achievements and my future career that I didn’t quite know who I was without them. But slowly, I started to figure it out.
A Shift in Perspective
As my two years in Scotland came to an end, I braced myself for the inevitable return to my old life. The plan had always been to come back, pick up where I left off, and finally become the doctor I had dreamed of being. But something had changed.
When I thought about going back to medical school, I didn’t feel excitement. I felt dread. The long hours, the stress, the pressure—it no longer felt like a dream. It felt like a trap.
And that terrified me.
Had I really worked this hard, for this long, only to realize I didn’t want it anymore? Was I throwing away years of effort, thousands of hours of studying, and a future that so many people had supported me in pursuing?
Letting Go of the Dream That Wasn’t Mine Anymore
The realization didn’t come all at once. It was a slow unraveling, a series of quiet moments where I acknowledged, bit by bit, that my dreams had changed.
Medical school had once been my purpose, but now, it felt like an obligation. I wanted something different—more balance, more time for myself, more room to explore new interests. But making the decision to walk away wasn’t easy.
There was guilt. There was fear. There was the constant, nagging thought that maybe I was making a huge mistake. But deep down, I knew I couldn’t go back just because I had already come this far. I had to move forward, even if I wasn’t entirely sure where I was headed.
Health and Happiness Can Coexist
Interestingly, my passion for health never disappeared—it just took a different form. My time in Scotland made me more aware of how much lifestyle impacts well-being.
According to the World Health Organization, non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease and obesity account for 75% of global deaths, yet an estimated 80% are preventable through lifestyle changes. That statistic stuck with me. What if my role wasn’t in treating diseases after they appeared, but in helping prevent them in the first place?
So instead of pursuing medicine, I started exploring ways to promote health outside of a hospital setting. I wrote, I researched, and I looked into opportunities where I could make an impact without sacrificing my own well-being in the process.
The Unexpected Road Can Be the Right One
If you had told me three years ago that I’d drop out of medical school and prioritize free time over ambition, I wouldn’t have believed you. But here I am, a different person than I was before I stepped on that plane to Scotland.
Sometimes, life takes us in directions we never anticipated. And sometimes, the best decision isn’t sticking to the plan—it’s having the courage to rewrite it.
