Episode 3: Marisella Garcia

October 13, 2017

I love reading, and I’ve always been a bookworm. I insist that my alter ego is an English professor. I was always intrigued by these fantastical other worlds, and as cliché as it sounds, there are some stories that have really gotten me through hard times. Even when I’m not going through a tough time, reading makes me feel better. In terms of genres, I really like children’s and young adult literature. You can embarrassingly find me chilling in the Barnes & Noble children’s section looking at books that I read as a kid. I mean, even right now I’m reading A Wrinkle in Time, which is right next to The Jungle Book, which is right next to The Outsiders. In college I took a class on children’s literature, and my instructor for that class had a phrase: “Simple doesn't have to mean simplistic.” I thought that was brilliant.

I feel like sometimes children’s or young adult’s literature isn’t taken seriously. Maybe you can even say that about pediatricians and, by extension, kids’ problems. I don't understand that. I disagree with that. Maybe people don’t see children’s or teenager’s problems or stories as “as intense” or “as serious” as adult stories/problems. Maybe society struggles to see children as full members of society. That's funny to me because children are some of the most vulnerable patients physicians work with. I don’t want children and their struggles to be dismissed simply because some think they are trivial or “not fully developed.” Children don’t always remain children, and if we don't help them fully and care for them and listen to them, their problems will evolve into adult issues. I really think we should treat children and their problems with solemnity.

Children’s stories can be zany and fanciful, but at the heart of them are such universal human concerns. As outlandish as these stories can be, they speak about important human themes. These stories aren’t afraid to talk truthfully and honestly about what really matters without overcomplicating it all.

When I see a small child, it makes me so happy. When I see them smile at me, I feel this brightness come over me. To have the chance to connect to someone so young and innocent who trusts you, oh that's so fun! I feel like you won’t get that anywhere else in medicine.

So yeah, it’s something that I have been thinking about, pediatrics!, But I just don’t know. It’s so early, and there’s so much more to learn and experience.

Honestly, the greatest thing, and the thing that makes me happier than all else is making someone laugh. Making someone smile. Even for a second. Even during simple small talk conversations, you can include some corny pun in there and get a lovely reaction, and nothing brings me more joy than that. I just feel so connected to that person in that moment and so present. Even if I make a bad pun, and I do still get embarrassed, I just think it’s so worth it.

Being here at this school has been such an amazing experience. I have these pangs of anxiety sometimes about whether I really belong. I mean, I’m still figuring out my place in medicine: “What am I really passionate about? “Am I 1000% sure??” I’m always thinking of why I’m passionate about all of this. I’m trying to figure out why I’m here and what really draws me to medicine. I guess it just gets to me to see someone unhappy or unwell. It’s simple, right? But not simplistic.

I feel like I came to school to learn what it is I want to do, but I’m pleasantly surprised to find myself also learning about and growing into the person that I want to be. Now more than ever before, I feel so emboldened to connect with everyone! That's so wonderful and scary because I consider myself an introvert. This journey that I’m on is so challenging and fraught with moments of insecurity and doubt. I think I am indeed growing into the person I want to be, but change is always so scary. I’m just glad to be surrounded by the incredible people here while I go through all of this.
And no, the Facebook puns will never stop.

What are your 5 Most Recently Played Artists on Spotify?
Banks, Oh Wonder, Petit Biscuit, Drake (I know, I’m so hip I’m thigh), J Balvin

If you could have any superpower, which one would you choose?
Making money grow on trees. Because 1.) Money and 2.) When someone condescendingly says, “You know money doesn’t grow on trees,” I’d suddenly will a wad of Ben Franklins to sprout on the nearest tree and the person would be like, “Oh,” and I’d be like, “Yeah.”

Pick something or someone from NYMC go give out a shout out to!
I’m cheating on this one and not picking just one (didn’t you know I’m a rebel?), but I have to give a shout out to my 3 roommates. Julie Cox, Cydney Nichols, and Sandy Zhang (listed in alphabetical order because ya girl doesn’t play favorites like that) were the first people I properly met and got to know here, and they’re all so intelligent and funny and unique and way cooler than me, and I admire them so much that I write about them in run-on sentences, and I don’t even care because feels.

If someone wanted to talk to you, they should lead with…:
Anything about corgis, books, breakfast foods, references to The Office or Parks and Rec, or corgis. Because corgis.