Dream big and succeed

I would like to tell you about John, our sixth-year medical student, currently with us for his six-week GP attachment.

His journey so far is inspirational, a story of sheer determination, selfbelief, dedicated parents and a community that backed his dream.

John is hoping to become a cardio thoracic surgeon, a ‘heart surgeon,’ and I have no doubt he will make it.

The first thing you notice about John is his enthusiasm. It’s infectious, He has smiled from the second he walked into our medical centre. His real name is Myoung Jong Lee, and he arrived from Korea as a 15-year-old boy who didn’t speak very good English. His mum and dad wanted to give John and his younger brother the best future, so they gave up their respective police and nursing jobs and moved to the North Shore. Since their arrival, Dad has painted houses and Mum has been a health carer. John has also worked hard, played rugby, and chased his dream of becoming a surgeon.

His first milestone was getting a place at Auckland Medical School. Awesome, he thought, until he realised that even though he was only months away from becoming a New Zealand resident, he would have to pay the annual foreign student fee of $68,000. John often reflects how lucky he has been to have supportive parents who made sure he had a warm house and food on the table, but they simply couldn’t afford the university fees.

Not giving up, he wrote to just about everyone he could think of, pleading his case. He got nowhere, so he realised he had to find the money another way. He set up a crowd funding webpage, and in 30 days he had raised enough to start his first year at med school. He was amazed and humbled that anonymous locals had simply knocked on his door, wished him luck, and given him a few dollars, but the bulk of the money had come in the form of interest-free loans from a few who were captured by his inner resolve. He was never going to let them down.

Now I know many students, by their sixth year, will have debts of more than $100,000. John’s is only $12,000. He has paid off all the loans he was given by his friends and community. What is more remarkable is that even though he did indeed become a resident in his first year, he didn’t qualify for a student loan. You have to have been a resident for three years. So he survived by working three jobs on top of his studies.

The evenings were spent tutoring high school students, whilst weekends he worked for his friend’s tie-dye t-shirt business and ran keep fit classes at his local gym.

When I first heard this story I realised, as does John, that this is fundamentally about believing in yourself, but a bit of help is critical. Whilst I think that John should pat himself on the back, I don’t think he does. Instead he is deeply indebted and appreciative to his family and the North Shore.

We need to back our next generation. If we do, they too can dream big and succeed.

"When I first heard this story I realised, as does John, that this is fundamentally about believing in yourself, but a bit of help is critical."