Chayna Kanofsky

I’ve never suffered from the illusion that happiness comes from success or meeting artificially invented goals. In my world view, I see happiness as the ability to bind character and calling.

Character – that’s the essence of me. It’s the synthesis of nature and nurture. I am a caring, kind, and compassionate person.

Calling – it’s not something one invents, it's a discovery. I unexpectedly found mine in seventh grade science class. The students were told to perform a frog dissection – something that instilled great fear in others and caused profound excitement in me.

The scalpel, the complex organs, the smooth skin - it all fascinated me, grabbed hold of me. My eyes were opened and in that narrow slice of time, I saw my future – medicine and surgery.

I want to devote myself to tending to people’s frailties and injuries. I’ll combine my compassion, knowledge, and skill to provide for their health and wellbeing.

I dream of those days to come – transforming caring from feeling to verb, abiding by the Hippocratic Oath, and riding the wave of joy that is best obtained from a life well lived.