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Nidhi Gupta (United Kingdom -UK)
IFMSA Support Division of Publications, co-director
The notion of
vision is one that has preyed on my mind recently.As
well as the physical ability to see, it is also used for people
who
have dreams, who have a ‘vision’.
It is the ability to see beyond the status quo,
beyond the mundane and envisage a different, better
future. Some are even able to help
create that future: Mahatma Gandhi,
Martin Luther King and Mother
Theresa. These are always the most
cited examples of people who have
changed the world for the better.
However, not everyone can
become one of the above. If we all did, then they
would not be unique. However, just because we do
not have the resolve and drive to be one of the above,
 it
does not mean that we do not have the opportunity
to change the world, at least on our corner of it.
Every single person born is an opportunity, not to change
the entire world, but the world around it. And within the IFMSA,
we
have people who are trying to do that in their own way. Just
because what we do does not result in an end to prejudice,
healthcare
for all or the freedom of a country, we should never lose our
vision.
I, like all members of the IFMSA wish to carve out a better
world, a better future for our children and us. That is why we
do
what we do. If we are able to change the life of one person, we
have made a difference, not only in that person’s life but of
all
those around them.
It can be disheartening to not
achieve everything we want to. It
is difficult to keep going when we
seem to do so little, but we
should never forget that what we
do has an impact. Mahatma
Gandhi did not achieve freedom
in one act. He talked to people,
who talked to other people and
the message spread.
We have to make sure that we do not lose ourselves in
the process and forget the target. We lock away our aspirations
and dreams, and compromise, rationalize and believe that okay is
an acceptable word, but it is not. We should be proud that we
changed something, however small, but not stop there, because if
we stop, then the message stops and we lose.
This may appear preachy and cliched, but sometimes the
cliche needs to be stated. We are each and every one of us an
opportunity to make an impact however small, that will
reverberate.
This is the responsibility we have taken upon ourselves, not
as medical students or future doctors, but as people who have
decided to care about what we do, where we live and the future
of
our community.
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