Esmee, Class of 2022, was Blessed Trinity’s representative to the 2021 Congress of Future Medical Leaders this summer. The Congress of Future Medical Leaders is the nation’s foremost honors program for high-achieving high school students aspiring to careers as doctors and medical scientists. Teachers, counselors, and principals choose students to be Delegates based on their interest to enter the medical field as physicians or medical scientists; their leadership potential; and their academic brilliance. 

When the CFML (Congress of Future Medical Leaders) reached out to Esmee by letter to invite her to their congress, she knew she had to take advantage of the chance. This was an excellent opportunity for Esmee to explore her interest in the medical field. Esmee recalls, “I did not necessarily attend because I was sure I wanted to go into the medical field, but it was an opportunity to explore a career possibility in which I have been interested in; it was a privilege to catch a glimpse of what could be if I decide to move forward in this field.”

Over the course of three days, Esmee witnessed lectures led by some of the world’s leading medical professionals, along with a live surgery. “During the entire congress, we could submit questions to our lecturers to be answered in real-time. We had people from Time magazine, world-renowned surgeons, doctors, specialists, mentors, and many more.”  While this event is normally hosted at Harvard in their lecture rooms, the pandemic prevented this from happening. Instead, the Congress was able to accommodate Esmee and her fellow delegates to a virtual learning experience unlike any other. The Congress provided a virtual program that felt like a face-to-face encounter, but without the time, effort, and resources that students and their families would have spent going to an in-person event. 

When asked about her thoughts on the event, Esmee replies, “I took away from it the level of work that has to be put into this field in order to be successful. Countless numbers of speakers spoke to us about how hard they had to work to be successful. Particularly our second speaker, Dr. Mario Capecchi, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner, walked us through how he was knocked down time and time again. He would spend years and years studying a theory only to come to the conclusion it was false. Yet he never gave up. He continued to try and expand the world of science, and discover groundbreaking information in the world of genetics. Overall, I definitely recommend doing anything similar to this if you get the opportunity, most importantly because it opens the door to new possibilities. The entire Blessed Trinity community is incredibly proud of Esmee and can’t wait to see what her future holds. Congratulations Esmee!