Having just ended my fourth year at UT, many of my friends and peers are graduating. Unfortunately, I will not be joining them, but I wish them the best in their endeavors.

With only one more semester to go, it's nice to have an end in sight. But in reality, it will only be the end in one chapter of my post-secondary schooling. I'm already in the process of applying to medical school, and I'll be finishing them, fingers crossed, during the ride.

I have a multitude of interests within the sciences. So the question is, why med school? I could certainly pursue grad school, but I don't feel that it would be as rewarding as practicing medicine. The ability to restore hope in and heal others is remarkably gratifying, but it would be naive to say that people won't pass away. Nonetheless, the opportunity of being able to heal others is motivating enough for me to pursue medicine.

Outside of school and my future, I am proud member of the Texas Iron Spikes. What are Texas Iron Spikes you say? The Texas Iron Spikes is a service, spirit and social organization at UT. We are the official spirit group of the UT baseball team; however, we not only heckle the visiting baseball teams, but we are a loud presence (among the tens of thousands of other fans) at football games.

We are intimately tied with our surrounding communities via service. Our members can frequently be seen volunteering at Heart House, through Neighborhood Longhorns and playing bingo with the elderly. We maintain social relations with UT sororities and girl spirit groups through parties and mixers. We are not sexist, though; we maintain social relations with guy groups by continually defeating them in intramural sports games. Unfortunately, I have been absent this past spring semester and have been unable to contribute to Spikes.

I love going to downtown Austin. As with many other college students, Sixth Street is where it's at. If only I were not a broke college student and could afford to go there more often. Even more money-depleting is the Warehouse District; it provides an upscale scene that can be a nice alternative to Sixth Street.

Tutoring and teaching are passions of mine. It is gratifying to be able to instill hope and understanding in others through explanation. As such, I like to see my students succeed, and I do whatever I can to achieve this. I currently tutor high school students in math and science subjects, but I have tutored college and high school students alike since I was in high school.

As I look back upon my life, I see many things started but left unfinished. Sports, teaching, research, volunteering, and much more... I dabble in things. Not that others don't. It's part of life for everyone; however, I feel that relative to others, mine has been less directional.

This is inauspicious for the Texas 4000. This organization needs committed members that will see it through.

Cancer is pervasive. Who doesn't know someone affected by cancer? It is a malady that is predicted to be experienced by one in two US men and one in three US women during their lifetimes. I've had multiple friends and relatives that have experienced cancer. A rookie (pledge) brother of mine succumbed to cancer. An aunt of mine and my paternal grandmother recently experienced it.

Although their situations are dreadful, it was hearing about two distant relatives' prognoses that ate at me. Both were diagnosed with brain cancers. Their prognoses? A few months to live; the treatments available did not provide optimism.

Those last few sentences are salient, and they evoke a multitude of emotions. The inability of the treatments to cure them is aggravating. How close they are to passing away is sad, and knowing that they are not the only ones that have to go through this is despairing.

I plan on being a physician in the future. I know that not everyone can be saved, and that I'll have to convey to others that they or their loved ones will pass away. But I atleast want to know that we were able to put up a good fight.

This is why I want to do the Texas 4000 for Cancer. I believe in it and its cause. I have faith that with enough research, all types of cancer will be able to be effectively treated. This is why I am sure that the Texas 4000 for Cancer will not be added to my list of things left unfinished.