I walked around the Christkindlmarket in downtown Chicago, I hear many foreign words
such as”Jak sie masz?” from the man greeting his friend or “Lassen Sie uns zu kaufen
Tee!” from the man conversing with his wife. At the far corner of the market, I spot a
wooden stand with Germanic carvings drawn on to it and European Christmas ornaments
hanging from the wooden ceiling like icicles. I stopped and scanned carefully at these
majestic orbs that held the history of many cultures. The woman from the counter woke
me up from this hypnosis and asked if I wanted to buy anything. She had a slight accent,
possibly Eastern European.
“Where are you from?” I questioned the counter woman. Immediately, I was about to
internally berate myself for asking such a straightforward and possibly invasive question.
However, this question lead to a conversation changed my perspective on what I really was
passionate about. Our conversation lead from her origins to linguistics to what we wanted
in life. Her dream was to create a better life here in the United States and become an artist.
“What do you want to be?” She asked.
There was a long silence between us. I had somewhat of an idea of what I wanted in life. I
wanted to become a doctor so I can serve to help people whenever they are in need. I
found the experiences of a doctor were very rewarding. At that time, I did not think this
