Rameez Merchant

My story kicks off in a simple corner of Atlanta, Georgia, where my strongest memory is racing down a hill in our backyard, the air thick with the smell of fresh-cut grass. It feels like I blinked and suddenly, I was eight years older, packing up my life to move to Toronto. It sounds exciting, right? New places, new faces, but it also meant saying goodbye to my buddies, my comfy bed, and the routine I could almost sleepwalk through.

Moving to Toronto was like opening a book to a page I'd never seen before—exciting but kinda scary. I had to leave behind everything familiar, but that move also sparked something new in me. It wasn’t long, though, before my family decided to take another leap, this time all the way to Mumbai. Just as I was getting used to snow under my boots, I found myself dodging street dogs and cats in a bustling city that felt worlds apart. Suddenly, I was the kid who didn’t have to panic about the internet dying when someone picked up the phone, surrounded by people who looked like me and spoke like me, although my version of our language got some polishing over the years.

School in Mumbai was a mixed bag. I rocked biology, math, and even Hindi, but English? That was a different story. Everyone expected the kid from the States to ace it, but here’s the thing—talking in English is one thing; writing it is another beast entirely. That’s when I realized I was fascinated by how things worked, from the smallest plant cell to the human body, sparking my dream to become a doctor.

Then came the move to South Africa, and with it, my determination to chase that dream all the way to med school. Being the first in my family to take this path meant living in two worlds—the one at home, full of traditions and expectations, and the one outside, filled with new ideas and challenges.

This journey’s taught me a lot about resilience. Life’s thrown its share of curveballs, but I’ve learned to stay in the moment, because who knows when the next big change is coming? It’s about keeping those you love close and remembering we’re all here for a short time, so make it count. As I look back, I want to know I've lived a story worth telling, filled with laughter, love, and maybe a few lessons learned along the way.