Instagram and social media has a strange way of making you feel insecure about yourself. Instagram has no shortage of people who are better-looking, more fit or simply cooler than you. The reality is that no one is perfect and everybody has their own flaws. As part of the #perfectlyimperfectdocs campaign (started by my colleagues @dzeyemd and @dr.audreyxsue - nice, guys! đ), I want to share some things you may not know about me:
I am tone deaf and a terrible singer đ¤ But I love karaoke and even took voice lessons while in med school to try to improve. It didnât work. Do you remember William Hung (from American Idol, 2004) singing âShe Bangsâ? He sings better than me đś
I grew up with terrible stage fright đ Before giving school presentations, I would have heart palpitations and cold sweats. Only after many years of medical training did I finally get over it đ
If I am hungry, I am the biggest grouch đ It affects me so much that I have little stashes of protein bars around my office and in my car. I try to keep upbeat and happy, but thatâs not always the case đ
In school I struggled with language classes. They were much harder than any premed or engineering đ class for me. I took college-level Mandarin classes for 2 years and spent a school year abroad in Taiwan đ but I never got rid of my thick American accent đşđ˛ I also often misspeak with embarrassing consequences. One time in school I wanted to ask a cute classmate âafter you develop the photos, let me see.â Instead, I said âafter you bathe, let me seeâ đż (develop photos in Chinese is literally translated as âwash photosâ and yes, we were using film cameras back then) đ¸đ´
So, as you can see, I am a #perfectlyimperfectdocs. No one is perfect and everybody has their own struggles. Life is about self-improvement and working toward achieving happiness đ So let's do this! đ