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Wilderness

^{Taufiq Salahuddin}

^{Year in Medical School: Class of 2015}

^{Place of birth:
Iran}

^{Where you grew up:
Fayetteville, North Carolina}

^{College: UNC Chapel Hill}

^{Major in College:
BS Chemistry, Biochemistry track}

Taufiq Salahuddin

In the open back country of the North Cascades mountain range, surrounded by peaks as far as my eyes could see, I saw mountains gently redirecting the clouds around me. With snow under my boots, a starry ceiling above me, and green trees thousands of feet below, being a part of this scene gave a reinforced sense of how small we really are. I say that not in a hopeless sense, but in a sense of deep humility. I wanted to ask-how long had those mountains been there? How many winters had they seen? We people, though, we are mortal, and we will all taste death. The age of the mountains, for us, is unfathomable.

But there is more to us. We have life-reasoning, language, emotion. Though we are merely guests here on this Earth, we are in it together, a vibrant and thriving community. Gazing upon those stars, I felt connected-with the planet, the universe, and the all of people in it, from the bustling metropolis to the most isolated wilderness.

In medicine, we treat not a disease, but a fellow human in need living in this incredible world.

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