What Really Matters?
By Transon Nguyen, Pharm.D.
One of my mentors once asked, “what really matters?” at the beginning of one of her lectures.
One of the answers she gave was “character” — “character matters,” she said firmly.
Every year, toward the end of the year, I often ask myself this question, and I encourage my children and students to ask themselves this question, not just at Christmas and New Year, but periodically during their journeys.
Often at the end of the year is when we often reflect on our journey, future plans, or simply some of our New Year’s resolutions. For many of us, it may be friendships, relationships, time, memories, and experiences are what truly matter in life. It’s those people and things that can never be replaced, even if you try. For many of us, “purpose” and God are the main aspects of life because, without God and purpose, you’d feel empty and void of everything.
“AUHS is a Christian-based, minority-serving university where the values of faith in God, love of humankind, and respect for all persons, irrespective of differences, are embraced.” This statement is the very first sentence in our Purpose and Identity Statement at AUHS. As we train new generations of healthcare providers to serve the underserved population in our communities throughout the world, the echoes of our mission statement will always stay in our minds. AUHS offers intense and condensed programs to produce quality healthcare providers to take on the challenges of our constantly changing global environment. Our staff, faculties, and students work hard to achieve our goals and our missions. The challenges also intertwine with the rewards in our journeys — to educate and to serve. Our students who enter AUHS understand that hard work builds character, and they enjoy the journey of learning, of educating, and serving. Hard work, Christian values, character, our ethical and moral compass, and many more things that really matter in our lives are our guiding lights on our journeys. We are grateful to be able to be a part of AUHS’s mission to educate and to serve.
To all our staff, faculty, students, patients, and communities, we wish a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
