Bem Atim knew he would one day cross the Carnegie Hall stage as a graduate of Weill Cornell Medical College. But he never expected to stand in the spotlight as the Class of 2013 student commencement speaker.
Every year, the students in Weill Cornell's graduating class elect a commencement speaker to represent them and share insight and inspiration. The Class of 2013 elected Atim to this honor for its graduation May 30.
"I think they chose me because I tend to be a quiet person, but when I speak, hopefully I say things that are sometimes profound and meaningful," said Atim, 27, from Pittsburgh, Pa., who will soon begin a residency in psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine.
That's a point to which his classmates can attest.
"I think he's greatly representative of Weill Cornell," said fourth-year medical student Malcolm Johnson. "I guess the best way to describe him is someone who is humble, someone who is kind-natured, someone who is very caring."
It's a demeanor that's defined Atim and led him to the culmination of his medical education.
The Power of Inspiration
Before he set his sights on medical school, Atim dedicated two years to Teach For America, schooling some 120 disadvantaged teenage boys from the south side of Chicago in science and math — while encouraging them to make positive choices and pursue their life aspirations. Many of them did just that.
"It has been very inspiring to help kids make that transition out of their neighborhoods and into good career paths," he said. "There were some triumphs at times. I'm very proud of my kids — I'm sorry; my students — who have graduated."
"But then it can also be frustrating sometimes," he added, "because there were some students who made bad choices, and at one point you have to let people be responsible for the decisions they make."
But as challenging as teaching was for Atim, he himself was inspired. Teach For America reminded him of the vital role quality health and health care have on children and young adults. Many of his students had asthma. They would go to school sick — or not go at all. There were mental health issues that remained untreated.
"A lot of neighborhoods are plagued by violence," he said. "There's almost a post-traumatic stress disorder epidemic, similar to our soldiers fighting overseas. I had many students who witnessed cousins, family members being killed in front of them, and they bring that anger into school and it really does affect their career paths."
That's when he knew that medical school would be the way he could make a meaningful contribution to address those problems and make a difference. Attracted to Weill Cornell by its sense of community, he started his medical training in 2009 and quickly gravitated toward teaching.
For the past three years, Atim has been program director of the Weill Cornell Youth Scholars Program, a summer program offered free of charge to high school students in metropolitan New York. The program introduces students to a career in medicine and coaches them for their collegiate journey. His oldest kids are now preparing for the MCAT, the medical school entrance exam, and are emailing him for help.
"I keep having this dream that it's going to become this very large alumni program and kids of kids are going to be entering this program," Atim said. "It's very exciting but also very humbling for me to see the kids in this program take off and rely on me for advice."
Standing center stage at Carnegie Hall next week, Atim will share the insights he's gleaned to inspire his classmates as they embark on the next step of their medical careers. It hasn't quite hit him yet that his four years at Weill Cornell are over.
"I think the four years that I've been here have been the longest four years of my life," he said. "Not necessarily in a bad way, but I sort of look back to when I first came to Weill Cornell as a pre-med and graduating now, seeing how much I've learned in this four-year span — it's been a remarkable journey."
And the start of a new one.
"I can't exactly predict where I'll end up in 10 years," he said.
Wherever his career takes him, we predict an enduring dedication to inspiring and teaching.