For years, I struggled with understanding my mission in life. I was raised Jewish in New York City, where there was strong familial pressure to become a doctor or dentist. Without too much resistance, I went to dental school…

By Macalai Ramos New York City When I was 2 years old, my mothers, Miriam and Sandra, began to notice that something was wrong with me because I could not sit still or sleep at night. They immediately…

Growing up, Oakland Children’s Hospital was my second home. As a baby, I experienced the first of 22 ear infections, which required multiple surgeries. At age 2, I developed seizures after my mom and I were broadsided in a car accident. I took seizure…

I grew up in the oil refinery town of Farmington, N.M., with an Italian father and Ghanaian mother. My parents bickered and yelled constantly at each other, and I came to adopt these same angry, confrontational traits. I…