Thank you Yeh Yeh Nai Nai

Good evening! Thank you all for coming. My name is Eugene Hsu and I am a second year MD/MBA student in the DMS/Tuck joint degree program. When I was asked to speak at this event several weeks ago, my grandmother had just passed away after a decade of progressive mental deterioration from a massive stroke that paralyzed one side of her body. Today marks the fifth week since her passing which in Chinese culture is a day for remembrance by the sons, daughters and grandsons of the departed. In this spirit, I would like to share a story with you about my family and what your contribution means to us.

When I was growing up, I often wondered why my parents never really expressed their feelings and emotions the same way other parents did. When I would do well on a test or win a spelling bee, they might cook a nice dinner or ruffle my hair a little but they never told me the words “I’m proud of you”. Years later as an adult, I watched my father care for my grandparents as they became ill. My father would take days off work to fix the toilet at their house, my mother would cook grandpa’s favorite crab dish for Chinese New Year’s, and both of my parents would work extra hours to afford my grandparent’s medical care. And not once did I ever hear my parents utter the words “I love you mom and dad” nor my grandparents say the words “I’m proud of you”. All my life, my family has taught me that emotions like love, respect and pride are spoken loudest through self-sacrifice and service to one’s elders.

My grandparents’ lives represent the finest example of self-sacrifice. In the 1940s, they escaped the Japanese invasion of China, leaving their elders behind to give their children a better life in Taiwan. My grandparent’s spent their best years raising three sons and working to pay for their college educations. After the youngest son, my father, finished a graduate engineering program in the United States and married my mother, my grandfather and grandmother officially retired, planning to return to China to reconnect with family and to travel to all of the places they had wanted to go before the war. This is when my grandmother had her first stroke. She had had heart disease for many years that was left untreated because she did not have access to health insurance and did not want to burden the family with her illness. Ironically, after her stroke and paralysis, my grandfather would spend his retirement funds paying for her medical bills and then the remaining 10 years of his life caring for her day and night. Last year, as he was dying from heart failure, I was able to visit grandpa and tell him that I had started my first year at Dartmouth Medical School. He responded by saying, “finally, our family will produce a doctor”.

I realize how fortunate I am to be here tonight, the result of many sacrifices that my grandparents and parents have made for my life and education. With my MD/MBA, I hope to one day bridge the chasm that exists today between the business and clinical medicine and provide not only the best medical care for patients but the most affordable and accessible care. In doing so, I understand that while I may never fully repay the sacrifices of those that have come before me, I will forever be inspired by their example when I serve others as a physician and as a person.

I wanted to share my story with you because I want you to know how much your contributions mean to my family, my classmates and me. For us, the scholarships you provide represent pride in this institution, respect for the profession of medicine and love for the patients we care for in the future. Yours is the most significant of contributions to the training of future doctors and your generosity speaks loudest of all. Thank you.

mmmmmm Eggplant

4 chinese eggplants chopped into slices
1 bunch fresh Thai basil
2Tbsp oyster sauce
2Tbsp Maggi (we used soy sauce)
1Tbsp sugar
1Tbsp Maesri’s Pad Kapao sauce (chilis, garlic, basil leaves)
3 cloves of fresh garlic diced

Mix up the sauce. Fry the eggplants first with oil until soft, pour in the sauce and when its all mixed in nice and good and the eggplant starts browning and getting a little gooey, put in the Thai basil, mix up and serve. Mmmmmmm