My Mentoring Friend

It is incredible how fast time can fly. I had the chance to finally catch up with my old friend Larry over dinner at Guu in Vancouver. He even brought his adorable five year old son Noah. Even though we met up at the Sun Run, we didn't get much of a chance to talk.

Larry has always been very influential throughout the short time we've known each other. Although we can't meet up as much as we used to, I still look up to him like an older brother. He's always been great in providing me with guidance, with advice and encouragements.

Our friendship began roughly six years ago while I was working as a clinician at Delta Mental Health. Larry was a psychiatrist who was pretty fresh out of medical school with only 2-3 years of clinical experience. As new graduates, we were full of nervousness as this our first job opportunity to apply all the acquired theories into practice. Larry decided to take me under his wing in a mentor role. In the next three years, he shared his knowledge with me while encouraging me to think outside the box.



Just before we parted ways, he pulled me aside and asked if I would ever seriously consider returning back to school to study medicine. He kept insisting that I had great instincts, caring & compassion while always finding new ways to improve the quality of our health care's delivery system. Although I had never said it outright, he identified my desires to expand my practice to the next level.

Despite my overwhelming desires to persue medical school, I decided to decline the opportunity. Although I had support from my family, I did not want to put off my future life with my fiancee.

After catching up with all the latest news, we ended our delightful dinner with desert at Mondos Gelatos and went back to his place for some tea at his new home in McDonalds Heights in Vancouver.