Dr. Meredith Grey: A Force of Nature
**Disclaimer: If you have not watched Grey’s Anatomy, beware of spoilers. But more importantly, go watch it. Like right now.**
If you’re one of the many Grey’s Anatomy fans, a pre-med student or just an aspiring general surgeon, Dr. Meredith Grey should definitely be your role model.
Here’s why:
She’s survived… well, almost everything:
Bombing, shooting, drowning, etc. You name it, and Shonda Rhimes has probably written about it. Meredith Grey has come out of the most unimaginable circumstances stronger than when she went into them. For example, she lost her husband to a car accident and her eternal best friend had left her for a fancy new job far away. Instead of letting all of that get to her, she went on to make the incredibly complex abdominal wall transplant (a surgery in which the skin, tissue, muscle and blood vessels that cover the abdomen is taken from one patient to use for another) possible, and, as a result, won the fictional Harper Avery award. In the true words of the handsome character Dr. Avery, “The most amazing thing about Meredith is that she takes all that pain, all that loss, and she turns it into drive. Drive to save lives. Make things better,” (Season 14, Episode 7).
2. She’s a fighter:
Meredith Grey pulls no punches. She says things how they are and fights for what she wants in the cut-throat medical world she lives in. When her eventual husband was once stuck in choosing between her and another woman, she declared the now-iconic and heart-stopping proclamation: “So pick me. Choose me. Love me,” (Season 2, Episode 5).
*Deep sigh* Wow. No words.
It’s no surprise they eventually do get married.
Oh, and let’s not forget what happened when her new contract paid her a salary too low of what she actually deserved.
She definitely didn’t hold back then. In fact, she took her contract straight to the intimidating Chief Bailey and demanded the equal, deserving pay for her hard work.
Because that’s simply who she is. She’s not the one to cower or run away. No, she bucks up and faces things head on - now that’s what we call an inspiration.
3. She will be there for you:
Meredith Grey is literally everyone’s confidante, even if she doesn’t always have her own by her side. She’s the best friend of Cristina Yang, warning Owen to not even dare to hurt Cristina, and eventually becomes Alex Karev’s best friend, being there for him when Izzie, his first wife, was diagnosed with cancer. Meredith Grey is the glue that holds everyone together and will be your safety net even when she’s in the middle of breaking down.
Of course, Grey’s Anatomy is not reality so it might be a little strange and even unrealistic to expect yourself to be as strong as she was in the craziest circumstances. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t try.
Pick yourself up a little. Be there for your friends. Most importantly, pull no punches and fight for what you want. And who knows? You might even find yourself winning the next notable medical award.