It looked like he never removed the hanger. His shoulders were slanted and his sleeves were too long. He had dark golden skin and wore the traditional white jacket of a med student. I couldn’t tell if his glasses were too big or if his eyes were that wide.

It was cocktail hour at a fundraiser and he was standing with a small group of med students. They were all wearing their lab coats amid the crowd of successful donors dressed in dark suits and black dresses. It was like the junior varsity players had just gotten their letter jackets.

As most of these soirees go, you circle around the floor connecting dots into a final image. “I really, really hope that you are taking good care of yourselves,” I said to the young group of students. This is not a statement often heard by medical students. In fact, I think I startled them. Their young faces unwittingly softened then they nodded far too cautiously. That is, except for the young man with the golden skin. He didn’t nod, never spoke but leaned into the conversation riveted on every word. It was his eyes that punctured the silence.