Edgar Infante was fifteen when he decided to become a doctor. That was when his grandfather got sick—with diabetes, as it turned out.

He was in high school, at Churchill in San Antonio at the time. He wasn’t sure how he would reach his goal—no one else in the family had gone to college and the path wasn’t clear. But he was really good at soccer, played for Churchill, and managed to earn a scholarship because of it. That carried him to a division I university in Kansas.

A year in, he missed home, so started looking for a school closer to San Antonio. He found TLU and made his home there for the next four years, graduating in 2014 with a double major in molecular biology and Spanish.

A lot has happened since Infante finished his undergrad degree, and this semester, he returned to his alma mater to visit with a gathering of students with aspirations of their own. He came to talk about med school and the process of getting there—but also about the hurdles we all face when reaching for our dreams. “After 10 years, I’m happy to come back,” he said. “I’m excited to be here and share my story.”

Back when he first arrived at TLU, he knew his end goal—med school—but he wasn’t sure how he’d get there. “I was going to do chemistry but that was too hard for me,” he said with a laugh. He ended up choosing biology, on the molecular biology track—a tough path, but he took it and earned his degree. Even so, after graduation he struggled to find the confidence to take his med school entrance exam.

He took a gap year to think about it, the MCAT looming large in the distance. He grappled with his chosen field—even thought about switching to engineering—but always kept a toe in the water by working, for instance, as a scribe for a surgeon, or doing research at the Texas Liver Institute and UT Health San Antonio with their Department of Medicine. “This wasn’t a coincidence. I was trying to stay in the loop, stay involved—to get a positive affirmation that this field was right for me; that this was where I belonged.”

By the gap year’s end, he had that affirmation, along with letters of recommendation for school, and worked up the courage to take the exam. “So, I ended up taking it. I did well,” he said. Once that was out of the way, it was time to apply to school. He ended up at Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, in Guadalajara, Mexico. He says the choice was an easy one—although technically, it was his Plan B, Plan A having been to stay in the U.S. But his mother’s family comes from Guadalajara, and the university offers two tracks: one for national students, another for international, where the classes are taught in English. Although Infante is fluent in Spanish, he took the international track.

So began the first few years of medical school classes and intense study, as well as experience in the field. “Every Saturday, they’d put our names in a hat,” Infante recalled from his time in Guadalajara. “If you were chosen, you’d go to rural communities in the area and give medical care.” It was especially impactful for Infante the first time he diagnosed someone with diabetes, reminding him of his fifteen-year-old self and his grandfather—and of why he’d chosen this path in the first place.

After two years in Guadalajara, he entered the next phase of his education—the residency. He faced the decision of which field to choose within the world of medicine. “I thought at first I wanted to do rheumatology,” he said. “Then I had a sports medicine phase.” But neither one quite fit. “I went back to nephrology, thinking about my grandfather.” Nephrology is the branch of medicine that focuses on the kidneys.

Now in his second year of residency with the Texas Institute for GME and Research (TIGMER) Internal Medicine Residency Training Program at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, he can look back over his journey and marvel at the obstacles he’s overcome—obstacles many of the TLU students he spoke with will face after graduation.

One: “being a first-generation student and figuring things out on my own,” he said. Second, grappling with imposter syndrome, “feeling you’re not good enough.” He encouraged students to accept that they’re scared and move ahead anyway. Another obstacle: going to a foreign country to study medicine and facing being far from family and home. To that he said, “It was hard to be away, missing my parents, but I feel like it made me stronger.”

He had a few additional words of advice for current students. “Stay on course. Spend money wisely. You’re in a very important part of your lives right now,” he told his audience. “Don’t’ be afraid to accept help from people.” Finally, he recommended that students utilize their resources, listing TLU’s health professions club and even himself as a resource available to them.

Now a doctor, a husband, and a father of three, he’s happy to be back home and doing exactly the work he set out to do—helping people like his grandfather. But it doesn’t stop there. He also has a passion for helping others who want to get into the medical field—others who are facing down obstacles of their own. “I want to be an advocate for future doctors. I want to share my story. Everybody has obstacles, and it’s important to share our stories.”