As a junior on the cusp of entering the workforce and becoming a “real adult,” I am constantly told to think about the future. The adults in my life often remind me to consider where I see myself in 10 years and start an IRA as soon as possible.
With all this talk of the future, one question recently caught me off guard. I visited the DMV a few months ago to renew my license and was asked whether I would like to become an organ donor. I was so busy being “thoughtful” about working life, graduate school and even retirement, that registering as an organ donor had barely crossed my mind. I needed to do my research.
Now I see that as I enter adulthood and start to make life-defining choices, organ donor registration should be one of the first things I consider. There is an urgent need for donors in the U.S. Currently, there are about 115,000 people are on the national waiting list for organs, and someone new is added to the list every 10 minutes.On average, 20 people die every day waiting for a transplant. Fortunately, each donor combats the problem considerably—a single donor can save eight lives.
As a community, Dartmouth can do more. Discussing organ donor registration with friends can help inform our choices and introduce others to the idea. Let’s use Dartmouth’s tight-knit culture for good and make organ donor registration a choice everyone considers before leaving the Green.
— Katherine McCreery
McCreery is a member of the Class of 2019.
