Issue link: https://publications.tfs.ca/i/934716
because I got to have an immediate impact on people's lives." Dr. Ouzounian also used the technical skills she acquired practicing the piano, and applied them to the precision of her surgery. She discussed how the mixture of discipline and organizational skills that were taught at TFS helped fuel her determination to graduate and become S ometimes people find their passions at the ripe old age of five, when they decide that they want to fly to the moon. Others find their passions at 60, deciding to retire and create their own jazz band. Some, like Maral Ouzounian, Class of 1994, find their passions within a few days of starting their cardiac surgery rotation at McGill University. But passion is not a synonym for skill. It takes a large amount of perseverance and hard work to turn passion into talent. TFS gave Dr. Ouzounian the tools to cultivate her passion into an expertise, no matter at what age she found it. At TFS, Ouzounian benefitted from the rigorous IB Diploma Program that helped her with her critical thinking, time management and thought process. She graduated TFS with an interest in music and sciences, but found her main preoccupation later on in her educational journey. As she stated, "I enjoyed it [cardiac surgery] By Sarah M.-L., Level III Maral Ouzounian '94 successful in her field. At times, she was woken in the middle of the night to save a person's life, which, although stressful, made her appreciate the value she could bring to patients and their families through her job. Today, Dr. Ouzounian continues her successful career as a cardiac surgeon, while also balancing her job as a professor at the University of Toronto, a research scientist at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, and being a mother. She finds it important to train future surgeons because she understands the qualities portrayed by the "great teachers" she had the fortune of learning with while at TFS. In her words, her students are ultimately "the next generation who are going to take over our practice, and hopefully improve it." "I enjoyed cardiac surgery because I got to have an immediate impact on people's lives." 27 TFS ENTRE NOUS 2018