Danielle Ofri opens up with her calling a patient's name, "Nemesio Rios?" "[Ofr12] It then goes into a conversation in her office with her and Nemesio in which she identifies a burden for him that can't be described through his medical needs. If one keeps only the title of this story in mind, one will think that this story is just about a doctor trying to convince a kid from a rough situation to go to college, but her point needs to be further dug into.
This story immediately introduces Nemesio Rios. Nemesio is the son of a poor Mexican immigrant. One sees that he doesn't like history and feels that he is too lazy to go to college. His dreams include playing in the NBA and he also mentions that he likes to draw comics. He realizes that he is too short to play in the NBA and he isn't going to any type of art school to become an artist who draws comics. Nemesio is not following his dreams, he is very neutral. He is working in a kitchen instead of trying to become a professional basketball player. He's twenty, but he isn't attending an art school to become a comic book artist. We see excuses instead of action from Nemesio. When the doctor asks him what his reasoning is behind not going to college, he states that he is lazy and has no one to motivate him. When asked if he has taken the SAT yet, he says that he hasn't taken it because he doesn't like history.
In this story, one sees that while Nemesio is talking, Dr. Ofri's mind wanders back to a time in medical school where she is on a tour of the New York City medical examiner's office. She spotted a young boy on one of the autopsy tables. He looked to be around the age of twelve and died of a gunshot wound to the heart. Ofri describes him as "a beautiful boy " (524). She wanted to give him a chance to move just six inches to the right so that at worst he could be in the bed of a hospital room instead of a table of an autopsy room. She states that she thought of him often.
