Envelopes held their future Friday. They revealed where graduating medical students will train as residents for the next three to seven years of their lives.
"It's a dream I had my whole life. So, this is kind of crazy; it's happening. I get to have my whole life chosen for me," said Lauryn Pausley, who matched at University of Illinois Chicago.
Match Day occurs on the same day, at the same time, at medical schools across the country.
Locally, students from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine learned their fate, as did students at the University of Illinois Chicago.
And as the balloons fell, nearly 200 students from Loyola University's Stritch School of Medicine found out which residency programs they'll be paired with in their chosen specialties.
"I'm going to Cook County, the county, I'm very excited -- family medicine all the way," said Lizzy Tutu, who matched at Cook County Health.
The excitement in the room was palpable. And what was even more inspiring was the number of first-generation medical students in the room.
"For me, it started when I was a little girl. I always knew I wanted to be a doctor," said Lauryn Pausley, who matched at University of Illinois Chicago.
Pausley matched in internal medicine. She's the first in her family to become a doctor.
"It feels empowering, especially in the world we're in, especially as a Black woman, going to be a Black doctor, for our health and for our community. We are incredibly proud of her," mother Leslie Walker said.
"I'm a DACA student, so first in college, high school, everything. So, it's meant a lot," said Alexis Hernandez, who matched at Boston Medical Center.
A student who is part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and was born in Mexico, Hernandez hopes to make his two daughters, plus another on the way, proud.
He wants to provide a life for them different than what he or his wife ever had, he says.
Originally from the East Coast, he's ecstatic to have matched in Boston. He will soon work at one of the busiest emergency rooms in the country.
"It's life-changing for all of us. My parents came here when I was 5 years old, growing up with Deferred Action. Going to medical school, it's been rough. But I think it's allowed me to relate to my patients in a way that many other people can't. So I think emergency medicine is perfect, where I can actually treat my patients how I wish I was treated when I was going through all this," Hernandez said.
After years of hard work and dedication, this marks the beginning of the next chapter, as students become physicians.
"This is a culmination of all of that. That's what this energy is. The energy with their village, mom and dad, siblings, significant others, so we're celebrating all of this. All those years come to this," said James Mendez, senior associate dean of Student Affairs at Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University.
"No matter what comes in life, you can do it. Yeah, a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of crying, stressing out for four years, but it's worth it in the end," Hernandez said.