It is a tremendous honor and privilege to have been elected to serve as the President of the New England Surgical Society for this past year. The Society has a long and distinguished history and has been an important contributor to the development of surgical science and education in New England. I feel particularly humble and proud as an immigrant, not only to New England but to the United States as well. New England took me in and provided a professional home, and the United States took me and my family in and enabled us to survive.