I started to smoke in college.  It seemed so cool.  The kids I wanted to be like and to have as my friends smoked, and then, so did I.  Marlboros, of course.  I probably smoked half a pack to a pack a day of cigarettes for those years.  It was such a terrific prop, adding even more glamour to the late night soulful conversations, the press of studying, becoming and being grown up.  I even was still smoking when I started medical school!  Then, I don’t know what happened.  I guess I was one of the lucky ones.  I just sort of...stopped smoking.  No great revelation, drama or even, for me, much effort.  It just tapered off over the first couple of years of medical school, smoking fewer and fewer cigarettes, with more and more time, weeks even, between each smoke.  At some point, I vaguely remember smoking what was to become my last cigarette.  I never looked back and never have smoked or been tempted to smoke again.  Probably the biggest legacy of that time for me is that I have the ex-smoker’s particular disdain for cigarette smoke—I wrinkle my nose, hold my breath and try to get away as fast as possible.  To all you smokers out there: I know it can be hard.  Hang in there!  Keep trying...it’s definitely worth it.  It’s never too late to quit, and there’s lots of help available when you’re ready.