As Hannah Green opened the envelope she had been holding for 20 minutes Friday morning, waiting anxiously with about 150 of her classmates at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, she quickly found out she was going to be moving to California.The 25-year-old said she “couldn’t be happier .”“Any option is a good option,” said Green, who was born and raised in Oak Park. She'd spent much of her adult life studying in the city, but said California "is where I wanted to be.”It was all part of the annual fanfare for Match Day, when medical students found out where their residencies will be, determining the immediate future of their careers. It took place simultaneously across the country, as thousands of medical students opened their envelopes and learned their next destination. Northwestern student Hannah Green (left) hugs her sister Sarah Green during the Match Day ceremony Friday at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.Violet Miller/Sun-Times Green will be joining the University of San Francisco's primary medicine team. She said she's going into internal medicine after gravitating toward patients who needed a little extra care and attention during her rotations. One patient in particular, a veteran she treated at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, solidified the decision for her, she said. The gratitude he expressed after being discharged will stay with her through her career.“I owe a lot to my patients, and I’m just excited to help take care of people and learn more from them every day,” Green said.At Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, Kate McNamara and her partner found out they would both end up at Yale together, he in orthopedic surgery and she in neurology. It was a full-circle moment for the couple who met during their first year of medical school.“It’s so surreal,” McNamara said. “We’re so, so excited.” Anthony Seddio and his girlfriend Kate McNamara celebrate after finding out they are both going to Yale for their residencies during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 1 of 11 A person writes on the shirt of a Loyola University Chicago medical student after finding out where their residency will be during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 2 of 11 Monay Zayed, who is going to University of Chicago for family medicine, reacts as she sees the results on the envelope during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 3 of 11 Monay Zayed, a Loyola University Chicago medical student who will be going to the University of Chicago for family medicine, hugs her family during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 4 of 11 Anaisa Quintanilla-Arteaga (right) and Sally Ceesay hug after finding out their residencies during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 5 of 11 Anaisa Quintanilla-Arteaga (right) and Sally Ceesay celebrate after finding out their residencies during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 6 of 11 Maggie Bennett, who is going to University of North Carolina at Chapell Hill for radiation oncology, reads her envelope as her mom Tricia Bennett and her husband Robbie Tomashaw react during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 7 of 11 Loyola University Chicago medical students and their families celebrate after opening their envelopes during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 8 of 11 Quinn Johnsoy, who will go to University of Missouri Kansas City for emergency medicine, puts a pin on a map that shows where students will be going for their residency during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 9 of 11 Sally Ceesay, who is going to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, receives a hug after finding out she will be doing her residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 10 of 11 Loyola University Chicago medical students and their families toast during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill. on Friday. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 11 of 11 Alongside them in the crowd was Sullibet Ramirez, who found out she would also be moving away from her lifelong home in Chicago Heights. She's headed to Denver Health in Colorado for emergency medicine.While she was excited to land her first choice, she was even more excited by what being a doctor meant. Coming from a family of immigrants, she said they had struggled in the past with health care. She now looks forward to bridging that gap in her new role.“We didn’t have connections or ties to the medical community, so to be that resource for others is what I’m most excited about,” Ramirez, 28, said.“I’m a doctor,” she added in wonderment. Sullibet Ramirez celebrates Friday after seeing that she is going to Denver Health for emergency medicine during Match Day at Loyola Health Sciences Campus’ Center for Fitness in Maywood.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times Ramirez is trading places with Northwestern student and Denver native Alec Jotte, who is set to start as a resident in internal medicine at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center next year.He said he looks forward to working with Spanish speakers, something he had in mind when he first started medical school, as well as to keep learning medicine during his time there.“I’m super excited to be a part of the community,” Jotte, 27, said. “[Rush] does a lot within the community and it’s a great academic center, so I’m excited to get that whole picture.”Not far away, just beyond a table of champagne glasses, stood Northwestern students Helina Mengesha and Ataeh Fonteh, who met on their first day of classes four years ago.The two were part of the first white coat ceremonies after the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the events, and had both decided to follow the general surgery track.Mengesha, a Seattle native, is heading to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. She had been open to what was possible before she found out, and looked back on her admission to Northwestern with pride. Coming to Northwestern, she said, was “the best thing that ever happened to me.”Fonteh agreed — no matter what, they had achieved their dreams.“It doesn’t really matter what’s in the envelope, I’m gonna be a surgeon,” Fonteh, who is from Southern California, said. “That is the most surreal part. It’s happening.” Northwestern medical student Ataeh Fonteh takes a picture with her parents as she holds a purple shirt they printed out with her face and name on it during the Match Day ceremony Friday at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.Violet Miller/Sun-Times ...read more read less