Tears coursed down Kanika Whitehead's face after she opened the envelope and saw she would be going to Tampa, the closest program in her speciality that she could get to the little boy she helped raise.

Her fellow fourth-year medical students at the Medical College of Georgia whooped and cried during Match Day on Thursday as they opened their own envelopes and saw which residency program they would get to continue their training. But Ms. Whitehead thought about her 6-year-old brother, Courtland, now with relatives in Perry, Ga., who has called her "Mommy" since their mother suddenly died a few years ago.

"He was so worried," Ms. Whitehead said through her tears. "He said, "If you move, I'm not going to know where to find you.'"

Like her, many of her classmates have faced adversity and become caregivers before they have graduated medical school. For Ms. Whitehead, it began in August 2002, before her third year in medical school, when her mother, Elaine, died from an asthma attack. Ms. Whitehead suddenly was faced with caring for three brothers, including 3-year-old Courtland. She took six months off and got legal custody of the boy, moving him back to Augusta, where she had to dive back into her studies.

"It gave me purpose," Ms. Whitehead said. "I knew I wanted to be for him what Mama had been for us."

And in fact, she became "Mommy" to him.

"The first time he called me Mommy, I said, 'Courtland, I'm not your mommy.' Because I didn't want him to forget Mom," Ms. Whitehead said. "And he said, 'Yes, you are. I have a mommy in heaven and a mommy in Augusta.'"

And though she had to juggle studies, hospital work and day care by herself, she found herself buoyed by him.

"He gave me a reason. You couldn't sit around and mope and feel sorry for yourself when there are other people who need you."

Sydney Hester knows what that's all about. A year before entering medical school, she became the primary caretaker for her mother, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

"I've learned a lot as far as what patients are going through, how hard it is to see a loved one go through a devastating disease," she said.

For most students, it was pure celebration made more festive by St. Patrick Day's green shirts and shamrocks. Sezmin Noorani wore a shirt that said, "Kiss Me, I'm a Doctor," and could not stop repeating, "I'm going to Boston," after landing a slot at her favorite, Boston University.

"All week you prepare yourself for going somewhere you really don't want to go," she said. "Then the moment you open the letter and you see it, Boston, the tears and the excitement and the hype - it's overwhelming."

Wearing a big green foam hat to draw the luck of the Irish may have been part of the reason Derek Williams and fiance Elizabeth Holt got their top choice, the University of Virginia.

"It's like Match Day, St. Paddy's Day, March Madness ... the planets are all aligned," Mr. Williams said.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.