"Grey's Anatomy's" own Sara Ramirez plays a doctor who saves lives. But she won't be for much longer.

The long time television show actress is not coming back for "Grey's Anatomy" season 13. It was a decision she decided to make that meant a lot to her. She did not get any backlashes from it. Her own colleagues supported her decision even though it meant her leaving the show.

You know her as Dr. Callie Torres. Parade quotes her in saying "It's the best choice I ever made." But before she left the show, she created her own series of TED talks titled "Education Revolution." The talk is filmed through a PBS special with fellow host Baratunde Thurston. The talk is part of the Spotlight Education week.

Ramirez explains that as an individual of mixed race (Mexican-Irish-American) and a female of color, she sees education as important especially knowing that 60% of Latin and African American kids drop out of high school. The "Grey's Anatomy" actress adds that she wants to be part of a revolution that focuses on how education is changing to adapt to the digital and tech world. "It felt very current," says Ramirez.

She uses her own personal background, family, education and experiences as her basis for this decision. She knows that education and learning is a priority. The actress herself experienced different types of discrimination and racism in school.

"I'm aware of how distractions can really prevent you from learning, from really investing in your education especially if you don't feel valued, if you don't feel seen, if you feel neglected on some level, whether it's teachers not following through, not really caring about their students as human beings but just as numbers, or if students are struggling with issues at home because one of their parents is incarcerated, or one of their parents is on drugs, or they're being raised by their grandparents and they're not getting the specific services they need or support they need, or they live in a neighborhood where at any moment there could be a drive by.

There are some very legitimate pressures for a lot of our youth, especially our youth of color, and so for those reasons too, I really was curious to see what these evenings were going to be about. So, all of those reasons made me really want to participate," says Sara Ramirez.

The cast and viewers of "Grey's Anatomy" will surely miss Dr. Callie in the hospital wards and TV screens.

Read more
Tags Grey's Anatomy, Education