College Admissions Essay: Self Discovery

Curiosity, the search for knowledge, is an essential dimension of human nature. Embracing this as fact is the beginning of ones journey into the realms of the erudite. The path this journey follows has been wearied by the feet of many great travelers, yet it is the one I have chosen to follow.

Growing up I seen my mom, aunts, uncles and grandfather struggle with the death of my grandmother. Everyday there was a new struggle whether it was getting up to go to work or eat. My grandmother died of breast cancer at the age of fifty two, it devastated my family. The question asked “Is why do I want to go into the medical field?” I want to go into the medical field because I want to be able to make a difference in this world. I want to do research to cure chronic diseases, I want to be able to tell a family that everything will be alright, and I want to be able to save a family the devastation that my family felt.

Former baseball player Tommy Lasorda once said, “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” The journey of our life is full of winding paths and concrete obstacles whose sole goal is to slow us down, and to attempt to block us from reaching our ultimate goal in life, whatever that may be. These barriers are there for several different reasons, whether it be mental or physical. Sometimes these obstacles are motivated by fear, other times they exist simply because we have to make a decision, and that decision can be life changing. But through our determination, and through our perseverance, we can achieve what these barriers told us was impossible, and can pursue the path in our life that leads us to our ultimate self. Throughout my life, I have had thousands of barriers stand in my path. And the only way I was able to defeat them was through conquering my fears, and breaking my limits in order to achieve excellence.

Through a young age I questioned: Who am I? Who do I want to be? Will I make a difference? Am I choosing the right career path? Questions, questions and, more questions imprisoned my mind in my life. Perhaps, as long as I remain unknown to myself, my presence will be unknown to the world. At age of 16 I went to a scientific expedition to the North Pole. As I was greeted by the nature of the Arctic itself I opened my eyes and notice the world around me. I become aware of my passion for science, ultimately influenced my decision to want to pursue medicine. Foremost, exposed me to want to make a difference in multiple fields.

The medical field attracts a wide variety of individuals from all walks of life. The reasons for their shared choice, to pursue a career as a practitioner of medicine, are similarly different. Several of my classmates and friends can point to specific events that helped them make their choice, moments of inspiration when they consciously decided to become physicians. I had no such epiphany, but my choice to study at DMU was influenced by two main factors. Additionally, I have been forced to reevaluate myself and my goals several times along my journey. Most recently, the film “The Doctor” caused a change in perspective regarding my future goals as a physician.

Discovering what matters to me is challenging because I don’t know where I stand spiritually entirely. I don’t have a clear image of what I exactly believe in. I’ve been raised in a Catholic household, but my family doesn’t go to church. My mom goes to church on Wednesdays for school because she is a teacher in a private school. From first grade until eighth grade I went to religious education and was learned the same thing almost every year.

Finding and growing into the person I am meant to become has been one of life’s greatest challenges. The person I am today was molded by trails and tribulations life has thrown my way. I am still journeying the path of becoming who I am meant to be, but along the way I have learned an immense amount about myself. The qualities and morals instilled in me along with life experiences have led me to seek a career in the health care field. The three-year program leading to a Bachelor of Science in Diagnostic Imaging is the cornerstone of my health care dream. The compassion in my heart to help people in need is what drives me to take this step into furthering my education.

A question most people are familiar with is, “Who am I?” I have always struggled with placing myself in any identifiable categories. As a Canadian and the second child in my family, I became an outsider in a society filled with singletons as a result of China’s one-child policy. Believing that I would belong when I started school in Canada, I was only disappointed by the shocking disparity in language and culture. And today, though it seems almost ludicrous that the same experiences that I once felt ashamed of have become one of my best assets, the thrill of success from overcoming such challenges have attracted me to the financial sector. ‘Who I am’ is someone who not only someone strives to improve my weaknesses, but I am also someone who takes full advantage of her ability to develop a unique, international perspective of life to grasp opportunities with a growth mindset.

Who am I? As a student, an answer to this question is becoming imperative as parents, teachers and institutions alike assume that students have a predetermined blueprint for their future. I had difficulty in answering this question, but as I found my passion, my drive to succeed and started to push my limits, some defining characteristics became evidently clear.

I love almost anything that has milk in it. Cream cheese, iced coffee, milkshakes, and cheese . But unfortunately the universe is against me and has decided to make milk irritate my asthma. So whenever I eat something with a reasonable amount of milk product in it, one of two things occurs. Situation one- I am completely fine and can go about my day knowing I have won this round against a weird cow byproduct. Situation two- The strange cow liquid/solid choses to take control of my throat and lungs, causing me unable to breathe normally for a while, and usually ruining a small part of my day. In fact before writing this, I ate a rather small amount of chocolate ice cream that decided to give me a cough and a itchy throat as revenge. Regardless, I have survived to tell the tale and because of my choice, a small part of my life has been improved.

I am an evolving student with a marvelous mind of iron resolve. This steadfast determination is one of my strongest and most resounding qualities. I believe that a person's successes and qualities define who they are. My qualities have led me to success in various competitions and endeavors throughout my life. Some examples include the National History Bee, NAQT Quiz Bowl, and various math competitions.

Topic B: Most students have an Identity, an interest, or a Talent that defines them in a essential way.

Thus, I am capable of making my own decisions and pursuing a career authentic to myself. I recognize my change of thought as an open door. This manifests itself as my desire to explore who I am through education, independently from my family. While this decision seems easy, I constantly tried to make reasons to love medicine.

Someone that I am is a kind,caring,and loving person who loves to help others. I have not yet attempted to make a positive change in the world but I do have a couple of ideas that i think will work and are very positive towards the world. I was always curious since I was a little girl what the entire world was like and how others were not in the best situations. Now that I am older I do realize that the world world is very harsh and it’s not always going to be the best place to be at certain times, I realized that when put myself in a bad position with not so good people. I’ve always told myself when I was younger that, they deserve that type of punishment when I would see people on the streets. Now I see that it always is not there fault they obviously up somewhere in life and mistakes always happen. One way I would like to help those people on the streets is build about the size of a large dog house and so they could call it home until they get back on there feet.

I have taken stock of myself, considering my skills, experiences, and goals. I have looked to family and friends, some of whom are doctors, for advice. Because of this self-examination, I have decided to pursue a career in health care. The process has been difficult at times but always illuminating. Throughout it all, I have never lost confidence - the confidence that I will actively absorb all available medical knowledge, forge friendships with fellow students, and emerge from my training as a skilful and caring physician.