Oncology Personal Statement

My purpose for seeking a Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology is so I can have the opportunity to expand my knowledge of theory and research methods as it pertains to communication disorders. I particularly want to modify my research skills as I believe that the importance of improving research skills is necessary to becoming a lifelong learner as I prepare for a career in Speech Language Pathology. I fully understand the importance of gaining credibility among my future colleagues and those that I will be serving in the field. I want to develop a clear and concise knowledge of leadership and the communication disorders profession and how to coincide both as one; at the same time enjoying the opportunity to develop a network of scholars. The ability to experience the community and devotion that my fellow cohort mates will be able to offer.

The very moment I decide to apply for a master program in biomedical sciences, I have concluded that pursuing a career in biomedical science is my life’s main goal.

In 2016 approximately 1,685,210 cases of cancer will be diagnosed, and 595,690 people will die due to this disease. My uncle, unfortunately, was a victim of this deadly disease. My family and I witnessed the effects of this and it impacted us all strongly. I watched as my uncle underwent all the surgeries and treatments, and progressively got weaker and became fragile. The whole experience made me reflect upon myself and I desired to make a change, and help expand the research to develop a cure to end cancer.

During my freshman year in high school, a highly malignant tumor was discovered on the back of my cranium. It had eroded my skull and was starting to leak into my brain. It was removed with no complications, but I was required to visit MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX for several years to check for any recurrence. Through this experience, I witnessed the fragility of life. A spark was ignited in me to pursue medicine and discover ways we could prevent cancer and other illnesses. I was immersed into the hospital setting and shadowed physicians of all types to find my possible niche. By studying the sciences, I feel I can have the greatest advantage in empowering myself and others. The STARS program would be crucial in allowing me to

Everyone hears the word “Cancer” and automatically thinks death? Imagine being told you have cancer a month before Christmas and having to start chemotherapy right away. That was me at age 16 barely a junior in High School, they say high school is supposed to be a great experience. And it was at the beginning which was my freshman and sophomore year. I was that girl athlete with lots of friends who went day by day not caring about my health I would eat lots of junk food and stay up late at night. I come from a Hispanic family single parent my mom and 4 siblings 3 girls and one boy. Two had already gotten married and there was only 3 left at home including me. My mom would work out in the fields so sometimes she 'd come home late, therefore

For many years now, Scientists have struggled to help medical practitioners treat their patients according to their symptoms and provided customized healthcare on a personal basis. However, how personal can medicine get? In 2003, researchers obtained a complete human genome from which the sequence and map of all genes in the human body can be used as a reference. With this development we are a step closer to treating cancer and other diseases.

Before attending Agnes Scott, I believed that I wanted to pursue a career in the medical field as a doctor. During my high school years, I considered several different areas of medical practice and settled upon oncology due to my interest in the complex nature of cancer. I heard a lot about cancer growing up, but I never learned what it was or what mechanisms were being used to treat cancer. I chose to major in biochemistry to learn about cancer in multiple lights and understand cancer in its simplest forms. After taking different biology classes such as Biology 111, where I learned the different steps required for cancer to develop and the current methods being researched to treat cancer, I began to consider a career in

After first becoming a skillful clinical veterinarian during school, I would like to pursue a specialty in pathology that combines my passions for education and discovering new ways in how health connects humans and

“We can’t go out tonight. I already told you that.” Cali told her best friend Caleb now very annoyed.

There is nothing anyone could have done. My sister didn’t mean to get cancer, and she couldn’t have stopped it from growing. I just wish things had happened differently and that my entire family wouldn’t be turned away from me now.

No one thinks that it will happen to them. No one thinks that one day it might be them walking into the doctor’s office, only to hear those three horrifying words – “You have cancer.” To say that cancer changed my life is an enormous understatement. Cancer took me on an insane roller coaster for two years.. turning, twisting, jerking. I never thought it would happen to me. I heard those three lethal words, but they were not spoken to me. My father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December of 2014.

There's a saying I carried with me throughout most of my life, it goes like this: “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” At the age of ten, I stopped going to school due to lack of safety, and at the age of twelve, I watched my father get taken into a car by two armed individuals. I didn’t see him until two weeks later, after my mother agreed to give up our house, life savings, and assets for his release. Unfortunately, as an Iraqi of Assyrian and Chaldean decent, I realized that our presence was no longer welcome in the country I called home. However, it was also during that time that I had developed the outmost appreciation for the true value of education and security, two aspects I never took for granted afterwards.

Five years ago in 2012 my Aunt Mary died from cancer. Cancer had consumed her whole body. It started in her liver and spread to different organs and even reached her brain. When she found out she had cancer she was told she only had a few months to live. I had just seen her on a trip we had before we found out she had cancer and that was the last time I saw her.

You never realize how evil cancer truly is until it affects you or your family. I was four when cancer first affected me, stage four leukemia. My two year old cousin Conor was on the verge of death, and I had absolutely no clue. For the first nine months of his fight all I knew that he was sick, I assumed he had a cold, not fighting for his life. When I was five my mom sat me down to tell me that Conor was not going to make it, and that my brother and I were going with her to Albany to visit him. His bones were sticking out, his head looked like a bowling ball, and his skin was a pale blue. He looked like a child in a concentration camp during World War II. Honestly if you were to think of what a dead child looked like, that was him. That was the first time I realized that my mom was right, and that Conor was not going to make it.

My interest started in elementary school, because of the teachers who enhanced my passion for science. In elementary school, I never thought about turning my passion into an actual career; that didn’t happen until high school. Science always intrigued me, from the never-ending science fair projects to research projects. Georgetown University’s Masters’ program in Biotechnology/ BioScience will continue to enhance my passion for science, but will also enhance my other passion in health related professions. Throughout my life, I loved science and health, but more so, the satisfaction of putting someone’s well being before my own.