Brief Personal Statement

I will be visiting Raleigh in late August; a few potential matches may still be interested in correspondence.

I was born the fourth of December 1991 in Cranbrook British Columbia. I lived there for 18 years. Before joining the military I worked as a fry cook at a Burger King for three years and held part time jobs working for the College of the Rockies summer camp programs during the summer. My parents are currently living together in Cranbrook BC. My father works outside the province testing railway tracks for two months at a time, then returns home for two to three weeks. My mother acts as the main contact point of the family, she works as a financial clerk. I have a 22 year old sister who will be attending university in Calgary this September. I attended Mount Baker Secondary School in Cranbrook and graduated in 2009

My loving grandfather passed away after fighting two battles with cancer. He won the first but lost the second. He was a strong man and did not let anything bring him down, but towards the end, he was physically weak and fragile. Although he maintained a good spirit, love for life and a welcoming smile, it pained me to see him getting sicker. I felt helpless and at times angry but there was nothing I can do but to be there for him, and cherish our memories together that will last me a lifetime after his death. Living those sick days with my grandfather and the many visits we made over the years to the hospital and to health care providers seeking recovery and sometimes seeking farewells, intrigued my developing brain. I began to understand how complex and fascinating the human body is, but also how fragile and ailing it could be. I became familiar with medical professionals and I was inspired by their dedication, hard work, and wealth of knowledge, but yet their struggle with their limitations as human beings. Most of all, I was touched by how medical professionals asserted their competence and communicated their knowledge to their patients, but at the same time accepted their limitations and helplessness while showing genuine empathy to their sick patients. Therefore, I decided to pursue medicine, to replenish my thirst for knowledge about the complexity, fragility, and mortality of the human body. To understand disease processes and more importantly

There are few certainties of what one will encounter during life. A common joke names two: death and

INTRO: “ Grief is NOT a disorder, a disease or sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve” (Earl Grollman)

As an undergraduate student at the University of New Mexico I have become increasingly aware of the complex network problems that I face as a citizen of the world. I have also realized the progress and success that I enjoy in the same capacity as the frontiers of medicine, technology and communication continue to expand. My desire to participate in the resolution of those problems and in the further expansion of those frontiers had inspired me to seek a degree in biology and entrance into a School of Dentistry. I intend to successfully complete program of dentistry and further my specialization in the area of endodontics. Upon completion of my

The loss of a loved one is one of the most distressing emotional experiences people face, yet virtually everyone will deal with grief at some point (Howarth, 2009). Elizabeth Kubler-Ross has been credited for developing the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (2014). The key to understanding these stages is not to think that someone must go through all the stages, but rather use them as a guide for the grieving process. According to Zioosk, and Shear, it is important to realize, that while each individual grief process is unique, there is a form of grief that is disabling, interfering with function and quality of life (2009). This paper will focus on how grief and bereavement can affect the human body,

I have spent the last two years addressing a personal goal: addressing the social and vocational disparity in women entering STEM fields. After spending years being one of few in my higher level math classes, it became apparent that many girls dropped out of advanced math classes around the time of middle school. As the Founder and Director of SHINE For Girls DC, a nonprofit after-school program, I have been able to address this personal goal in life in closing this gender gap in STEM fields. SHINE reaches out to girls in middle school - the age when girls begin to lose interest or confidence in their math - by offering a curriculum-based program that combines dance and kinesthetic learning to introduce complex math concepts. This program is unique because it focuses on reaching out to the large majority of middle school age girls who may not believe that they have a future in STEM fields. SHINE uniquely approaches learning through kinesthetic movement to breach the mental barriers a young woman may have to learn math by presenting abstract math concepts with dance in a fun learning environment. By representing the mission of SHINE of turning the “I can’t” into the “I can” for girls in one powerful moment, I have learned the

Elaborating on the differences between men, women and children in response to grief provided an eye-opening perspective. Also, taking into account past traumas, whether the loss is a result of illness or traumatic incident can exacerbate and prolong the grief process (Scalise, 2007). The presentation on Grief, Loss and Complicated Grief highlighted symptomology of grief (Scalise, 2007) Furthermore, Scalise (2007) broadens our understanding by defining how complicated grief parallels post-traumatic stress disorder. Scalise (2007) provided insight into how complicated grief affects brain chemistry.

Pursing a career as a medical doctor is an opportunity for me to mentor youth in underserved populations. As a child, I was raised in the low income, urban community of Roxbury, MA. Although not as notorious today, the neighborhood had garnered negative attention for its high crime rates. My mother emigrated from Haiti and raised me as a single parent. Due to our financial circumstance, Roxbury became our permanent residence. I have always felt there was something lacking in Roxbury in comparison to other towns I visited. My teenage years were largely spent in the suburban town of Stoneham where I attended high school. There was a literal difference in air quality and a psychology contrast in future prospects. While native students of

I remember the day when my younger brother was sent to the emergency room, his urine blood and his stomach grossly distended from fluid retention. Luckily, a diagnosis via biopsy quickly revealed the cause of his symptoms (an autoimmune disorder causing inflammation of his kidney). The doctors assigned him various treatments. After a year, my brother finally stopped urinating blood. However, the doctors still up to this day do not have a clear understanding of this disease.

"From now on, I'll be called 'El Guerrero" and I will fight to defend the innocent!" These were my hero's final words in the first script I ever wrote when I was nine-years-old. At that time, I was living in the Dominican Republic, where the only viable options for college education were Marketing, Law, Medicine and Teaching. This is where my desire of creating fantasy worlds and seeing them on the screen was only child's play. Until one day, I was forced to watch the six o'clock news, and there was my uncle delivering a news story about troubled political rallies. On this day, not only did I learn that media makers didn't live in a parallel universe but also that I had a one so close to me. It was through my uncle that I learned that media

A level studies has really developed my in-depth understanding in PE and really made my decision clearer that I would like to pursue my career in sports science at university. Since the beginning of GCSEs, Physical Education has always been my favourite subjects out of the four that I’d chose. After gaining more knowledge and pick up a top to bottom comprehension of the physical side of PE, but also the theory. Also seeing my grandparent getting older and all the diseases they’ve encountered, the theory aspect of PE appeals to me greatly as it aids me to be very aware of the importance of exercise and the related issues of diet and fitness on the prevention of injury or sickness in the body. Both of parents works for a lot of hours during a

In our lives, we have to make important choices, and sometimes our choices determine our happiness or sadness. As a Filipino, our families tell us to do well in school and to not make bad choices because they want us to be successful and to have ethical morals. Growing up as a Catholic, I was taught to be obedient and respectful to my family which has shaped who I am today. Yet, I too made some mistakes, and I learned from the consequences. From my failures, I learned to not belittle myself, but to grow.

What are your key skills and strengths? What are your weaknesses? Please address leadership, communication, and organizational skills. Also address dependability.