College Admissions Essay: How Leukemia Changed My Life

When I was younger, I fell off my bed and cracked my head on the bed frame. I was sent to the emergency room and was given stitches. I had to keep going to the doctors for check-ups and me being a child, I was curious of the doctors and always asked them many questions about their occupation. At a young age I became very interested in the medical field. My mother being a surgical technologist and my ex-stepfather being a CRNA, I fell in love with the health care system and that’s when I knew I wanted to help others by becoming a nurse anesthetist.

Growing up in an underserved community made me realize the blessing of a quality education and good physicians. Having faced an arduous medical diagnosis has given me the ability to look at things from a special perspective. Rocky beginnings in community college accompanied by time off from school allowed me to work fulltime

People tend to usually tremble when hearing the unpleasant word “Cancer”. Imagine being the one diagnosed with this horrible illness. More and more people in today’s society are struck with certain health issues such as diabetes, obesity, heart diseases and many more. Cancer is the at the top of this horrible chain of problems. Based on my experiences, someone that is diagnosed with cancer, does not realize how life can change so rapidly for them. Their whole lifestyle changes and they have a different outlook on life. Not until a person experiences a family member going through cancer, is he/she able to understand how important spending time with family really is.

Looking back on my life, there were many difficult times my family and I went through. Those difficult times, however, became my motivation for pursuing a career in the medical field. Growing up my brother had to overcome many different obstacles. At five years old he started talking after we thought he never would. In kindergarten he contracted meningococcal meningitis and was hospitalized for a long period of time. A couple years later his appendix ruptured while waiting in the hospital emergency room. After a couple weeks he had to be transferred to Akron Children’s Hospital where he stayed for another month. During those times

You cannot watch the news lately without hearing something on DACA. DACA (Differed Action for Childhood Arrivals), which was an executive order signed by President Obama in hopes of encouraging congress to finally decide on immigration policies. DACA was created in 2012 by executive order by President Obama. According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center DACA, “is a prosecutorial discretion that provides a work permit and relief from removal for two years to certain eligible undocumented youth (DACA Fact Sheet). The youth that are eligible for DACA must be currently in school, have graduated or have a GED (General Education Development) certificate, have a clean adult criminal record and must be at

A social issue that is currently whirling around the United States is the discussion of what is going to happen with DACA recipients. DACA stands for The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and they are also commonly referred to as “Dreamers” (Michelle Mark 2017). The DACA act was set in place in 2012 by President Barrack Obama and it provided young immigrants the chance to apply for temporary protection from deportation. Often times children are too young to know what is going on and their parents bring them into the United States so they are then protected under the DACA act. It is also only eligible to immigrants who have been in the United States since 2007 and were under 16 years of age; 30 or younger as of June 2012, in high school or have a diploma or GED and a clean criminal record (Dara Lind 2017). The program does not grant legal status, put them on a path to citizenship and or legalization (Michelle Mark 2017). The protection does allow these people to get authorization to work and obtain a valid driver’s license in some states. DACA provides the opportunity for them to have the chance to further their education, buy cars, homes and even the possibility of starting a business (Dara Lind 2017). Currently 800, 000 people depend on the DACA Act in the United States (Michelle Mark). Without the DACA Act, the recipients are essentially an illegal immigrant.

The person who first sparked my interest in pursuing a career in medicine was my Mom. She used to tell me a story and say “you are one of my many miracles sweetie.” After being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and undergoing multiple rounds of chemo and radiation, the doctor told my Mom she would

Undocumented and DACA(Deferred action for Childhood Arrivals) students face many challenges while trying to develope a great life and attend college in the U.S. While DACA and undocumented students attempt to extend their education overseas; through the study abroad program. While DACA students leave the country to study abroad, “ In order to leave the country through DACA, those who have DACA status must obtain a special permission known as “advanced parole” (Abdul-Alim 14). Being on an “advanced parole”, means that the students who have a DACA students aren’t guaranteed back in the united states. DACA students have been living in the United States since their childhood lives with no other family to help them.

Looking back, I will always be profusely grateful of the two leukemia oncologists that allowed a 16-year-old

I became captivated by the opportunity to apply my knowledge of the biological and chemical sciences in a way that one day may save a life. Though my interest stems from my experiences, my passion to pursue this field lies elsewhere. Growing up in a family of low socioeconomic status in an area with few sources of acceptable health care, I saw my parents struggle as they aged to provide my siblings and I with a proper education. There were times they would ignore their own illness in order to save funds for an emergency for us. Observing this, I knew that no matter how difficult of a path I picked, regardless if it was pharmaceutical sciences or the medical field, my parents had concurred greater difficulties. Growing under such conditions, I began to realize the disparities in quality of treatments my parents received compared to those who of a higher socioeconomic status. This motivated me to pursue a career where I would be given the chance to offer care to individuals through unbiased views. Of course, there are a plethora of careers that can fulfill this but medicine has presented itself as very unique to me. It promises a lifestyle devoted to empathetic patient care, direct patient interaction, and a boundless opportunity to learn and experience something new. As the end of my undergraduate experience is forthcoming, I look forward to taking on the next phase of my life, endeavoring to join the ranks of tomorrow’s

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is one of the most common childhood cancer, but also, one of the most curable. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a blood cancer that affects the white blood cells which causes them to build up in the liver, spleen and lymph nodes. (St. Jude's research hospital) Another case, is about a toddler, named Mark, who wasn’t even two years old, at the time and had developed a slight limp. At first, the doctor’s were not concerned and had told his mother, Rita, that he would get better over time. But, she was not convinced, she was later referred to a specialist, who performed a CT scan. Which, later showed a tumor in Mark’s head. “The family received a referral and arrived at St. Jude in January 2010. At St. Jude, further testing was done and a discovery was made: Mark’s tumor was actually a very rare type of bone cancer, in the Ewing sarcoma family of tumors- not brain cancer as originally believed” (StJude.org) If it wasn’t for St. Jude or the mother then Mark may not have lived and be over five years cancer free. “It’s like a miracle. Everything is given to the family here for free without any expectation,” Rita said…. “I wish every nation in the world would have a St.Jude,” said Rita. “That way, everyone would have a chance” “ (StJude.org). This just shows how much it means to the families and the children. The place that

Over the last century, immigrants from across the world came to America in search of a better life for their families. Raised in America, thousands of immigrants, both adult and minors, were limited by their legal status and had difficulty in finding employment, being deported and etc. On June 15, 2012, the Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, was established under Barack Obama’s administration for “certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines” (USCIS). With this policy in effect, these people were able to temporarily work and not run the risk of being deported for 2 years.

Borowitz M, Devidas M, Hunger S, Bowman W, Carroll A, Carroll W, Linda S, Martin P, Pullen D, Viswanatha D et al. 2008. Clinical significance of minimal residual disease in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and its relationship to other prognostic factors: a Children’s Oncology Group study. Blood J [internet]. [cited 15 Jun 2008]; 111(12). Available from: http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/111/12/5477.long?sso-checked=true

“You have to realize that every well person is a miracle, it takes billions of cells to make up a person, and it will only take one cell to be bad to destroy the whole person”, this quote is from Barbara Bush from one of her past interviews about a daughter she lost with leukemia (Cunningham, 1988). This quote reminded me five years ago, when my niece was diagnosed with leukemia. She does not only have one bad cell inside her body but she has extra 330,000 counts of white blood cells that are not normal. It was summer of year 2008 when my niece who is freshmen in high school was diagnosed with leukemia or cancer of the blood. Leukemia is a cancer that starts in the tissue that forms blood and

What would be your first reaction if your physician told you that you have a case of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia at eighteen years old and that you needed to start treatment right away? How would I pay for surgeries or chemotherapy? And who would I call first to talk to about my current condition? These are all questions my friend asked himself when he went through what is called “the worst doctors visit of his life.” Being a part of someone’s experience changes you as a person because you learn to appreciate life more than you ever have before and you want to take chances you never thought you would. I met my best friend Jack my friendship year in high school. We became best friends after we went to homecoming together our first year of high school. Our senior year, Jack was playing rugby during the play off week to go to state. On April 28, 2016 Jack was tackled by the opposing team and knocked unconscious on the field. His mom,Laura, grabbed my arm in the stands and started running out of the stadium and onto the field where the sports medicine team and doctors were checking Jacks vitals. I have never heard the stadium on both sides so quiet waiting to hear if he was okay. The ambulance arrived ten minutes after the hit because he was not waking up they transported him to St. Luke’s emergency room and told his mom and I to stay in the waiting room until they completed a