College Admissions Essay: My Life As A Brain Surgeon

Coming into college, I never thought I would be an art major. I came to the University of Evansville with high hopes of being a nurse. I began the nursing program, but only lasted for a semester, due to anatomy and physiology being awful. I took up computer science, but quickly dropped that after about two weeks due to my grandfather passing away during the first week of the semester, and me having to leave for a week for his funeral. I was ready to drop out of school – I had no friends, stayed in my room all day except for class, and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. About halfway through my second semester of college, I joined Phi Mu, which gave me hope and friends, and made me want to stay

Starting college in August of 2008 was completely different than what I was expecting. My parents loaded up my car and sent me on my way to gain a college degree and experience life on my own, but looking back over the situation, I tend to ask myself numerous times do I think I was ready for college and the responsibilities that were to come along with it. Each time the answer was no. Being the first person in my family to go off to college away from home, I had no idea what to expect, or how to handle the things that come along with college life. Needless to say, it took me several major changes and me leaving my first university and transferring to one at home for me to get a handle of the situation.

To many high school students, college seems like a far away land, a mysterious place where everyone wants to be yet not many know how to get there. As children, our parents tell us how much time we have to think about college, and that it is too far down the line to think about. The truth is it is never too early to think about your future. I, like many people, put little thought into my future career and now am lost in an unfortunate mix of indecision and anxiety. Not knowing where you want to be in the future is a hard burden to bear. Many of us tend to find out that we only know what we do not want, not what we actually do want. Do we want to be poor? Absolutely not. Do we want a boring job? Of course we don’t. We all want our

Unlike other medical students, I never had one particular defining moment that changed my life but from a very young age I had set myself to becoming a doctor, but not just any doctor, a surgeon. Therefore, instead of just one determining event, many events helped propel my dream, with medical school being the beginning of much more I hope to achieve.

My brain is filled with thoughts that race at a million miles an hour. I think about math equations and science experiments. I am constantly learning something and studying anatomy. My head is filled with memories, good and bad, that shape who I am. My heart is filled with passion about human anatomy and surgery. My heart doesn’t make a lot of my decisions as I try to be as level headed as possible however my heart still races when I solve a math problem or get to observe a surgery. I try my hardest in everything I do. I throw myself 100% into my work because I pride myself in getting good grades and pushing myself to be a better person every single day. I have rough days and good days but I still have to get myself out of bed every

Nine years ago, I never could have imagined I’d be writing this essay. I was a senior in high school, and, like the rest of my classmates, I was apprehensive about the future. Unlike my classmates, I felt like I had missed the proverbial “you need to get your life together” message. I watched my classmates apply to colleges, their majors already decided and their future careers mapped out. While I was an above average student, I felt I lacked the decisiveness my classmates seemed to have. I did not feel passionate about a career or even a field of study. I felt defective. This was compounded by the financial strain I knew attending college would have on my family. It seemed wasteful to try to “find my passion” at school while squandering

After barely graduating in the spring of 2017 from Lopez Early College High School, I went straight to my parent’s house not knowing exactly what I was going to do with my life. I knew I had ruined my life after not paying attention to my teachers and counselors about applying to colleges. They said I was a wonderful and intelligent student with a tremendous capacity of succeeding in life. Although everybody thought that about me, I never did. I was constantly under pressure thinking that I had to work in order to support my family economically, so our house was saved. I was also worried about whether my parents were getting divorced after every insignificant argument they had. I had to be an excellent example for my two younger siblings; but even though I tried my best, I never was.

As my high school years were coming to an end, all anyone could talk about was college. Where they were going, what state they would be a resident in, and what they would major in, what campus they would be visiting that weekend. I, however, thought I had it all under control. I thought that when my Senior year came by it would all fall in to place. That's crazy, right? The shows that I grew up watching did not have to deal with this. That is when expectation went out the window and reality kicked me in the butt. I had five months left to start applying to colleges and looking in to different campuses that offered my dental hygiene program. Lucky for me, my community college had a two year program.

Growing up, people would always ask "what do you want to be when you grow up?" as a young child my answer was always “a princess”. Eventually, I realized this dream of mine was unrealistic and began to lean towards a profession in the medical field. The world of medicine enthralled me, even as a child. Flash-forward to senior year of high school where the most common question asked became “where are you thinking of going to college?” As time went on, I had a solid idea of what school I wanted to attend in the fall. When I was accepted to all of my top choices, the decision became a challenge. Strangely enough, Xavier University of Louisiana was the last school I applied to. In fact, it was nowhere on my radar until I did my research.

When I was in middle high school, I wasn’t like any other kids my age I knew. It seemed like all the kids new what they wanted to do in life. Most of my classmates had a mindset that they were going to college, but I was focused more on graduating middle school so that I can make it to high school. By the time I made it to high school, there was more pressure on me to think about going to college. My parents wanted me to further my education. My mother asked me if I was thinking about college yet. At that point, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was confused so I

Out of high school I went off to college with a plan. I was so naïve, I had my life all planned out. I was going to a state school study accounting to become a CPA, where I would go to work every day, sit in an office and take home a decent paycheck. Halfway through my degree I realized something was missing, passion of what I was doing. To be completely honest I gave up, I stopped caring and my grades were horrible, in the course of a year I had gone from an A student to a C student. My family was adamant about me staying in school, and sticking it out another semester. I agreed to try but eventually stopped going to class, I should have been dropped from my classes but the university I attended was so large that with 400 plus students to a lecture no one noticed or cared. I dropped out of college, had I not made the decision to continue they would have dismissed me anyway. The grades I received my last year at SUNY Albany do not reflect my academic ability. I regret giving up, I realize now that there were alternate routes I could have taken. However I am one of those

Because of this circumstance, I have decided to utilize my college experience as an opportunity to learn more about myself and what I love. Many youth feel as if they need to plan their lives out ahead of time and that they should know what career to pursue by the time they graduate; being lost and confused about the future, however, is not only limited to our teens. For this reason, I wish to encourage my peers to treat their college experience the same way. Finding out what we are passionate about and pursuing it is important not only because it allows us to avoid ennui, but also because it is a powerful motivator that helps people grow and reach new

Where do you think you will be doing in 10 years? In 10 years I at least want to be in medical school. I know it is a lot of school, but I will go through it to help people. If one day I could help someone through cancer or something it would make me feel amazing. I don't care about money or anything I care about the person's life. Some people don't end up with a job they love. I am willing to go through anything to be a surgeon. I am sure a lot of people are willing to go through anything to have the job they want. Being a surgeon is a lot of work and responsibility. The only way I won't become a surgeon is if I don't try and I will try until it happens.

Throughout my four years here at Blackfoot high school, I’ve changed a lot. I went through many different phases from my freshman to my senior year. My freshman year I remember thinking “I don’t need college,” “College isn’t for me,” “I’m not going to college,” Boy, was I wrong.

When I graduated in June of 2014 I really wasn't sure what I wanted out of life. I was prepared to go to the local community college undecided. I was dragging my feet when it came to getting ready to start school in the fall, and I knew I wasn't ready. I approached my mom with the idea of flying out to California and get to know my family and grandparents there better. 3 weeks later I was on a plane flying to Sacramento, as all my friends began their freshman year of college. I'll admit it was tough to see all my friends take the next step in life and I was a couple thousand miles away with nothing planned out. I decided to take that weekend and head to Lake Tahoe. It literally was a breath of fresh air for me. I was at (debatably) the most beautiful lake on earth. Things seemed clearer to me after that trip and I was able to remind myself that not everyone takes the same path in life, and we definitely won't all end up in the same place. I took the rest of those few months to be outdoorsy, paddleboard, hike and ride horses. When November came and it was time to come home, I was ready.