The On The Wet Rocks

If you would have told me ten years ago that I would be writing this essay and planning yet for another years into the future, part of me would have been surprised. Years ago I would have never envisioned myself going into the health field. Growing up I always heard stories from my parents and grandparents of how lucky I am to be alive and how thankful they were to the doctors and nurses. After hearing these stories for so many years it then made me realize that all I wanted to do was help people.

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

After my observations, I have learned a lot about how the the medical aspect of the health care system worked. I always had the mindset that the doctors were the ones who ran everything in a hospital or a clinic. Upon observing, I realized that this was false and that it took teamwork, cooperation, and communication to help create an environment to best serve its patients. When I came into the University of Michigan as well as the Health Sciences Scholar Program, I had set my target to go into family medicine in order to pursue a career as a family physician. I also saw that there were many health disparities and inequities among patients in hospitals as well. I thought maybe I could help fix this if I became a physician. After my observations, I had an ambivalent feeling if I should still continue with what my heart was set on. I never really thought about exploring the vast array of other health-related professions. There were many fields of health professions I had really never thought about and this class as well as my observations had really helped open my eyes to the complexity of the health system to make it work.

I was raised in a third world country where only few people living in major cities had access to health care, whereas the majority residing in suburbs and rural areas struggled to find a doctor. I believe that health care should be accessible to everyone regardless of his or her place of residence. I chose Morehouse College of Medicine because its mission resonates with my goals of serving the underserved populations and improving the well-beings of disadvantaged communities. Morehouse is a leading medical school in the nation in community engagement and public service. Its mission and vision intersects with the core values that I have been striving to implement and achieve since the moment I decided to become a doctor. Serving the community through education, volunteering, and community involvement are things I have been working on throughout my

Becoming a doctor would not only allow me to educate others, but would allow me to endlessly improve my medicinal knowledge and education. There are many moments in my life which have motivated me to pursue a medical career and help others, but the memory I consider most influential is when I volunteered with Shepherd's Table Soup Kitchen in Raleigh. My goal was to make as many people smile as I could. However, there was one man in line that made me smile instead. He was crippled and defeated by poverty; he was laid off from his job, which, consequently, prohibited him from attending college. He shut down and let poverty win. He said it was the biggest mistake of his life. Choked up with emotion and pain from the past, he then gave me advice, "If you can see your dream now, grab it. Whatever you do, don't let it go." Serving others, like the man in the soup kitchen, has bestowed upon me the motivation to lead and inspire others, just as he inspired

At the start of college I became friends with kids just like me; hard science majors with dreams of pursuing medical school. I saw where their journeys were taking them and I was not on the same path. They were scooping up opportunities to shadow doctors and work in clinics while I, on the other hand, was taking the opportunity to

It’s funny how the human brain works. You can be so sure of something your entire life and then one day you become suspicious of your utmost desires; welcome to my life post-graduation. I always knew I wanted to become a part of the health care field, particularly a physician, and I have a strong hunch that’s the reason as a child I dressed up as a doctor or nurse for Halloween 7 years in a row; but after I receiving my baccalaureate I was suddenly suspicious of my desires of furthering my education for the end goal of a career in health care. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to become a physician, a physician assistant, a nurse, or anything in between.

It wasn’t until my senior year in high school when I realized that I needed to decide what to choose as a career field in which I actually had an interest in pursuing. My aunt handed me a bunch of pamphlets that dealt with a variety of different career types: business, criminal justice, education, etc. That was when I came across the healthcare field. I have always loved being able to help others as much as I am able to. There were plenty of field’s that sounded interesting but that’s when I came across the one that I was eager to begin my college career on.

In my mind, if I became a doctor I would have to go through many years of schooling and I wouldn’t finish my education till I’m at least in my mid thirties. Choosing my career path as a doctor meant committing my whole focus on getting into the best medical school. Even though doctors make a lot of money, doctors don’t get to spend one on one their patients. I told my parents that I wanted to become a nurse because it’s what I want to do. I wouldn’t have to worry about attending medical school after I get my education at a four year university. Nurses spend less time in school and the experience on the job is more rewarding. They are able to enjoy the company of the people they are helping; I want to help people.

I was eight months old when my chubby little body broke its strongest bone. Being my outgoing, curious self I was beginning to become more and more comfortable with the edges of my parents bed. With my brother not paying attention, I decided to test my knowledge of life. The result of me falling to the ground is captured in photographs, a chubby kid with a groin high blue cast, sitting on top of the same bed.

When I first started going to Terra State Community College I was an eighteen-year-old with two jobs and ambition towards the medical field. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I began my first semester by taking very broad classes so that I could use them towards any career. I remember looking up different career paths that I could possibly take through Terra and weighing my options. I then came across medical assisting, a truly perfect career for me. I met with my advisor and set up a visit with Mrs. Hopkins, and as soon as I sat down with her, I knew this is what I wanted to do. This field allowed me to do everything that I could of imagine wanting to do within the medical field.

While in college, I developed an interest in health. I must say that my interest for health did not prepare me for the unforeseen health obstacles that I had to go through in order to complete my bachelor’s degree. My journey was rough. Especially, when I had doctor visits along with paranoia. Then there were the biopsies of the breast and this was my last year attending EIU. I commuted to school everyday, worked two jobs, and took care of my motherly duties to my two kids by myself. I was

At this point in my life, I was not completely behind the idea of me attending medical school so I began exploring the idea. I ensured my schedule could accommodate the few missing courses before I graduated and starting looking for ways to further my interest in healthcare such as volunteering. Throughout college, I volunteered at an emergency department and intensive care unit to gain an understanding on what it means to be a medical professional. These events did increase my interest in becoming a physician, but due to the limited nature of volunteering did not solidify my decision. Going into my senior year of college, the idea of medical school still did not feel natural to me so I began focusing solely on the rigorous internship I was about to embark on. It was during this internship at Sanford that the idea of applying to medical school became mine. This was accomplished by immersing myself in the hospital setting and discovering my intense interest in correlating patient test results with their conditions. After graduating with a degree in Medical Laboratory Science, I began working at Sanford where I quickly became the Hematology Education Coordinator for the laboratory. I took this

At a young age, I knew that I always wanted to work in healthcare. From taking my mom’s stethoscope and using it on my sibling, to going to the hospital and asking loads of questions. I realized my desire, but I did not know what part of healthcare I wanted to become a part of. My first thought was to become a doctor because I assumed that they were the sole foundation of a hospital. Little did I know, nurses are hard at work in the background and are doing just as much work as a doctor. My mother herself was a nurse, and watching her was inspirational. She loved her job and was always so excited, which sparked my curiosity about what she did at work. My questions at hospital visits grew more and more, till I finally came to the rationalization

I chose to pursue a career in healthcare because I love to help those that don’t have the luxury as other people have. I am very interested in becoming a Doctor of Nursing Practice in order to help people as greatly as possible. Those who advance in that specific career receive many responsibilities like providing patient care, development policies, and conducting research. I have favored this career because I like helping people who occasionally don’t have the benefits as other people have. There were two events that made me know for sure that I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare like nursing.