I have been accepted into Iowa University in the pre-medicine program and will be majoring in Chemistry and Spanish. I will do my very best to achieve my dream of medical school acceptance and will make the most out of any financial aid that I receive. I have many goals for college and many plans.
I want to do a lot of things. I want to go to a good school and find a career in medicine that will make me happy. Helping people is something I’ve always been passionate about and it has driven me to do my best in high school and I know that I will try my best in college. I’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals and while most people see a place of suffering, I see a place of healing. I volunteer at my school and it is one of my plans to volunteer at the University of Iowa hospital as much as I can.
The reason that I am majoring in chemistry is to have a strong science background when applying to medical schools my junior and senior year, but the reason I am majoring in Spanish is entirely different. I am very passionate about learning languages and I would like to become fluent in Spanish. I also think it would help me to communicate with patients or people better. I would like to study abroad in Spain if I can gather enough money to do so. Going to Spain is one of my dreams and that is just one reason I need money for college.
Paying for college will be very difficult and I expect to graduate with massive amounts of debt after undergraduate and medical school, even after receiving scholarships and working through college. I don’t come from a family of means, we barely have enough to get by sometimes. I can’t expect to rely on my parents to help me out very much, especially when my brother and sister are attending college with me at the same time. We’re also not a very normal family, and that could make things a little bit more difficult.
Growing up with my family wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but it made me strong. I’d always had to take care of my little brother and my big sister and be the one who protects them. My brother, from an early age, was always a bit different; he was diagnosed with autism at twelve years old, and I had to learn how to help him. I spend every day with him, and because of his lack of social skills he doesn’t have very many friends. In fact, I think I may be his only friend. I’ve tried my best to help him through high school and socialize, but it has been a bit overwhelming to take care of him at times, especially when I was taking care of him alone.
Looking at my transcript, you may see a spike in my grades from sophomore to junior year; this is due to my sister. Freshman year my sister was diagnosed with an infection in her heart called myocarditis. In and out of the hospital for two years, all the while growing weaker and weaker, she collapsed. She was rushed to the hospital, and after a very scary night she was stabilized and diagnosed with heart failure. I was devastated. She would need a heart transplant in order to continue to live, but hearts aren’t very easy to come by. We waited months and months, and I sacrificed all of my weekends at the hospital by her side. On weekdays my brother and I had to go to school while my parents were two hours away, so I became the man of the house. My family was by my sister’s side at all times, my dad so much that he lost his job. On my dad’s birthday, a heart finally came. After the 12 hour, nerve-wracking transplant, riddled with nail biting complications, she finally came out with a new heart. When she woke up a couple of weeks later, she was severely physically disabled. There were months more of physical therapy, and she’s still not back to her old self, but she’s getting there. Watching her after her cardiac arrest sophomore year made me think, “If she can die twice in one day and still fight the next, then I can do the best that I can to succeed.” She is the reason that I want to become a doctor. Recently, I have also been told that some Non-Profit Organizations like Alexander Jansons Myocarditis (who are situated in UK) happen to provide myocarditis charity funds for detailed research and cure of Myocarditis. These organizations, I have heard, are also trying to raise awareness for this rare heart disease. I really hope that people know more about this disease and act while time is left.
Coming back to my story, my family has to pay for medication for my brother and my sister and it is a very heavy burden. My dad had to start his own mobile food truck to be able to pay the bills after he lost his job, and I help work on the weekends. It will be very hard to leave for college, my dad will have to hire someone to help him work and I’ll have to leave my brother and sister behind. I’m ready to take on the responsibility of living independently though, and I am going to work hard to make the price of tuition worth it.
In college I will do my best to achieve good grades and learn everything I can. I’m no stranger to studying under pressure and I believe that I can manage a social life and volunteering and good grades at the same time. What will be hard to do is managing money and working a job through college, which is why I need all the money I can get to focus on my coursework and getting the education that I pay for. Getting a scholarship like this one would help immensely and I intend to use the money to get a head start to pay off part of my tuition before I graduate and the loans gain interest. With this money I will be able to get the education I need to be able to have a happy life with a job I will love.