Medical Physics
My father always pushed me. No matter what the case, he pushed me to overcome any obstacles and giving up was never an option. I couldn't swim; he pushed me in. I lost a fight at a competition; he trained with me every day. I couldn't understand math; he lost a night of sleep teaching me. While these were trivial problems, my father instilled in me the drive to always succeed, because "it just means you have to work harder than everybody else." I found many obstacles in life. When my best friend passed away on my birthday due to leukemia, I was devastated. I wanted to understand all there was about what had killed my friend. As a teenager, I was told that liver cancer threatened my life and I was evermore determined to understand what cancer is and how to stop it.
I was taught to be successful by analyzing the small details and find what made the difference. This drove my curiosity in many subjects. This is when I became fascinated with not only physics, but what interactions occurred that the human eye could not see. My need to understand things on their most elementary level led me to study physics. While physics always intrigued me, I have always felt the need to have a positive impact on people. I decided to take the courses for a pre-med minor, with medical school in mind. When I took a nuclear physics course, I realized that medical physics was the perfect career for me. It has the principles of physics that I love, mixed with the chance to help people directly.
I still have interests in many other areas. Over the last four years as an undergrad, I have had the opportunity to explore my interests in research. As a freshman, I worked at xxx, in the optical engineering department. There I did prototype testing and development for automotive tail lamps. It was rewarding to see all of my hard work and late nights make it onto commercial vehicles, which I see on the road every day. I left Hella in pursuit of something requiring more research. I worked at xxx for six months in the process science and technologies department. It was interesting to learn how the output of thin film solar panels was affected by slight changes in the production process. In my junior year I worked under a professor as a research assistant in his company, Agent Fate. Agent Fate was funded by the Dept. of Defense to determine safety in chemical warfare zones. My interests in photography helped me excel in the company. I was put in charge of determining intermolecular forces by contact angle measurement. Currently, I am working in the Advanced Materials Research department at xxx R&D . This co-op has been my favorite because it is purely research on our own ideas. The things I work on will not be seen commercially within the next decade. Again, my hobbies helped me excel in the workplace to become the sole person in charge of characterization and imaging.
When I moved into the dorms at xxx, my roommate told me that I could be anyone I wanted here. I was always shy and never put myself out in the spotlight besides in music. I wanted to be a leader. I immediately ran for residence hall president. Once I achieved that, I became as involved as I could. I held multiple positions in my fraternity, and was the president of multiple clubs. One of my goals was to be the Director of Operations for student government. I took an approach to college described by the saying, "Don't let school get in the way of your education." I stretched myself thin because I wanted to find my breaking point and see how much I could handle. I found that breaking point while being president of a club, Director of Operations, Historian and Social chair in my fraternity and taking 22 credit hours of all upper level courses. Unfortunately with this work load combined with volunteer work and my many medical issues, my grades suffered. Since then, I have accomplished what I wanted out of leadership opportunities and have decided to focus on school. With much less on my plate, I have found myself with a lot of free time to prepare for graduate school and work on my thesis.
I do believe that I will be able to handle the workload and excel in xxx's Medical Physics program. When I am fascinated by subject matter, I dive in to a full extent. Visiting xxx lab with Dr. Tornai was great to see what kind of research is being done. I was also very impressed with the tour of the radiation oncology department and seeing the linear accelerator and CT scanner. It furthered my confidence in choosing medical physics as a profession. Attending a top medical school is important, but my experience in relationships with fellow students and faculty hold greater meaning to me. I was floored by the solidarity of the students when on tour of campus and at dinner. I firmly believe that I would be a great fit in the Medical Physics program at xxx and it is the best place for me.
