I restructured my essay in order to make it more personable and focus more on how I became motivated to pursue a career as a PA. Any feedback would be great.
It felt as if my whole world came to a complete stop. Instead of ending my high school varsity baseball career on the pitcher's mound in a closing district game, my senior year would be spent watching from the dugout as I recovered from a tear of my glenoid labrum. Physical therapy would consume me for 8 weeks while the rest of my teammates would sometimes bombard me with stories of yesterday's game the following day at school. After 8 weeks of not improving, I would consent to having arthroscopic surgery. Following the surgery, I completed my rehab with athletic trainers at a community college in Daytona Beach, FL and was prepared to start playing for their baseball team after my rehab was completed. Much credit to my work ethic and consistency, I returned a more improved player than before surgery and my career was once again looking promising. One would expect that after such hard work and dedication I would continue on the path of pursuing a career as an athlete, but this was not quite so.
Along the time that I was rehabbing and conditioning, I began taking a fond interest in the way the human body works and I learned methods through steady personal study on how to train my body. I became extra interested in body sculpting and nutrition supplements through my own search for better physical results. I gained great satisfaction in understanding and discovering new things I didn't know about performance and nutrition. Up to this point in my life, I had no clue how to do anything else but throw a baseball, and now it was as if a whole new universe was introduced to me! After long weeks of prayerful consideration, I decided to terminate my career and dreams in baseball in order to turn seriously towards academics. This was one of the biggest life-changing decisions I have ever made. Growing up, I struggled in academics and I abhorred math tests and chemistry class. As I embarked on this new mission, it was now time to face my fears.
Being so consumed with health and nutrition, I became unequivocally fascinated with how the body fights disease and proactive prevention measures one can take to assure optimum health. As I explored my options, I wanted to find an occupation that offered a broad range of specialties to choose from as well as the potential for advancement in research and technology. In this regard, the profession of a Physician's Assistant seemed to meet my career goals.
My dermatologist, who I mistook as a physician, first introduced me to the PA profession. I was very impressed with his depth of knowledge and the time he took to explain important details pertaining to medication and treatment. This compelled me to further look into the job description of a PA. I chose to shadow as many PAs as my time would allow in order to gain a full sense of what they do. And a full sense is what I gained! Amongst my most outstanding shadowing experiences was a visit to the Chief Office of Medical Examiners in Manhatten N.Y. I experienced more during this one week than I probably ever will my entire life! I worked closely with PAs performing autopsies and going to crime scenes to carry out investigations and I was even able to sit in during meetings between the PAs and forensic pathologists! Nothing compared though to getting to ride in the Coroners vehicle with the PAs and medical examiners through the busy streets of Manhattan. I still too will never forget the feeling of disbelief I had while I stared at a cadaver and felt organs for the first time in my life! These and the many other experiences I've had shadowing PA's instilled in me a deep passion for the PA profession and the vast amount of subspecialty options it offers. Overall, I was so thrilled to have found a profession that allowed me to enjoy working in a similar capacity that a physician does while having the opportunity to explore various fields of medicine including research.
Last year, I decided to get my license as a CNA in order to gain experience in a hospital setting and to develop skills in working with patients. Working with nurses and physicians and interacting with patients came very naturally for me and was met with genuine joy and satisfaction. In doing so, my motivation towards becoming a PA has grown yet even more. I realize now how much I enjoy working with patients but as a CNA there's a significant limit I can have towards the outcome of the patient's health. I want to be involved. I want to make critical decisions and work with the physician to meet the desired goal. The foundation for my career as a PA has been laid through all of my experiences and important completed coursework during my undergraduate years. I now eagerly await the next step towards my newly desired goal of becoming a Physician Assistant!
