Autobiography essay for physical therapy school. I had to write a personal statement explaining why I wanted to go into physical therapy and why I chose this particular school so I didn't include much of those topics in this essay. Thoughts, criticisms, and edits are welcome. Thanks!
Prompt: 2-3 pages- information about past educational, professional, and personal pursuits beyond that found in other documentation
The most common question I get asked when I tell people about my ethnic background is "Montagnard? What's that?" It is the name given by the French to the mountain people of Vietnam. Montagnards are best known for their kindness and hospitality. During the Vietnam War, however, they showed that they are also extremely loyal and fearsome fighters. Unfortunately, they faced harsh discrimination by the new regime for aiding the American forces. For instance, Vietnamese doctors are accused of providing improper health care only to the Montagnard people. There are implications that these doctors are injecting mountain people with lethal substances in the guise of vaccines. The allegation that infuriates me the most, however, is that the women are being sterilized in hospitals after giving birth. Although I didn't hear about these specific stories until later in life, my parents always told me about the general plights of my people as I was growing up. These stories gave me compassion for those in need.
My parents will tell you that I am inherently kind and compassionate. I was small for my age and according to my mother, I was "very sweet." She decided to enroll me in martial arts to prevent me from getting bullied. Even though I was forced into it, I learned to love it. Martial arts gave me the confidence and patience that every young child should have. Kickboxing was my favorite martial art since it has a simple, straight to the point philosophy. I was trained to have an aggressive style that relied on speed and power. Training with this mindset taught me to take the initiative when it is necessary. However, the catalyst of my character development was my master, D.K. He was a strict teacher who did not tolerate complaints or back talk. The lesson that had the most impact was a simple one: control your emotions. Getting angry or upset disrupts basic reasoning and can lead to foolish decisions.
Learning to control your emotions is difficult when you don't know how to focus. There were two exercises that helped me gain this kind of concentration: sparring and roundhouse kicks. Getting frustrated while sparring is normal. Sometimes you can't hit your opponent or you just get hit all the time. I was the only kid during most of the training sessions so I would have to spar with adults. It was easy for them to block or dodge all my strikes and then hit me back. At first, I would get so angry that I didn't want to spar anymore. I quickly learned that my irritation made my strikes sloppy and easy to read. In order to keep me from getting emotional, I changed my perspective on sparring. Instead of thinking that I can't do anything against adults, I have to learn how to fight with people bigger than me. With that mindset, I could concentrate on what I need to do under pressure. However, refining the roundhouse kick was the main contributor to my ability to control my emotions.
I spent countless hours refining and strengthening the roundhouse kick. My master would designate one class session every other week for this. When I got strong enough, the usual routine was to kick a five hundred pound bag 250 times with five pound ankle weights and 250 times without them. It was a grueling exercise that required more than just physical strength. The mind games start after about one hundred repetitions. My legs seem like they get heavier after every kick. At about two hundred repetitions, you're using most of your strength to just lift your legs. When the ankle weights finally come off, your second wind kicks in and your legs feel refreshed but the cycle starts over again. It was during this second half that I learned how to control my emotions. Mental and physical fatigue are at their peak so frustration builds quickly. I had to stay focused so I didn't execute sloppy kicks or my master would make me do more. It took several years before I could freely control my emotions. However, martial arts wasn't the only factor in my growth.
My mother also signed me up for piano lessons around the same time I started martial arts and it was the bane of my existence at that time. Although I didn't get picked on for being small, I did get teased for playing the piano. The other kids thought that piano was for girls and would make fun of me when I couldn't play with them because I had to practice. I thought that knowing how to play the piano was useless so I fought with my mom everyday about it. My mother was adamant about me practicing piano and didn't pay attention to my tantrums. It took a few months before I realized that I would just have to do what she wants and get it over with. My frustration would flare up from time to time but my martial arts training helped me keep to it in check. I didn't know how useful my piano skills would be until I started high school.
It was the second day of high school and my friend convinced me to check out the drumline of the marching band. Since we were walk-on freshman, we started off on cymbals and were required to enroll in an intro to band class. When the band teacher found out that I could read notes at a high level, she moved me into the Wind Ensemble (advanced band class) and I got promoted to be part of the bass drum line in marching band. In Wind Ensemble, I was able to play a variety of percussion instruments and the timpani being my favorite. The advanced band class also got to travel to cool places for competitions. I was able to see Vancouver, Canada as well as New York City and Boston. I was also able to play in a concert with a rising piano star and was paid to help the Cal State San Bernardino band with one of their concerts. After some self reflection, I was able to appreciate my piano skills and understood the reason why my mom pushed me so hard to learn it. All the fundamentals I learned from piano carried over to other aspects of my life, which taught me to keep an open mind about everything. You never know how a skill set can benefit you later on.
Another example is how martial arts helped me financially in high school. I have been a member of a small Vietnamese church for most of my life and the adults there saw me grow up. When I was about 16, they asked if I could teach their children martial arts as well. They offered to pay five dollars per lesson and I accepted. This was much better than working at a fast food restaurant and I would only have to teach for an hour or so. Unfortunately, I could only do this until I started college because it wasn't enough to help me with the costs of higher education.
My first "real" job was at a Sunglass Hut in a mall. Proper customer service is the emphasis of any retail store and I quickly learned that listening was the most important aspect. Customers will buy more merchandise when you are attentive to their needs and less likely to complain about their purchase. Listening will also turn hostile situations into calm ones. I picked up a second job at UPS to take advantage of the health benefits they offer to part time employees and they helped pay for tuition. Safety and injury prevention are a major focus for UPS. Employees are reminded of proper ergonomics on a daily basis so preventable accidents don't happen. Sometimes, though, accidents do happen no matter how careful you are.
I work on the air ramp at UPS, loading and unloading airplanes. Most of the packages are stacked into large containers and are then rolled onto dollies to be moved from place to place with relative ease. In order to tow these dollies, we use tractor like vehicles called tugs. These tugs weigh about two and half tons and have quite a bit of torque to be able to pull twelve thousand pounds or so. I was sitting in the passenger seat of the tug when the driver made a sharp left turn. Before I had time to react, I was thrown off the seat. Even though I was buckled in, the seat belt was broken and didn't lock me in. As I was hanging off the seat, my left leg somehow got underneath the tug. As the driver was still turning, he ran over my left leg, breaking my fibula and a piece off the medial malleolus. I had corrective surgery a few days later and went into physical therapy after a few more months. Even though I didn't consider the field of physical therapy as a potential career at that time, I use this experience as a reference point.
Looking back, I feel as if the major decisions in my life were made by others. Although I am thankful for that, it is time I choose to do something that I want to do. After researching and observing other health fields, physical therapy is what I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. The main detail that sets physical therapy apart for me is that you work with body mechanics. It also doesn't necessarily need medicine in order to treat patients. Since every patient is different, you have to treat each patient accordingly. I am looking forward to face these challenges with optimism and the confidence that I can make a difference in someone's life.
Overall, your essay is very well written. However, I think you could focus on one main topic. For example, I think you should focus on the martial arts angle that was introduced in the first few paragraphs. I think paragraphs 1-6 are a great start and you could possibly consider removing the other paragraphs as they don't really support the martial arts/piano/drumline angle. I would then conclude by stating how the skills that you have acquired through extracurricular activities will make you a great therapist. You could leave out the paragraph on how martial arts helped you financially in high school and the other paragraphs following.
Good luck and all the best in PT school. :-)
