Undergraduate / "I have a willingness to help people"- event, experience, accomplishment in your life [7]

Hello all. This is what I have so far for my UF essay. It is not complete but I would like to know if I am on the right track so far. Thanks! I have about 350 words so far and the limit is 500.

In the space provided, please write a concise narrative in which you describe a meaningful event, experience or accomplishment in your life and how it will affect your college experience or your contribution to the UF campus community. You may want to reflect on your ideas about student responsibility, academic integrity, campus citizenship or a call to service.

I was born and raised in the small Isthmus of Panama. Due to this, I grew up in a background of mixed cultures. Half my family is American and the other half is Panamanian so I took in a little bit of both to become the person that I am today. Probably the biggest and most useful thing I obtained from this mix of cultures was the ability to fluently speak in both English and Spanish. As a result I was able to interact with a wide variety of people and often, I have used this ability to help them on several occasions. Take last Friday for example. I was in line waiting to order an ice cream at the mall when the person in front of me happened to be American. She and the cashier had trouble understanding each other. The woman looked very flustered and confused while the cashier was looking more and more impatient. Noticing this, I immediately stepped in and translated. The lady thanked me and happily went on her way with an ice cream cone in hand. I felt quite good about myself that I had a part in this woman's happiness.

Another example where I used this ability to help others would be at school. I attend a bilingual school and most of the students who attend this school speak Spanish as their first language. Because of this, many of them have trouble with the classes given in English. More than once, they have come to me for help. I'm always glad to help them, often explaining the meaning of a story we just read in Literature or giving them the definition of a word they've never heard before. I never ask for any compensation for this; instead, simply seeing one of them get a good grade because of my help is reward enough. My language skills helped me come to the realization that I have a willingness to help people whenever I can. If another student at UF needs a Spanish tutor, I will gladly help him or her out. It gives me great satisfaction to know that I can make someone else's life a little bit easier.

Therefore I decided that I would like to pursue a career that I would really enjoy and at the same time receive the satisfaction of helping others. At school, I particularly enjoyed Biology so I have decided upon a career in Microbiology. I hope to develop new medicines and vaccines to fight the terrible diseases that inflict us humans. What better way to help people than to develop something that would make their lives easier or possibly even save their lives? Knowing that UF has the largest microbiology program in the United States, I think it is the best place to go in order for me to achieve my future career goals. If admitted to UF I will do my best in my courses and always strive to help others in any way possible.