Undergraduate / " An undiscovered ocean" - Qualities of leadership [2]

Include three qualities of a good leader. Include at least one characteristic that you possess and explain how you demonstrate it. Also include a characteristic that you can improve upon and how will you do that. (300)

An undiscovered ocean lay before me, ready to be analyzed, but readily unseen. Life is my undiscovered ocean, where every day I complement it with experience and knowledge. The main content of this ocean is education and leadership. In other words, humankind must be well well-informed and know how to work with others, to save our world. My strong desire to study and to be a good leader will remain my main driving force. Since I was a child, I have been engaged in activities both in and out of school. School programs and volunteering have helped me develop qualities of a good leader. In my opinion an effective leader should acquire qualities of enthusiasm, responsibility, and be innovative.

Good leaders not born, they are made. High-quality leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. As for me I demonstrate enthusiasm by being involved in Multnomah Teen Council, Youth Advisory Council, and Upward Bound where I am eager to work with my teammates in any project or volunteer job. In school subjects I am passionate to obtain straight A's. I practice my leadership skills by volunteering at Menlo Park Healthcare, where I help elderly people by reading, serving meals, and coming up with interesting activities. In the hospital I perform how to interact with patients and deal with the tasks that are assigned to me. I am enthusiastic to learn about all the disorders of the patients, and perhaps learn new things by observing their behavior. In return of helping others I am given an opportunity to become a more responsible individual. During the hours of volunteering in the hospital I am always aware of the environment because I realize that my mistakes can affect the patients. In Menlo Park Healthcare I began with the purpose of simply helping elderly and working with teammates, but came out with the objectives of being a good leader. While I might have been a follower prior to these experiences, they led me to notice some of my own leadership skills.

Innovation is one of the essential elements of effective leadership. No one wants repetition, dullness, and exhausted concepts. One of my weaknesses is to have new vibrant ideas that are vital in keeping the world moving forward. The way to improve upon my innovative skills is to join activities that include creative thinking. To be pensive, but powerful, and with the knowledge that I will soar as a leader I want to have consistently challenging established thought and strive to improve both myself and others.

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm but it requires a true leader to steer the ship in stormy seas. My life has been a similar process of building a metaphorical wheel - acquiring such qualities as enthusiasm and responsibility through a variety of experiences to prepare for becoming an effective leader. However, I still have a great deal of growing up to do and many experiences left to undergo. My leadership experience and qualities that I possess will allow me to be a good leader and carry out these abilities to the next chapter in my life!

Undergraduate / Why I want to be a doctor and what are my skills/accomplishments. [4]

From the moment I was able to comprehend what words meant, becoming a surgeon turned out to be my aspiration. As I grew up, my passion for bio-medicine grew with me. Since I have entered High School, I have begun to focus on my goal of becoming a neurosurgeon. My English was not perfect, and it has been an obstacle, however, my motivation and discipline has encouraged me to take challenging classes and be involved in different programs that would help me to see the real world and solve human problems. I believe that my enthusiasm for medicine, hard work, and previous experiences in this field would make me a good candidate for your internship position.

Currently I am a sophomore with a grade point average of 4.0. I am naturally a very competitive person.Usually I cannot help my tendency to want to overachieve. I have taken Health, Biology, First Aid/CPR, and Psychology classes at my school, which helped expand my knowledge of the medical world. In my Psychology class this year I studied the structure of the brain and neuroscience, which made me think deeper about what kind of surgeon I want to be. Taking this class I have had a chance to look at the human brain and learn about its structure, and function, as well as consequences of damage to the brain. My biggest project in this class was to write a six-page research paper about epilepsy and interview a doctor who worked in the area of neuroscience. My psychology teacher as an example has kept my research paper about epilepsy for other students. At Oregon Health and Science University, I interviewed a pediatric neurologist who showed me pictures that were taken by MRI machines of the children who had epilepsy. Through this experience, I developed even more interest in becoming a neurosurgeon. Along with my project I gained experience to work independently by requesting interviews, which strengthened my communication skills. In the next two years, I intend to take Anatomy and Physiology, as well as Physics which will also help me prepare.

Alongside my academic goals, I am an active person and I appreciate social activities and interacting with people. I enjoy going to swimming lessons, playing piano, reading, watching surgical movies, and volunteering as an interpreter in Farsi, Uzbek, Russian, as well as Turkish. One of my best experiences in a medical field was when I volunteered at Adventist Medical Center last summer. As a volunteer I assisted patients by reading to them and serving meals. Although, my tasks were simple, they helped make me a more responsible individual. Last year I also volunteered almost 50 hours at Free Geek, where I took apart computers to be rebuilt, and I became comfortable using Microsoft Word, Excel, Spreadsheet, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Illustrator. Currently, I volunteer for three days per week at Menlo Park Health Care, where I get a chance to help elderly people by reading to them, picking up the trays of food, and come up with interesting activities. In return, of being involved in my community and helping others, I am given a chance to understand the world of medicine, practice my communication skills, as well become more mature and responsible.

As a member of an Upward Bound Program, Multnomah Teen Counseling, Youth Advisory Counseling, and the Science Club I gained many experiences. From Upward Bound and the Science club I won several awards for projects in Biology, Science, Art, and Mathematics. Currently I am a leader of the Youth Advisory Counseling where I work for my team by producing public materials such as fliers, posters; and I communicate with other Y.A.C. members about improving teens' lifestyles. As a leader of a team, part of my job this year was to prepare a presentation and present it to the Y.A.C. mentors in hopes of getting money donated from Oregon State to our program. Our team received $2000 donations! In essence of being involved in programs I experienced both the rewards I hope to gain and the challenges I expect to face as a doctor.