Graduate / 'a daughter of a nursing executive' - PTCAS Essay - DPT Essay (Physical Therapy) [3]

Hi, I would like any input that you could provide, not only grammatical errors. Any and all insightful critiques are welcomed.

Thanks in advance, it is greatly appreciated.

P.S. You will see XXX, to allow for some privacy. :-)

As a daughter of a nursing executive, by the time I was a senior in high school I had accumulated hundreds of volunteer hours working at a nursing home, where my mother was employed. At an early age, my mother would take myself and my sister to the nursing home to expose us to the act of charity and the importance of helping others. I spent numerous hours helping my mother in the office with administrative duties such as photo copying, filing, and the hand delivery of memos. While I enjoyed spending time with my mother and helping the other nursing administrators with administrative duties, I was often found wandering off the executive floor and visiting my friends, the residents of the hospital. I would spend hours talking to the residents and helping them with arts and crafts; it was inevitable that strong friendships would develop.

There was one resident that I became very fond of and found myself visiting her at her room. If she wasn't in her room, I would search the floors looking for her. She had Muscular Dystrophy and was bound to a motorized wheelchair with very little range of motion to her lower extremities. While looking for her, I would often find her receiving physical and occupational therapy. I watched her work tirelessly to bring back functionality to her daily life. While she always had a great spirit given her circumstances, I noticed that her energy increased during therapy. While she knew she probably would never be able to walk or perform daily activities without assistance, I witnessed her regain her independence during therapy. During painful exercises, she was resilient and always worked through the difficulty allowing her amazing spirit to guide her. Through it all, she always had a smile on her face and would challenge the therapist to increase the level of difficulty of the exercise.

Although I enjoyed spending time at the nursing home, during my junior and senior years of high school I would have less time to volunteer due to extracurricular activities. Off to college I went and entered XXX University as a marketing major. I excelled in high school in business courses and even received a business award for my outstanding achievement, so it seemed natural to declare myself as a business student. After taking a business course, I realized that I had picked the wrong career path. After much research, I switched my major from marketing to public relations with a concentration in marketing. As I excelled in business courses in high school, I would prove successful again in the School of Communications at XXX. I was on the Dean's List several semesters while taking communication courses and graduated Cum Laude in 2000.

Upon graduation I returned to New York from Washington, DC to work within the competitive entertainment industry. One year later, with very few entertainment contacts, I was able to secure a position as an advertising assistant to the Director of Advertising of XXX Group. While at XXX, I was promoted several times, yet over the years I found myself more and more unfulfilled. I knew that I was up for another challenge, but I wasn't sure which path would quench my need for professional satisfaction. I would speak to family and friends about my desire to want to impact the lives of others and was quickly told that I could fulfill this need by volunteering and didn't have to necessarily change my career. However, I knew that a few hours a week wouldn't fulfill this desire.

By my eighth year at XXX Group, I had become a manager with a staff of three. Although our department went from a staff of nine to four, the amount of work did not decrease. The job became challenging and to alleviate the stress, I started practicing yoga and my fascination with the human body, movement, and function increased. I was intrigued how the body could repair itself through exercise and wanted to help others realize the importance of exercise as a preventative and restorative therapy. During this time, I started to think back to my early memories of my friend at the nursing home and the happiness we shared during her physical therapy appointments. It was then that I realized that I wanted to become a physical therapist. For the first time in years I was relieved, content, and self assured that I knew the new path my career would take. The years I spent with the residents of the nursing home would provide the framework for my ultimate career path. After several years of searching and feeling unsatisfied, I realized, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others," as stated by Mahatma Gandhi.

The next step in my career path is to become a DPT student to ultimately fulfill my goal of becoming a physical therapist. I don't consider becoming a physical therapist as merely a career path, but rather a life mission. I hope to embark on my mission to improve the quality of life of the youth population. I often wish I would have become a physical therapist earlier, but I am confident that my unique life experiences and sincere dedication will allow me to become a successful clinician.