Undergraduate /
Singing/Caring for grandma; GEORGETOWN - Me & Experience [4]
As Georgetown is a diverse community, the Admissions Committee would like to know more about you in your own words. Please submit a brief essay, either personal or creative, which you feel best describes you.The audience chatters in the darkness. The guitarist strums his strings, checking that they are in tune. The drummer hits the kick drum, testing out the pedal. The bassist plucks at a string, adjusting the volume. The singer steps forward and into the spotlight, as the audience and cacophony of sounds quiet down to a deep silence. The singer flicks on the microphone.
Though I have been singing for as long as I can remember, my first public performance did not occur until seventh grade, when I was asked to sing for my church's worship band. After weeks of preparation and practice, I was pronounced ready, but as soon as I stepped onto stage, my heart dropped. Looking anxiously at the leader, who gave me a quick nod of encouragement, I uttered the first note. An extreme ecstasy swelled up inside of me. The fact that I could experience and express my passion for singing at the same time simply rocked me to my core. It brought about a surge of unexpected and renewed passion.
Starting with piano lessons at the age of four, cello lessons at the age of nine, and guitar lessons at the age of twelve, music has remained a constant presence throughout my life. Through these three instruments, I learned musical theories and techniques and was imbued with a sense of responsibility, patience, and dedication through the process of refining and mastering new pieces and songs. Singing, however, led to me to connect my passion for music with others.
Despite my outgoing exterior and others' perceptions of me as a strong and confident girl, in the past, I was bothered by the nagging belief that I did not conform to others' expectations of me and that I was not pushing myself hard enough to meet those expectations. Through singing, however, I found an outlet through which I could create moments to free myself from the restrictions placed on me by my parents and peers. These moments shaped my identity.
Confronting the lingering sense of self-consciousness in my mind and finding the courage to go on stage and sing in front of an audience have not only been my proudest achievements but have also opened doors for me to reach out to those around me. By creating moments during which others too can reflect, think, and express themselves through the power of music, I share my hopes and struggles with them. Watching others sing with me and sharing those moments with them have allowed me to bond with people in ways that would have otherwise been impossible. These moments define how I connect with others.
During the moment after I open my mouth for the first time and allow a sound to escape, each word, each note, each pause that I release forms something beautiful and stirring. Everywhere I look, the audience sways and sings along. As the song ends, the energy from the audience remains powerful and austere, and I realize: I have created my first moment.
Describe how your experiences or ideas shaped your decision to pursue a health profession and how these experiences or ideas may aid your future contribution to the field.A bell rings downstairs. I push my homework aside and run down the stairs to my grandmother's room. A composed and neat woman with a petite frame, she smiles up at me from under her yellow comforter. She asks me to fill a tub of water to soak her infected toe, and she informs me that the blinds in the kitchen need to be closed. I attend to her requests, give her a hug, and ask her if she needs anything else, to which she insistently refuses. As I climb back up the stairs, she calls me back. I walk into the room and she hands me her water pitcher, asking me to fill it for her. This is a routine that has become second nature to me.
Caring for my grandmother has been challenging. After she suffered from a stroke years ago, her ability to move and complete simple tasks became severely limited. With my parents working full time, I effectively have become my grandmother's caretaker. Through the years, my friends' conversations have been a constant reminder of everything I could not do--continuing to play on the lacrosse team, going to football games, or even going to the mall. I could not help but feel like opportunities were passing me by.
One day after coming home from school, I went to my grandmother's room and found her bed empty. After searching the rest of the house, I called my mother, who informed me that my grandmother had been admitted to the hospital. Though the situation was not serious, I could not help but think that when she got out, if I took really good care of her, she would not end up in the hospital again. In that moment, what had seemed so arduous became the thing I cherished the most. I tried to carry on with my day, but on that particular afternoon, the sight of her empty yellow bed as well as the ringing silence in the house left an indelible image in my mind of my grandmother's mortality and my need to take care of her, both for her and for myself.
Over the years, my relationship with my grandmother has been slowly shaping my dreams and aspirations to pursue a career in healthcare. It has taught me patience from spending those extra minutes to help her take her labored steps from the bedroom to the kitchen or by accompanying her to the doctor's office; responsibility as a result of diligently helping her take her medications daily; and maturity from the broader perspective that my grandmother instilled in me about what is truly important in life.
Taking care of my grandmother has been one of the luckiest things to ever happen to me. Though her needs have grown over the years, I am fueled by a refined sense of purpose. My relationship with my grandmother continues to inspire and motivate my world.
