College of Agriculture and Life Sciences:
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) develops leaders committed to the improvement of life. Describe how your interest and related experiences have influenced your selection of major and how CALS will prepare you to be a leader in your chosen field.
As a child, I grew up with the notion that my father had attended medical school and never managed to complete it. In reality, this wasn't his ambition, and he soon left school to immigrate and start a family. Nevertheless, I had made my decision to follow in what I thought were my father's footsteps. I wanted to help people, to be as kind and generous to others as my parents had been to me. Thus my love for biology, and medicine, began. My learning was fueled by the mass amounts of outdated medical textbooks and work lying around the house. While I spent a lot of time watching PBS and reading children's books, my knowledge was further enhanced by books on the cell, and an anatomy coloring book.
Being raised in the U.S., I have been rather fortunate. All my life I've been able to receive excellent health care. The idea that there are people out there without it has always been something startling to me, and one memory still haunts me. Every few years, I travel to Egypt to visit my extended family. On one of these trips, I accompanied my young aunt to the doctor's office. My aunt suffers from lupus, so these trips were standard for her. To me, what I saw was a shock: the smell, the lighting, the patients waiting in pain, and the doctors who showed apparently little concern for them.
On a recent trip to Egypt, when my aunt had an eye infection we traveled to another hospital. Unfortunately, what I saw was no better than what I had seen years before. I realized that I had always taken for granted the healthcare back at home. I decided then that as hard as I would have to work to become a doctor, it would be my aim to help those who cannot help themselves.
As a result of my experiences, I feel that I would be best suited in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Concurrent with my hopes to one day enter the field of medicine, my interests are geared primarily toward issues concerning public health. For this reason it seems that the Biology and Society major would be most appropriate for me. In regards to science, many aspects of biology appeal to me, from molecular biology, to cytology, to physiology. The study of life has never ceased to amaze and surprise me. However, I am equally astonished at the state of our society and many others, in which people are permitted to suffer at the hands of a flawed system of health care. The Biology and Society major would give me a greater understanding of this system and its political and legal workings. In combination with my love for science, I hope to make a difference not only in my own community, but others who are in need as well.
please and thank you!
Also, would it be possible to use a variation on this for the following prompt?
What experiences have led you to consider medicine as your future profession? Please describe specifically why you have chosen to apply to the Program in Liberal Medical Education in pursuit of your career in medicine. Also, be sure to indicate your rationale on how the PLME is a 'good fit' for your personal, academic and future professional goals.
The idea that there are people out there without it has always been somewhat startling to me, and one memory still haunts me.
What I saw was a shock: the smell, the lighting, the patients waiting in pain, and the doctors who showed apparently little concern for them.
Along with my hopes of one day entering the field of medicine, my interests are geared primarily toward issues concerning public health.
However, I am equally astonished at the state of our society and many others, in which people are permitted to suffer at the hands of a flawed health care system.
The Biology and Society major would give me a greater understanding of this system and its political and legal workings. In combination with my love for science, I hope to make a difference not only in my own community, but for others who are in need as well.
Good essay!
:)
