Discovery may be the truest form of learning. Notre Dame is a place where your academic passions will be engaged and encouraged through undergraduate research. Describe an academic project that you have already pursued in high school, and tell us how this project inspires you to engage in further discovery.
I have always been preparing for my future in biology, especially in medical science. Since childhood, I have been more fascinated by dissecting frogs or chickens than polishing nails with five different colors or doing make up with my friends. During high school, while my friends were watching the last night's Gossip Girl episode, I was watching National Geographic about human body and diseases or probably reading the most recent online article about nanobacteria in Scientific American with great interest. Learning new facts about human bodies, diseases, and their respective medical treatments intrigues me greatly. I have always wanted to learn everything and anything that is related to human body and extend my knowledge in the field of medical science.
Recently, I had a chance to further my study in medical science by doing senior research on Do-Not-Resuscitate orders (DNRs). DNRs, Do-Not-Resuscitate orders, mean that, when the patient is in cardiac arrest, no CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) or electric shock will be performed to restart the heart. Since I was much more familiar with disease-related subjects than DNR orders, it was a great opportunity to learn new part of medical science.
To take a position whether DNRs are advantageous to patients or not, I searched statistical data which show the success rate of CPR and some testimonies from real DNR patients and medical doctors. At first, I thought DNR orders were similar to euthanasia, which could be an act of passive suicide for the patients. As I learned more about DNR orders, however, I found out that they are intended to prevent patients suffering pointlessly from the effects that resuscitation can cause. Furthermore, in contrast to what I believed on CPR which could save peoples' lives immediately when they lose conscious, CPR lacks the magical quality that people often associate with. CPR can and does work, but the success rate of CPR varies widely depending on the conditions of patients. Moreover, even though when patients survive by receiving CPR, patients are prone to suffer from bone fractures and punctured lungs which might leave patients in worse condition than before. Gathering all sources from online and libraries, I finally completed my senior research paper on the advantages of DNR orders.
While I was doing my senior research, I have learned numerous medical facts and terms. But the most important lesson that I learned as I was doing research was that medical science deals with peoples' lives and deaths in either direct or indirect way. Although one might think that a research on CPR or DNR might merely show statistical data or facts, those researches are fundamental steps for other medical researches which help patients to live longer than before and suffer less from diseases.
My senior research on DNR orders inspires me to expand my interest in medical field. Although death is unavoidable part of people's life, I would like to research on ways to elongate life expectancy and other medical treatments for terminally ill patients so that they will end their lives more comfortably. Furthermore, it would be a great experience to participate in projects on rare and neglected diseases, which Notre Dame's biological science department is currently researching. I would like to be a part of researcher in Notre Dame who supports innovative global health research projects to improve health in developing countries. If I have an opportunity to learn more about biology and do research in Notre Dame, I believe I am ready to reach my goal as a medical researcher and further my study in medical science.
Please give some comment on my essay!
I think you should cut out this sentence. Since childhood, I have been more fascinated by dissecting frogs or chickens than polishing nails with five different colors or doing make up with my friends. It says something similar to what is said by the sentence that follows it, and it unnecessarily adds a theme of make-up and cosmetic stuff that may detract from the meaning of the paragraph.
...everything and anything that is related to human body, because ___________________________________ and extend my knowledge in the field of medical science.
Now add one more sentence to this first para -- a sentence that mentions the DNR work, because you made the DNR work a theme of the essay ... so it should be supported by the thesis statement.
:-)
