"Last summer" - Common Application Short Answer

Elaborate on one of your extra-curricular activities or work experiences (150 words or fewer)
Last summer, I stepped out of my limited world of school, friends, and family to became a part of something bigger, something more important than myself, to become a part of a research team working towards finding a "functional cure" for Diabetes. I leapt into a laboratory and clinical-based setting with a truly international organization of doctors and scientists. Independently performing the experiments that drive a "functional cure" enabled me to develop my own hypotheses and let my curiosity run wild when discussing and questioning. Visiting patients in the operating room opened my eyes to the influence of a physician's efforts. While discovering new projects, initiating experiments, and developing interpersonal relations, I was a piece of the puzzle influencing 197 million diabetic patients worldwide.

Why is functional cure in quotation marks? When I see something in quotation marks like that, I see it as irony.

with a truly international organization of doctors and scientists But was it? Were there doctors from every country? Every continent even? The word truly emphasizes international where no emphasis is warranted.

let my curiosity run wild I am not so sure that curiosity running wild is the best image here. Although it isn't always used that way, curiosity can have a negative connotation--sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. Likewise, running wild contradicts the scientific process of controlling data. I get what you are saying here, but with limited words you want to make each of the words count in your favor.

Visiting patients in the operating room Maybe it is just me, but this doesn't ring right. Every time I have had surgery, I have been out cold in the operating room. Visiting patients requires some interaction between you and the patient. Is there another way of putting this that would make more sense? Were you observing surgeries? Assisting the doctors? Or were you really sitting down for tea with patients in the operating room?