The Pursuit of Medicine by Andrea

The Pursuit of Medicine by Andrea - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

With regard to my personal understanding of “success”, I reflect on my encounters with victory to create a mindset that is optimistic about my future endeavors. Many times in life, a person overcomes challenges that create a pause in their path. Naturally, a person’s “success story” is characterized by their occupation, or desired career. From the age of five, I’ve been interested in the medical field. I remember attending my kindergarten graduation and being asked the generic question of “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As a young child, I responded with, “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.” At the time, I didn’t realize the complexity of becoming a doctor, but as I grew older, learning about each specific medical profession, I began figuring out what exactly a career in medicine would entail. Thus, I became determined to succeed at such a career. Currently, I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences at Howard University. My rationale behind choosing to be a Health Sciences major revolves around my future ambitions, my family, and my self-awareness.
I often like to imagine what my life could look like in a decade or so. When thinking about ideas such as my future family, houses, cars, and vacations, it's necessary to determine the career that will allow me to reach each of those goals. In fifth grade, I finally decided on a specific medical occupation that I could begin focusing on. With having three younger siblings, two of which are under 10 years old, my patience has been tested immensely over the years, but ultimately, my love for children was a vital factor in desiring a medical career that would be centered on the health of children. Since I was often in environments with young children, I soon realized that I would want to be the type of health professional who could provide aid for a child in need, and save lives physically, mentally, and emotionally. Thus, I decided to pursue a career in pediatric medicine.
Another contributing factor to my desire to pursue pediatric medicine has been the people that surround me. Though I grew up in a nurturing environment, at younger ages, I often felt forced to prove myself to others, especially my immediate family members. In addition, my confidence has often fluctuated over the years due to certain statements I’ve heard or been told. For instance, as a child, I often heard friends undermining my leadership capabilities and speaking negatively about my appearance. I’ve even come across the matter of hearing my parents doubt my ability to improve my physical health. As a result of these experiences, I would prioritize doing well academically, physically, and socially, in hope of receiving acceptance from the people who doubted me. However, as I’m nearly finished with my freshman year of college at the illustrious Howard University, my mindset has gotten to a point in which I want to prove to myself that I can excel in life, without the necessity of receiving acceptance or recognition from others. Howard’s historical alumni, current students, and diverse array of courses have shown me a different lens of the Black experience. I now realize the importance of Black voices in careers that weren’t initially promised to us to excel in. Therefore, a pediatric career is one of the activities that I aim to excel in, as it is something that I’m able to attribute my medical interests and ambitions to, is essential to my self-confidence, and will allow my fellow young Black girls to aim for higher learning and careers.
Finally, being self aware of my capabilities has created an ambitious spirit within me. When it comes to my academic success and my desired career, I’ve acquired what I would call a “positive obsession”, a phrase coined by the late American author, Octavia Butler. I’m at a level of grit and determination in which I’m not complacent with where I am, but want to continue to improve my abilities in a healthy and optimistic manner. In my pursuit of pediatric medicine, it's imperative for me to understand the possibility of change or failure. However, one of life’s many lessons is overcoming failure through achievement. Given this concept, I will continue to prioritize my health education with the understanding that to succeed, I must have the ability to overcome obstacles and failures, without allowing those setbacks to deter me from the opportunities I’ll receive in the future.