Shaping Myself by Ariel

Shaping Myself by Ariel - September 2018 Scholarship Essay

Uplifting spirits is just as important as improving someone’s health care. Entering a community that not only helps people, but heals souls is rewarding on its own. When I was younger, all I wanted to be was a marine biologist. My love for caring for those in need preceded into my adult life; however, my passion has grown towards medicine. When coming into Rutgers, I saw that there was a variety of opportunities for me to get involved in that allows me to experience more than what I was able to experience in high school. However, before I was at Rutgers, I had experienced a life changing event that put me on the path I am today.

Playing sports has been my passion since I was a child. During one lacrosse game, I realized my true potential. I noticed my true passion. We were playing against Union Catholic, one of our biggest rivals, and my entire team and I wanted to be victorious against the team we thought was the enemy. One of the rival team players become so aggressive that when she shot the ball to our goalie, she slammed her stick into one of my teammate’s head. I remember this so vividly, and I remember the amount of blood that was coming out of her head. Someone needed to act quickly, and I was not going to let one of my friends be there alone. I rushed to her side and applied pressure to the wound and tried to calm her down immediately. I stayed by her side and tried to make some jokes until further medical assistance came to her. I had her head cupped in my hands. In that moment, all I really cared about was making sure that my teammate was safe. I realized that this is what I want to be doing as a career. Helping people drives me to better myself and allows me to constantly learn new material that I can use to help others.

Being a part of a team helped me realize how power it is to work with like-minded people. It is extremely refreshing to bounce ideas off of people who have the same common goals. I have a passion for helping people succeed with me, because it is never fun to succeed alone. Being with people that I knew from the start, and seeing them succeed with me has become so rewarding and heartwarming. The people I started my premedical program with are still very good friends of mine today, and help me stay motivated to continue this journey. Since we are such a diverse school, the people I surround myself have helped me become well rounded and insightful. It has brought out characteristics in myself that I never paid attention to, and I am grateful for the memories we have shared together.

Being on the field that made me realize that there is more to learn. I want to learn how to become quick on my feet and be able to make important decisions quickly and efficiently. I wanted to feel confident in my own ability to help others reach the confidence they were once at before they asked for my help. Being a doctor is one thing; but, in order to heal people, doctors are people first. People help people, and that is connection is able to save lives. I will continue to learn as a doctor; teaching people how to better themselves, and allowing people to teach me how to become a better person.