My Second Chance by Benedette

My Second Chance by Benedette - August 2014 Scholarship Essay

Benedette Cuffari
Discuss one academic experience when failure made you stronger.

When I was a sophomore in high school I discovered my dream of becoming a pediatric doctor. I began volunteering at numerous hospitals, shadowing physicians in the pediatric emergency room, and constantly writing down any type of disease or symptom in my pocket-sized notebook that I would later research when I got home. With this dream in mind, I applied to St. John’s University as a biology major, and in the fall of 2012 I began my freshman year as a biology major. However, at the first activities fair that fall I was introduced to a major I did not even know existed – something called toxicology. I was fascinated with this program and this field of science, and it brought an excitement to me that I never knew school could bring me. With courses ranging from pathology and current issues in toxicology, to pharmacological toxicology, I was beginning to see that there was a world outside of my basic biology courses that I could soon discover.

In the fall of 2013 I was accepted into the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health at St. John’s University as a toxicology major, which is one of the seven undergraduate toxicology programs offered in the United States. I excelled in this program my sophomore year, becoming a vital member of the toxicology community with my growing involvement in the Toxicology Club, Tau Omega Chi, as well as editor in chief of the first toxicology newsletter St. John’s had seen since 2001. My interest in understanding toxicology and how it affects almost every ecological, medical, and biological activity fascinated me, and I was able to gain a better understanding of these conditions that most pre-medical students are never able to be exposed to with a typical biology degree. While I had a great degree of involvement in the program, I was also trying to manage my schoolwork of taking extremely difficult courses including organic chemistry, physics, and human anatomy and physiology, while also caring for my extremely ill grandfather who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer.

My grades were inevitably affected my sophomore year, and I was put on academic probation spring semester, yet I was still unable to meet grade requirements at the end of that spring. Being told that I had no choice but to find another major to call home, after committing so much of myself to this program was heartbreaking. I could not fathom a better program that could possibly offer me the same experiences and knowledge that I had gained with toxicology, and I refused to give up on myself. With the fate of my dream program slowly fading from my vision, I was able to appeal my case to the dean of my college, and I have been given a second chance to prove just how much this program means to me.

This second chance has been more than just extra time to get my grades up; it has been a much needed wake-up call. I have been able to take a new and improved focus on my academics, and understand areas of my learning process that needed improvement. I am now better able to decide what choices are beneficial to my education, and what choices may complicate my success in this program, and even as a future physician. Coming so close to failure was terrifying; however it may just be the best thing that could have happened to me. As cliché as it may sound, I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I believe this situation happened for a very important reason that I am still uncovering with each passing day. I am so close to achieving my dream, and I will allow nothing to get in the way of myself and that dream. Donald Trump, a well known figure for his own impressive success, once said, “Sometimes by losing a battle, you find a new way to win the war,” and by learning from my previous mistakes and applying that knowledge to my actions, I have found a new way to win a war that I refuse to lose.