My Life-Changing C by Marisa

My Life-Changing C by Marisa - August 2014 Scholarship Essay

Before I go into this story, you must know a little bit about my history as a high student. I was almost a straight-A student with only four B’s over the course of 4 years. I continued this pattern during my freshman year of college at the University of Arizona by only earning A’s and B’s. I was proud of myself because I had chosen Biomedical Engineering as my major—a major that is known to be pretty difficult. Initially, I wanted to use biomedical engineering in a lab setting to do work on tissue engineering, but over the course of my sophomore year, everything changed.

It was during my sophomore year that I began to fail. Not in the literal sense of receiving an E for a grade, but I was failing myself. I was taking a statics class and the material just didn’t make sense to me. I was getting thirties on my exams despite all the studying and going to office hours. Because I had previously set the expectation of only earning A’s and B’s, receiving anything lower was appalling to me. When final grades were posted, I was ecstatic that I had earned a C. This idea of failing to meet my expectations triggered my depression that I still struggle with today. During this time I also began questioning my choice in major and future careers.

As an incoming freshman I had thought that I wanted to pursue a major in engineering because I was good at and loved math and science. It seemed like the perfect major because it meshed my two favorite subjects. However, I was neglected one very important aspect of my life that wasn’t getting fulfilled—my love for international cultures and languages. This passion of mine is rooted in the fact that I was adopted from Brazil as an infant, my mom was born and raised in Brazil, my dad was born and raised in Japan, and my sister was adopted from the Marshall Islands when she was eighteen months old. Growing up I was exposed to many different languages and cultures and they have always fascinated me. Ignoring this passion was keeping me from being truly happy and was another way that I was also failing myself. Knowing that I wasn’t satisfying this passion, I declared a second major. I declared Global Studies with an emphases in Global Health and Development and Latin America. I also changed my career path to become a doctor and work abroad to help people in developing countries.

The following semester I took my first Global Studies class and I immediately fell in love with the major because it was everything that I ever wanted. As the class progressed, Biomedical Engineering became less and less interesting. When we went over the global health unit, I knew that I wanted to work in the field and I remember my professor saying that the world needs more nutritionists. I knew that I didn’t want to major in Biomedical Engineering, but I had a hard time letting go because of my pride. I wanted to prove to myself that I could complete something so hard. I got over my pride and decided to do what would be best for me. That summer I changed my major to Nutritional Sciences while keeping Global Studies. It prompted me change my career focus to improving global health through nutrition techniques.

In the end, earning a C in my statics wasn’t a traditional fail, but I had failed myself. During this experience I learned more about myself and my relationships with my friends and family grew stronger because I reached out to them and was vulnerable with what I was going through. That C in my statics class began a chain of events that would lead to me where I am today. I also learned that grades aren’t everything and to be easier on myself to lessen the stress and improve my mental health.

Now as I enter my fourth year (out of 5) at the University of Arizona with Global Studies and Nutritional Sciences degrees, I’m super excited to gain knowledge that I will definitely use as I travel the world improving global health.