Be the Change by Marlon

Be the Change by Marlon - April 2015 Scholarship Essay

A few years ago my father had a seizure. I was not in the room at the time, but my twin sister, Marla, was. I was woken by my mother who had called a neighbor, an EMS worker who helped to keep my father stable until the ambulance could arrive. While waiting for the ambulance, my sister came to me, tears in her eyes, and shaking. Her appearance made her emotional turmoil painfully clear. In contrast, I tried to stay calm. I do not think I cried at all. But after the ambulance arrived, after helping to restrain my father as he called for help, after looking him in the eye as he failed to recognize me, I began to break down.The ambulance drove off, carrying my father, my mother, and my sister. I stayed home, with an aunt just next door if I needed her. For the life of me, I can not remember why I decided not to go. But, alone, I cried. Instantly I regretted not being there for my family. I felt like a coward. Fear kept me from going. That fear became anger. I was just so mad that there was nothing I could do. Even when I went to the hospital later that day and saw that my dad was fine, I still could not make peace with the fact that all this could happen. I have never since that moment felt anything like the complete helplessness I experienced.
Things like that do not need to happen, they should not happen. Maybe it won’t be seizures, it may not even have anything to do with the brain, but there is something that I going to help with. Somehow I can make a difference, I can do something so that others won't experience the anger and fear that I did. There are problems to be solved and cures to be found and I want to know that I did everything I could to be a part of that. So I will continue my interest in biology, I have always like it regardless. I’ll take the advanced courses and put in the extra effort. There are many different avenues to discovery, I have taken Anatomy and Psychology, Biology and Aquatic Science. There has never been useless knowledge. Breakthroughs could come from any field and I want to be on the front lines when something comes to change the world.

So that is why I want to college. I am not out to land a job or even a career. I would be happy with any life, as long as it is one where I have done something to help those I love, done something to help everyone who has one out there who loves them. And this need to apply solely to my life. Anyone who has access to education has the opportunity to better themselves and their communities. Education can give me and everyone else the tools we need to make the difference we want to see in the world.