Hope and Promises by Nairy

Hope and Promises by Nairy - May 2023 Scholarship Essay

At the sound of what looked like a nineteen year old volunteer at Adventist Hospital, I heard my sisters name echo throughout the waiting room. Holding onto my mother’s stiff body inside a dreary room, we heard the doctor diagnose my sister with a disability with no cure and a name uglier than its effects: dyskinetic cerebral palsy. In the moment I couldn’t feel anger flowing through my veins or even confusion at the fact that my sister was the unlucky one in the family. My mind quickly directed my thoughts to the feelings of curiosity that aroused in my head and what felt like a rush of adrenaline towards something I didn’t know I had. Instantly my mind searched for a way to make my sister feel better, emotionally and physically. Later that night I went on to google to research cures that I was so sure the doctors had glanced over. “I’ll find it, just give me a day.” That is what I said to my sister, a promise that I have not been able to carry out, yet. I did not only learn of my sister’s disability that day but also that I wanted to work in an environment that would give me the privilege of helping children feel better. I didn’t know the term for this magical job as a twelve year old, but now it is my mission to become a pediatrician.
In order to achieve this, I plan on majoring in Biology starting fall of 2023 in the University of California: Los Angeles. This major combines my best passions of school into a combined learning environment that I know I will flourish in. Taking AP Biology my senior year has made me undoubtably sure of my decision and had only motivated me to work hard for my future so that I can help keep a promise I made to my sister.