Greater Good for the World by Nicole

Greater Good for the World by Nicole - February 2019 Scholarship Essay

I have always been fascinated by the human body.
My mother tells me the same story over and over again of my kindergarten self begging her to teach me more than the mere three pages we covered in the human body book we bought at Costco. Having studied animal sciences in college, my mother knew enough biology to teach five-year-old me—but it was never enough. Growing up, I always asked questions about sprained ankles, broken fingers, and fractured wrists—injuries my friends and I were prone to acquiring while playing sports. I never looked away when TV the show “House” showed a surgery scene—much to my parents’ dismay as they tried to shield me from the blood.
I still remember the numbing feeling of having ice water dumped over my head while participating in the ALS ice bucket challenge in seventh grade. It wasn’t until sophomore year when I had learned that the ice water was poured on one’s body to mimic the numbness people suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease feel all the time. I pursued my fascination of health sciences in high school by taking IB Biology HL—a class with a brutal reputation at my school—my junior year to further my knowledge in this field. There, I learned about the human body in the molecular level: lab scientists maneuvering plasmids to engineer gene construction, carcinogenic factors in the proliferation of cancer, and manipulation of genetic sequencing. That was when I realized that I want to be part of the group that can help the people with their body parts failing them—whether that be their arm, eye, brain, or skin—which led to my developed interest in bioengineering.
I expect to gain a breadth of knowledge in the fundamentals of bioengineering in college, as well as specialized information like how to manipulate e. Coli to make protein, using gel-electrophoresis to sequence DNA, and the electrical signals that have to be sent to certain areas of the brain to combat Parkinson’s disease, or to wane cancer cells. I expect to gain experience in my journey of learning to be prepared to face, join, and thrive in the engineering workforce. I want to be able to research ALS, this infamous disease that I’ve heard of since seventh grade, as well as being able to help these affected people more than just being challenged to donate ten dollars to research. Like every other human that has friends or family affected by cancer or organ failure, I wish for science to advance to the point of saving all these lives, but only a select few take action to join this field. This is why I aim to pursue a career in the bioengineering field. I want to be part of the minority that studies and seeks to find methods to aid these people—even if I only contribute to the study that discovers how to further wane cancer cells. As long as my efforts can ameliorate even just one life, I will have achieved what I have worked for all these years. Instead of being the one sitting back and donating money, I want to be the one on the other side making use of the resources to help the society for the greater good.