The Career Conundrum by Ryan

The Career Conundrum by Ryan - June 2017 Scholarship Essay

The life of a six year old is a very simple one; there are no responsibilities, no thoughts about the world, and no worries. This kind of life style leads a child this young to believe that they could do anything. Many see themselves as heroes when they are older and imagine themselves as super heroes protecting the galaxy, while other see themselves as sport heroes and instilling their names in sport lore. Six year old me belonged to the latter category as I wanted to grow up and become a NBA superstar. This dream that six year old me dreamed up stayed relevant for many years and it wasn't until I got to eighth grade when it transformed.
Throughout elementary school and the first couple years of middle school I played basketball rigorously. My dream of being an NBA player was still alive and thriving and I was doing pretty well for myself in the basketball world. However, once I got to eighth grade I began to sense a shift in my attitude towards basketball. I started to loathe going to practice and playing in games and I began to create excuses to get out of going to practice. I was becoming burned out, and this sensation of not enjoying the game anymore began to change my attitude towards what I wanted to do when I grew up. A year earlier in seventh grade, I had taken a pre- med class and it was something I really enjoyed. I became fascinated with the human body and the way the body works, and I became more inclined to doing it for a career. However, at that point in my life I was still heavily involved in basketball and my dream of playing in the NBA was still alive. Once my passion for basketball began to fizzle out, I started to seriously think about having a career in medicine. This new ideology for eighth grade was daunting as the medical field was so wide and diverse, I had a lot of trouble concentrating on what type of medical doctor I would want to become.
A year later in ninth grade I took a care and prevention class for injuries. This class revamped my interest in the medical field and helped me narrow my choices for what kind of doctor I would aim to become. My teacher, Mrs. Z, was a previous athletic trainer for the Pittsburgh Steelers and was the current athletic trainer for my high school. She spoke about her experiences in her profession and about the impact she had on so many athletes’ lives. I took to heart about what she said regarding her profession and I became interested in sports medicine. However, unlike Mrs. Z, I had no interest in becoming an athletic trainer as I wanted to study to become a doctor. Eventually through this new experience in this class I decided I would want to be involved in the Orthopedics field of medicine. I was really interested in sports medicine and I thought this field would be perfect for me. Once I researched the field a little bit more, I found out about the opportunity to become a team doctor for a professional sports team. This kind of position really interested me as it would combine my two passions in life; sports and helping others. At this point in my life I was about to begin the tenth grade and I was involved in a new sport that I was introduced to in ninth grade. This sport was Ultimate Frisbee and I was looking forward to my sophomore year in the sport, however, my season was cut short.
In February of my sophomore year of high school, I was at a practice for my Ultimate Frisbee team. This practice was a normal practice as we completed our daily warm ups and drills as we do every other practice. Towards the end of the practice during one of the drills I sprained my ankle severely and it cut my season short by two months. Over the next 2 months I couldn’t walk and was confined to sitting in a wheelchair or utilizing crutches. I had constant physical therapy to help my legs gain back strength and to help my ankle fully recover. My ankle didn’t fully heal until July of that year and I wasn’t able to get back to playing until the next season started. This experience helped me realize that helping athletes return from an injury is something that I would really enjoy doing in my life. I made a goal while I was completing physical therapy to become an orthopedic surgeon, that way I could stay involved in sports as well as help individuals get back to their passions.
Overall, my career has evolved from my six year old dream of playing in the NBA, to striving to become an orthopedic surgeon and helping professional athletes return from a devastating injury. I will do anything I need to do to make my dream a reality and I am prepared to work hard for it. I have a drive that has allowed me to earn nothing but A’s in school and my drive has put me in position to possibly become a valedictorian. Life is short and I want to live my short life by helping others and enjoying life.