Smile, the Kids Are Watching by Selena

Smile, the Kids Are Watching by Selena - August 2024 Scholarship Essay

In the first few weeks of my freshman year, I found myself in a hospital bed. I had been diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura, a rare blood disorder that could have been deadly if we hadn’t caught it in time. It was an extremely challenging time for me as I was still adjusting to being an IB student, I was missing out on my first homecoming spirit week, and not to mention I was uncontrollably bleeding from the mouth. And yet, through all the confusion, I found peace. Every doctor handled my case with calmness and control even though my condition was quite untamed at the time. I saw doctor after doctor and each time another walked in, I found myself thinking that could be me. I could be the calm in the storm, the smile that no one knew they needed, the voice that promises you’ll be okay. And I was okay. After multiple clinic visits, I was cleared, and I have been free of that condition ever since. In the three years since then, I have promised myself I would be that same light in the dark in someone else’s life.

Fast forward to after my junior year, I got a job at my dance studio as a summer camp counselor, specifically for the preschool camp. Mind you, I had never worked professionally with children or even had younger siblings. I walked into this job blindly and made my own path, with my campers following closely behind me. I can confidently say I loved my job, and my kids loved me. Seeing the smiles on their faces through the obstacle courses, crafts, games, and popsicles, I knew I was creating so many memories for these kids.

I remember one girl who would often go pout and cry in a corner when she didn’t get her way. I would always patiently talk to her because I knew this was probably her first time in a group like this. This would happen multiple times a day every day of camp. There was nothing I could do except try to ease the young girl into our imperfect world where nothing ever seems to work out our way. Every morning, I greeted her with a smile and hug and hoped that I could be a constant for her.

Midway through the summer, I sprained my ankle and was out of camp for a week. When I returned, I was met with the biggest hug from behind me. I turned around and it was the same little girl with a beaming smile saying how much she missed me. My heart warmed because despite how frustrating the girl’s behavior got, she had made my impact on her evident, greeting me the same way I had always greeted her. I had made a difference in a kid’s life and to me, that’s the greatest gift of all.

It wasn’t just that girl that I had had an impact on: most of the campers’ parents came to me and told me that their kids greatly missed me, and I was their only topic of conversation at home. I was just shocked and so proud of myself. I had started with no clue and now I had kids who would forever remember me as their first teacher. That was the moment it clicked: I’m a role model for these kids. In those monumental moments in a kid’s life, they searched for someone to look up to. Whether that be their first time at camp or while facing a health condition, I want to be their light in the darkness, their calm in the storm, their hope through it all.

From my own clinic visits to every Band-Aid I put on my campers, I knew I would be a pediatrician. Yes, I had heard all the tales of medical school, but there was one thing that every person I talked to told me: “Only do if you have a passion.” For so long, I was unsure if I truly had the motivation to go through with it, but now I know. I look around at the community around me: my Eritrean-Ethiopian friends and family whose journey across the world to give me better opportunities inspires me to not be afraid of a little hard work; my friends at my dance studio who regard me as “the smart one” and remind me that I’m more than capable if I commit myself to my goals; my church who encourages me to use my gift from God for the better; and of course my campers who taught me to be the smile a child never knew they needed. My community ignites such a passion in me that thinking about it can bring me to tears.

So, in short, I will be a pediatrician. I will change children’s health. I will comfort kids like they’re my own through the worst of it all. Whether that be in my community or in my parents’ homelands of Eritrea and Ethiopia, I want every child’s memory of any health battle they face to be filled with the peace, smiles, and care of their doctors. It takes a village to raise a child and that starts with good health.