From 6 to 17 by Sophie

From 6 to 17 by Sophie - June 2017 Scholarship Essay

Among the future doctors, vets, teachers, firefighters, and occasional pop star of kindergarten there stood a lone dream of my becoming an archeologist. As a six year old I was fascinated by the idea of dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, and civilizations lost to time. I saw my future as digging up new stories from history all over the world and especially discovering new dinosaurs. My adventures, in my opinion, would materialize into real life like in The Magic Treehouse books I was so fond of. Everything I found would transport me back to it’s time. I held onto this idea of archeology until my younger sister of three years convinced me that the entire world had already been discovered because it was so old. As a six year old this made complete sense to me and I began to think of different career options.

My next choice was obvious; an astronaut! If I could not discover the history of the earth then my thoughts shifted to exploring the vast depths of space where man has not touched. I wanted to go to space and see the stars, moon, and planets up close all while going on scientific expeditions to test for the ability for life. This dream ended in second grade when I tried space ice cream and decided I could not live on that food. Finally I decided I wanted to be a doctor and that is what I have stuck with to this day.

When I was younger I kept the blanket term of doctor and thought that I was fine and had figured out what I wanted to do and was done. However, as I grew up and gained more experience within the medical field and began talking to health care professionals I realized there is a whole world of options involving medicine that I had never considered. To truly determine the path I desire in medicine I began to shadow nurses, doctors, and EMTs, I began to volunteer in a hospital, and I began the process of becoming an EMT myself. Looking back, my six year old self would not be surprised that I eventually decided I was going to be a doctor. My sister and I would play pretend doctor on all of our stuffed animals and barbies and would even test our own reflexes when we went to the doctor. Although being a doctor might not be as cool as digging up dinosaurs and excavating pyramids I have fallen in love with having the ability to help people and make a positive impact in the world around me.