Protecting Our Elders by Tracy

Protecting Our Elders by Tracy - May 2023 Scholarship Essay

I aspire to use studies and applications in Gerontology as my tool to approach solutions that solve pressing aging issues the world faces today. Compelled by the loss of my grandparents due to elder abuse and lack of proper care from the nursing staff in long-term and nursing care facilities, I have been committing my full efforts for the past two years in actively promoting awareness of elder abuse and learning to combat aging-related diseases in two major areas: innovative treatments to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and long-term care system for older adults. Especially after creating my international youth organization Hope and Help; where dedicated to elders who have been wrongly mistreated and abused in nursing/long-term facilities and are scared to speak up about their experience. To have more impact across the state, we collaborate with the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in June to advocate the importance of elder abuse prevention as well as propose the INDEPENDENT MONITORS ACT in Taiwan to protect Taiwanese elder’s human rights.

I want to create an international consensus where elderly can live a life that is respectful, loving and caring for others regardless of their physical or mental condition. Therefore, in college, I wish to acquire more knowledge and skill sets to further approach the problems of aging and elder abuse through majoring in biology. Taking advanced classes and core courses like “Neurobiology of Aging'' will deepen my understanding of the aged-related changes in nervous system impact on cognitive function, and the Practicum in Geriatric Care will vastly improve my skills as I receive criticism from well-renowned experts.

With a degree of biology after college graduation, it grants me the opportunity to further continue my education in a medical school in pursuit to become a physician, surgeon, a geriatric researcher to devise a better long-term care system and discover medication that can effectively reduce memory impairment with Alzheimer’s patients. Moreover, it allows me to continue my impact as an elder caregiver from a preventive healthcare perspective, as I discover the cellular mechanism to prevent the formation of dementia before the diagnosis stage in the senior population.

With determination, perseverance and persistent in pursuing my passion in geriatric attending medical school, it opened the opportunity for me to holistically explore the medical field from research, advocacy, clinical and communal perspectives. I look forward to the day I receive my own white coat, reflecting back my commitment to a scientific, humanistic and creative approach to the practice of medicine.