Transformation by Veronica

Transformation by Veronica - June 2017 Scholarship Essay

Dribble, bounce, swish, the sounds that brought me excitement. The adrenaline rush came raging inside and outside of me. Every time I walked in a basketball court I knew this is what I wanted to do in life, and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to achieve it. In 2008, when I was six years old, my dreams were to become a professional basketball player. Some thought, “Well she’s only six, she can barely even hold a basketball,” but that had only motivated me even more. To pursue my dreams of becoming a professional basketball player, I had practiced every day playing for hours, even with a broken arm.
However, unfortunately life was not all about fun and games, but rather I had to go to school and work hard in my education as well. Then, my dreams began to change. Although I still have a passion for basketball, I had developed dreams of becoming an ophthalmologist as I had progressed in education.
In middle school, I had been introduced to many different kinds of people, along with more in-depth information that varied in different subjects throughout the years. This has brought to my attention that there were so many different careers that I could pursue in life. It wasn’t until 7th grade that I had thought about the medical field.
In the 8th grade I discovered that I wanted to become an ophthalmologist. As I have advanced in school, I had been learning more intricate levels of study of the human body, opening my eyes to a whole new area of study that I want to practice and pursue in life. As I go back to school in the fall, I will be taking an anatomy course as my elective throughout my 10th grade year. I hope to continue learning not only about the human body, but more specifically the human eye so that I may help those who are in need of help.
Wanting to become an ophthalmologist is not only because of my interest in this area of study, but also to help those who cannot see, or help someone’s life change and be filled with happiness and joy. Sometimes when I used to walk home from school, I’d close my eyes and try to walk a few blocks without seeing. It has become evident that I am not capable of walking more than 10 steps without feeling that I am falling or soon about to stumble upon something, causing me to fall and get injured. I began to think about those who could not see from birth, or had recently become blind. Those people who cannot see are truly champions, as they face a huge challenge of not being able to see. Without my glasses or contacts, everything is blurry and it is difficult to live. By learning more about the human eye, I had decided that I would like to help those who cannot see, and also develop treatments that would improve the life of a civilian no matter how complex or difficult it may be.
Deep down, I am excited for what I will learn in the years of education to come. Many have asked me why I have enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, and my answer to all is because I am up for the challenge. Nine years ago, all I thought about was basketball, but education has taught me that there are so many other important subjects and areas of study in life. Enrolling in the IB program helped me identify who I truly am. My work ethic began to appear in 3rd grade, and only benefits me more and more throughout life. My hardworking skills and excellent work ethic helps me accomplish majority of my challenges throughout life, not only in my school, but also in my social life. Education helped me find my study habits and allowed me to grow mentally as I came upon many different challenges and accomplished each challenge one by one.
As I continue throughout my education, I plan on continuing to discover what I truly enjoy learning. By being able to identify who I am on the inside only helps me to be able to identify what I truly enjoy, and how I can start developing and preparing for a bright future. Since I first started school, my family had taught me that the most important thing I could do was to make sure I work hard and suffer now, as it will all pay off in the end. Even as young as six years old, I tried to not allow anything to jeopardize my future, and will continue to do so as I work hard on becoming an ophthalmologist. Regardless on what my dream will be, considering it may continue to change throughout the years of education, I will make sure to keep working hard and not give up on my dreams in order to become successful in my future.