May 13th, 2013, 3:00 pm. I hurry to the monthly meeting of the Youth Advisory Council (YAC), a group of former patients who provide unique feedback to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Tonight, we are recording a welcome video for newly admitted children. I dress for the shoot, then scramble out the door with my books jammed into my backpack. I have traveled this road many times, to the place I first started to know ten years ago...
I shivered vulnerably, like an exotic lizard at the zoo, entrapped in an impenetrable glass box where everyone could see me: raw. They tapped on the glass and fixated on my every “abnormal” move, while I was subjected to cruel scrutiny. This was the Antietam of my War on Self Truths. I lost more friends than I ever recall befriending. People were cruel. On that day, November 9th, 2011, I walked into school as I always did, yet something was different. Everyone was staring. The halls I walked through muted themselves as I progressed, except for the cacophonous, unrelenting whisper of those who had betrayed me. Someone I had trusted with my deepest secret had relinquished it to the entire school, with the click of mouse...
The most attractive feature of the PLME program is the heavy emphasis on liberal arts education in order to fully achieve a medical doctorate. As a Latin scholar at a high school for science and technology, I have always made sacrifices to pursue the classics, and have been planning to do the same throughout college. However, because the PLME encourages and allows for a premedical student to fully indulge in a liberal arts education, this program would be a perfect fit for me...
With a definitive focus in the field of medicine, specifically anesthesiology, I have pursued two significant opportunities to expose me to and prepare me for my career in the medical field. Following tenth grade, I was nominated for and attended a two week medical conference at Georgetown University. At this conference, I enjoyed lectures by the medical staff, interacted with medical school students, received training on performing physicals and Emergency Medical Technician procedures, underwent robotic emergency room patient interaction, and practiced conducting general doctor visits with trained actors...
Appius Claudius Caecus, the engineer of the main road through the fortuitous Roman empire once said, "Faber est suae quisque fortunae," or "Each man is the architect of his fortune." As an avid classicist, I strongly agree that we are responsible for creating our own path to success, much like Caecus did...
If I were the Earth, my core would be vast. Discovered by myself, rather than by a curious Isaac Newton, my core would be more than a silicate crust and a viscous mantle: layered I would be, yet not quite so defined. As the only layer of the Earth that scientists have been able to physically study is the external layer, or crust, this is the only part that can be confirmed. Like the Earth, however, I am much more than my crust, even if it is not visible to the eye. For I am more than my appearance, more than the ridgeline of my nose and how it meets the basin of my mouth; I am more than the terrain of my body and the coastline of my jaw...
Since high school, my ultimate goal was to contribute to my community’s well being. I grew up in the St. Clair – Superior neighborhood where I attended Saint Martin de Porres High School. Beginning with my freshman year as a Lion, I focused my “Care for the Community” themed project on air pollution in the St. Clair – Superior neighborhood. Initiating my interest in Environmental Health, my goal was to create policies to advocate for issues such as lead poisoning and increasing healthy green housing...
In dating and relationships there’s that saying that goes how sometimes the right person for you was the one standing right in front of you the whole time. Well, that just about sums up my whole college application process last year during my senior year of high school. I was young, naïve and overwhelmed. I had acceptance letters from prestigious art schools like Ringling, Cal Arts, RISD, Pratt, and USC all dangling in front of me. All the while, I was going back and forth flip flopping between animation, game art and illustration as majors to decide upon. It took me a semester of college for me to realize where my aspirations lie and determine that Cal Arts is the absolutely the right place for me and where I belong as an artist and individual...
Deb always had a spark, a zest for life and all things living. Whenever I visited her we hiked the trails she loved so much, and she always found new adventures, new areas of the wilderness to explore, or a story so astonishing I wouldn't have believed it had anyone else told it to me. The kind of person who rescued and raised baby squirrels, grew her own produce year round in Vermont, and adored getting messy, muddy, and grimy from head to toe, Deb had a deep and intimate relationship with nature. Her way of sharing the joy she took in simply existing in its midst with others reached all of those she touched, including me...
My parents named me after their dead dog. Honestly. Let me be clear: they did not simply recycle the name of an admired pet or panic after harboring a “Baby Boy Goodman” after several days in the hospital. My parents thoughtfully and intentionally named me after their beloved golden retriever, Ollie...
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