At the age of two, I had memorized every major bone in my body. Why would a two-year-old need to learn the bones in her body by heart? After all, there isn’t a Jeopardy show for preschoolers. I did not need to know every bone in my body; I simply wanted to know all of them. My mom would read a book about the human body to me, and as she read the names of the bones from a diagram, I would point to the corresponding bone on my own body. I wanted to help people and be a bone doctor, fixing broken bones, and fixing “broken” hearts, too. After all, it was not just the bones that could feel pain. At the time, I did not realize that fixing a broken heart meant helping someone recover from something, physically and emotionally. With my experiences, however, I have found a path where I can help people with both of these ever-important issues.
I have maintained a curiosity about the inner workings of living things throughout my life. In my quest for a career path, this past year, I wanted to delve deeper and find activities of interest that matched my passions and qualities. I am a very empathetic and hardworking person, and I have always imagined myself to be in a field where I can connect to and understand others to improve their experience. This past year, I believed shadowing a physical therapy office seemed like a good way to test if my attributes were a good fit. Turning into the rocky driveway of the clinic, I did not know what to expect, but what I found was inspiration. I am happy to say that I can see myself in their shoes, experiencing this career for myself someday. I could relate to the physical therapists I shadowed, and I was excited to learn new things and interact with new people each day, as well as watch patients improve and return to normalcy over time.
While I realized the clear benefits of physical therapy, I also quickly realized how expensive and inaccessible this type of care can be if the service is not covered through insurance. As president of South High School’s National Honor Society, I know how important it is to give back to my community, however I can. For example, this year, I was approached by my Spanish teacher regarding a student who needed help with translating instructions in the classroom, and I was able to help him with his schoolwork throughout the year, allowing him to function like any other kid in his class. I want to be able to use my privilege of higher education to give back to my community someday through injury relief and rehabilitation. I hope I can find or create services that I can give my time and expertise to in the future to help those in need in my community and the communities around me. I have experienced the hardship of not wanting to burden your family with the financial problems that come with an injury, and I know the problems that follow an unchecked injury. As a dancer who has gone through plenty of injuries, hearing “I’ll give you my specialist’s number” and trying to decide whether your family’s financial well-being or your physical well-being is more important is a very difficult decision to make. I believe that being able to recover from a surgery or impairment should not be a privilege only able to be experienced by those who can buy the assistance necessary, and that it would be my duty to help my community when I can do so in the future.
A degree in the Physical Therapy path seems like the perfect way for me to use my best skills to serve my community. Being able to be empathetic and be able to emotionally connect with others is very important to me and was a key component in why I looked into Physical Therapy in the first place. I observed the interactions that adults with replaced hips, shoulders, and knees had with their Physical Therapists, and I loved how friendly, supportive, and understanding each session was.
I have always known that I wanted to go into a medical field in some way, but I always felt disconnected with my doctors growing up, since I would only see them once or twice a year at a maximum. But thinking of how I have developed relationships through my service work in high school, I can see how a weekly or monthly visit to a Physical Therapist can build a similar connection. I once led a class at my local senior center, a crochet class for beginners or anyone who wanted to relearn how to crochet. The group of ladies that I met with once a month loved to talk to me about my experiences in high school and laugh about how they felt like I should be learning from them instead of the other way around. With that service experience, as well as recently teaching an elementary student in Spanish, my high school volunteer experiences have prepared me for working with people of a wide age group, opening my eyes to an endless range of different specialties in Physical Therapy someday; whether that is sports rehabilitation, pediatric, or geriatric. The endless connections I have been able to make through my high school experiences, reaching out to help those in my community, have been an enriching experience that has opened my eyes to what a career in service means and has shown me how well I work with people. This is why an eventual graduate degree in Physical Therapy feels like the right decision for my younger self, as well as my current and future self, who has rediscovered her passion for all of “those bones” and for making a difference in each and every person that I meet.
To me, public service means making an impact on my local community. When one can impact their community at a regional level, they can inspire minds and help others take the next step in their lives. Through this, we can see profound change in our societies with such a simple step. An impact can be made at any level as well, whether it is providing your services at your local outreach center to soup kitchen, giving away items or clothing that you no longer use, or even tutoring children so that they can pass their classes; impacts can be big and small, but no matter the size, it is the intent to serve that matters.
I intend to serve to make the world a better place for the next generations. That seems cliche and that everyone strives for it; however, since the moment I started volunteering at my local outreach center, I have learned not only how satisfying it can be to make an impact but also how much others appreciate such a kind gesture. When I was volunteering, I would help cook breakfast for those in need and then bring it out to tables for them. The feeling that I got after my first "session" volunteering is probably the greatest I have ever had and even now I strive to fulfill my need to help others.
Not only can I make an impact and serve my community simply through volunteering, but through my chosen career as well. Earlier this year I had been struggling to think of what I wanted to do with my life after school. I had spent nights wrestling with the question: "How can I make an impact?". So after saying that I wanted to be a doctor, a politician, and a veterinarian, I decided that I wanted to be a teacher. I had realized that I spent so long trying to serve those who needed it most that I had never thought to help people get to the point where they do not need to go to these centers in the first place. Being a teacher will give me the chance to actualize my need to help others. Not only can I help mold young minds but I can also put them on the right path in life.
Every day people have the opportunity to help others and they squander it. Instead of simply taking a couple minutes out of their busy schedules to help their fellow man, they go about their day only thinking about themselves. My goal with my chosen career path is to offset those who choose not to help. While teaching, if I could simply set one child on the right path, my choices would have been worth it but ultimately, I aim for more. I strive to make sure that the future of our country and our world make choices that are beneficial to society and to make sure that they must never experience the suffering that many do today.
