Ray Aplin Memorial Scholarship

Currently, I am attending a university pursuing a Pre-Medicine major to become a Neurologist in the future. I chose this educational goal because I want to help people and use my skills of knowledge in the medical field to an advantage. I intend to use my education to cure chronic pain or learn how to manage it without it being damaging to the human body. I don’t like seeing anyone in chronic pain, it breaks my heart. I know about the effects of chronic pain from personal experience. My mother, who has back problems due to a birth defect causing excruciating pain, is a good example. I hated seeing her in pain, and even the medication she takes doesn’t take away all the pain. As a result of seeing my own mother struggling, that’s when I wanted to find a way to help cure chronic pain, not only for her but for other people. The disability I have is not physical, it’s a mental disability. I am on the autism spectrum, I cannot read people’s body language nor do I know how to socialize properly with people. As a result of being on the spectrum, I’m considered to not to be “normal” by human standards. This leads to people treating us very badly when all we want in education system is to be accepted and aided if needed. In the educational world I cannot say “I’m on the spectrum” otherwise people will abandon you, I have to hide it out of fear of people taking away what I worked so hard for. On the good part of being on the spectrum, it has helped me reach academic goals. I have a good memory and particularly really good at anything with science. As a result of having those traits because of being on the spectrum it has aided me into reaching my goals. I went to State FFA contests six times, I got third place out of two-hundred and thirty five people at State FFA Wildlife my senior year of high school, and I got a 3.5 GPA in high school which aided me into getting into college. From what I learned from those experiences, having ASD can be an absolute advantage when it comes to getting an education! Another thought people have is that those who are mentally disabled need to be dependent on someone in order to do their jobs or get an education. This is completely false, we can definitely be independent. Independence means you don’t need to rely on anyone to tell you what to do or forcefully motivate you to do something. Through determination, self-discipline, and knowledge you can reach your goals (whether you’re disabled or not) in high school and college. As long as I have those three characteristics, it will benefit me while I continue to get through college. The education that I am working on to get a degree on will help promote and sustain my ability to live independently. I’ll be proving myself everyday how I can make it through life without having to depend on anyone. Finally, the medical field shows and teaches you that you absolutely can do things and live independently. Sometimes as a physician you might need to work on patients by yourself. It kind of the same concept when it comes to living alone, you need to learn how to live on your own and how to function on your own. It’s an important lesson to learn, do not use a disability as a crutch throughout life.