Imagine that you are seventeen. It is your junior year of high school, and your biggest stressors are your school play, and whether you will score well on the SATs. Then your doctors find something on a scan, and before you know it you are hospitalized and being treated for cancer. The world can change into a scary and uncertain place in an instant. I know because that was my junior year of high school. Throughout my treatment, I remember feeling helpless and alone for a long time. When it was over, I had a new resolve: to help kids who are in a similar situation feel less helpless and alone in their illness. That is why I am pursuing nursing. In my experience, it was the nurses who provided the most for my emotional and spiritual care, in addition to my physical care. I was going through a challenging time in my life, and they were the people who helped me the most. When I think about what I want my future to look like, I think of a career where I can help someone. To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emmerson, to me, a well-lived life is one in which we strive to increase the quality of life of others. That is what I believe I can do as a nurse. The pinnacle of this aspiration would be to work at the Children’s Hospital of Philidelphia, providing care for kids like me. Those who are worried, confused, and hurt, who want someone to be understanding, caring, and helpful while they are sick. I want to be able to give back to the community that helped me by using my experience to become for others the person I needed while I was sick: a nurse.

My favorite scientific discovery is the use of proton particles instead of x-rays in radiation for tumor treatment. Science has made astronomical leaps in the treatment of cancer over the past few decades. Proton therapy is an advanced form of cancer treatment that uses proton beams to destroy tumor tissue with minimal damage to healthy tissue. Protons are larger particles than the x-rays used in traditional radiation therapy. For this reason, protons will not go from one side of the body to another like x-rays. The majority of the particles will not go beyond the far side of the tumor. Thus, they are capable of destroying the tumor more efficiently with the least amount of damage possible. This is my favorite scientific discovery because it shows how far science has come in improving cancer treatments to be safer and more efficient for patients. I had proton radiation as a part of my cancer treatment, and in comparison with other cancer patients that I know who had x-ray radiation, my experience involved fewer side effects and faster treatment. To a cancer patient, these things are invaluable. It is wonderful to see how our understanding of chemistry and physic have come together in this way. It is generally known that cancer treatments are invasive, uncomfortable, and come with adverse side effects. Proton radiation shows that there can be a future where we move forward and advance cancer treatments in such a way that makes them safer for patients.

“What quote means a lot to you?” Dozens of quotes come to my mind as I muse over the question. Suddenly I am transported through time and space into The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.Tolkien, landing in Frodo Baggins’ hobbit hole in the Shire. Gandalf has just told Frodo that Sauron has indeed risen to power again, and the fate of the world rests in the hobbits’ hands. “I wish it had not happened during my time,” Frodo laments. With great compassion, Gandalf comforts his old friend, “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” In a moment of crystal understanding, I realize that this quote is tremendously important to me. It provided wisdom at a critical period in my life and helped to shape my perspective. This quote reminded me that while I may often have unwanted circumstances in my life that I can not fix, I still have control over my actions within those circumstances. There are many times in life where we can not control the circumstances. Often this can be depressing: feeling as though we are out of control of our own lives. Tolkien reminds us that while our circumstances may be out of our control, we still have power over our actions; we can still decide what to do with the time given to us. There is an important distinction. Frequently the lack of control over our circumstances can lead to a feeling of general helplessness in all aspects of our lives, but it doesn’t need to be this way. Over the past few years, I have experienced many unwanted circumstances, from the Covid-19 quarantines to battling cancer. Throughout it all, I often felt helpless. At a low period during these circumstances, I was reading The Lord of the Rings. As I read this quote, I realized that I still had control over my life and actions. I learned that circumstances affect your life only as much as you let them. This quote, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us,” gave me hope that I could accomplish my goals. Soon I left despair behind and pushed myself forward. I completed the SATs in the spring of 2021 a few weeks after surgery; finished my junior year with straight A’s; and wrote, organized, and directed a play that my siblings and I recorded for the medical staff at the hospital. I flourished because I did not let my circumstances weigh me down. Instead, I decided that I would make the most of the time that I had. It is for this reason that this quote from J.R.R.Tolkien is important to me. It reminded me that there is a path to a great life even in unfortunate circumstances: one needs only to decide to take it.