I want to become a doctor because I am passionate about helping people. Although I am positive nearly every applicant has had the same anwer, it is for a good reason. Being a medical doctor is a job that takes more time than it gives. It is a career where you and told multiple times that you will have to decide between a family and your job. Being a doctor means you will help people and make them feel better but it also means that some patients won't make it, and that you can't help everybody. However, through all that pain and loss, there is also happiness and light. But in order to have the heart to get through the hard times and make it through medical school and residency you have to have a desire for helping people and improving people's lives. I am sure we can all agree that it takes a special soul to want to get a medical doctorate in the first place. People don't go all the way through medical school and accept an incredible amount of student debt just for the "money" a doctor makes. it is the purpose and the need to make someone's worst day slightly better, or provide people with a better quality of life that drives pre-medical and medical students to the finish line. So yes I have a basic response for wanting to become a doctor, but out of every possible answer wanting to help people and having a passion for it is the most honest and driving answer a pre-med student can have. There are many obstacles that have gotten in the way of becoming a medical doctor. As we all know none of this is cheap, but also not having a doctor in my family has been an obstacle as well. To expand on the expenses, every step of my education has been expensive thus far and it will never slow down. Just getting a bachelor's degree is expensive with tuition and housing. Although my parents are very supportive of my path, they do not help out financially. This adds a whole new level of stress on top of everything else. On top of your bachelors it costs around $100 to apply to medical schools after this. From what I have gathered many students apply to at least 20 schools. that add an additional $2,000 extra expenses and it does not include traveling for interviews or anything. Finally after that is the price of medical school and I am just thankful I do not have to address that mountain yet. So yes, money is a issue and a burden that will keep piling up for the next 5-7 years but any assistance can greatly reduce this cost one step at a time and slowly relieve the stress. Finally I will discuss why not having a doctor in my family has proven to be an obstacle. A lot of the pre-med students that I have met become friends with have a parent or uncle or someone in there family who is a doctor. This has provided them with insight on the steps to becoming a medical doctor. This is not just the GPA or MCAT needed but also how the medical school cycle works, or first hand knowledge on how to get into medical school. There family members provide them assistance and personal knowledge on the process. However, because I do not have this experience I rely heavily on advisors, and attending career panels. This is not an obstacle I expected to experience when entering my undergrad.

I am Macaria Medina-Cox. I grew up in Evanston Wy, and have continued my education at the University of Wyoming. Although I grew up in a comfortable household, my parents are not paying for my education. This causes issues getting federal funding or other funding based on their income although I don't get their assistance. I have always been very committed to my education and my future since a young age. I am currently working towards my bachelors in biology and a minor in psychology. I always knew I wanted to enter a science field because I want to enter medicine. However, when choosing specifically biology I have my AP biology teacher Mrs.Francom to thank for sparking my interest. When I was in highschool I took a higher level biology course to prepare me for the college course my freshman year. Unfortunately I struggled a lot in that class and did not enjoy biology after that year. A couple years later during my senior year of highschool I took the college biology course not expecting to thrive in it. However, in the end my new teacher Mrs.Francom taught with such enthusiasm it opened my eyes to what biology can look like. Since that class I have loved the idea of studying life overall. Because, my views on biology had flipped so much I entered college going for a general biology degree. If it was not for Mrs.Francoms' class I would have always had bad emotions toward this subject. After college I hope to get into medical school and continue my education. The overall goal is to become a neurosurgeon and use my education to help people feel better. Growing up in Evanston we always directed our medical care to Utah or other surrounding states, and never relied on our home state. Because of this I want to use my career as a neurosurgeon to bring more advanced health care into Wyoming. This will allows our residents to rely on our own state for healthcare instead somewhere else. I believe biology is a perfect degree to help assist me to my goals because it allows me to study all aspects of life and understand everything from the leaf of an aspen tree to the neurons in our brains. This pairs perfectly with the pre-medical class requirements because those require me to take extra classes on chemistry and physics expanding my overall knowledge even more.

I lost my Nanny (grandma) the first day of my first semester of college, and six months later I lost my papa the first day of the spring semester of college. For my first year of college these two passings hit me light a freight train. Nanny and Papa were the best grandparents anyone could imagine. They showed up to every concert, recital, holiday, and event you could possibly imagine. Despite there health issues Nanny and Papa never let life stop them from being right by your side. Nanny was a warm soft old lady. She gave the best hugs as if you have been surrounded by complete love. Nanny had a lot of health issues for a long time including chronic pain. However she never let these issues stop her from baking the most amazing banana bread, and cooking soul filling foods like mac and cheese. Cooking was her love language and no matter how much pain she was in if you even mentioned missing one of her famous dishes she would call you the next day to come over and eat whatever food you mentioned prior. Nanny also loved talking and could keep you on the phone for hours just chatting about life. She was always there for me weather it was in the middle of the night or mid day. So when I was woke up in a hotel room in my college town to my mom crying saying that Nanny had suddenly passed felt like the world just stopped. I had no idea how I was supposed to continue moving forward all alone in a new town with new people knowing that when I returned back home she would not be there to greet me. This loss was hard especially at the start of this brand new journey where I already felt so alone. Losing Nanny just made me feel even more isolated from the rest of the world. However, I kept pushing through even though I wanted to quit that semester and try again later but I knew she was cheering me on just as she always had to keep going forward. Similar to Nanny, my Papa was also an incredible soul. Papa was my best friend and everyone knew it. Ever since I was a baby we were attached at the hip. Wherever Papa would go, I would go. Even throughout my first semesters of college me and papa would meet up for our usual ice cream dates thats we've had since I was a kid. At these icecream dates we would just sit and talk about life and what we has going on for hours. He was my biggest supporter and beleived in me more than anyone else did. Papa would tell anyone who would listen about how I'm going to be a neurosurgeon one day, and conquer all of my dreams. However at the end of christmas break my freshman year things took a turn when he was admitted into the ICU. My papa had gone septic and it wasn't looking good. When I got back to Laramie only five minutes before my first class of the semester started my dad called me to tell me my Papa had passed. At this point I had felt so much loss in the past year that I was only pushing forward because everyone said it was the right thing to do. But today I can say these deaths still impact my daily life however persevering through the pain has shown me that I can do absolutely anything.

My path to deciding why I want to pursue a degree in healthcare and the impact I hope to make is a long messy journey. This journey starts out as a young age watching my mom be a nurse and help the lives of so many people.As a young kid this inspired me to become a doctor. However, it wasn't until I read the child version of Gifted Hands by Ben Carson that I decided I want to become a neurosurgeon. Reading this book and all the children Dr. Carson saved and gave a second chance at life was all I needed to hear when I was eight years old to decide on my future. I have stuck with this plan since I was a child and have since read the adult version of that book many times, and refer to it often. Although Dr.Carson inspired me to become a neurosurgeon he alone is not what shaped my goals in the medical field. Nearly a year ago exactly my best friend was in the hospital and had gone septic, this person was my papa. This man was the light of my life and whenever I needed a hand to hold, a shoulder to cry on, or someone to laugh with he was there ever since I was born. Everyone knew my papa and I were stuck at the hip. When he got admitted to the hospital and got diagnosed as septic I was devastated. However, one of he most devastating parts is that he went to the emergency room four times before this with complaints of back pain, and the doctors always brushed it off as muscle spasms. It in fact was the infection spreading in his back. At the end of it all my papa passed away my first day of my freshman spring semester because the infection had taken over. But this all could have been avoided if the doctors at the emergency room listened to him and truly took his issues seriously. This life changing event that took my best friend from me is what shaped my goal as a woman in the medical field to always give each patient my full care and attention. If other doctors did the same I would still have my papa today.Therefore, the least I can do is move forward with the goal to be the most attentive, and caring doctor I possibly can. Hopefully with this goal I will save many lives that would have otherwise been lost.

Wyoming is the state I was born and raised and also where I have decided to attend college at the University of Wyoming. Although this is only my second year of higher education it has imposed many challenges. Some of these difficulties include, finding a community, and balancing school and life. Finding a community here at UWYO has been a difficulty for me in earning higher education because community builds a support system. Although my friends and family in Evanston will always be there for me, I believe having a group of friends or a trusted community is Laramie can help push you to succeed. There are many amazing people here on campus at UWYO but unless you make the time to build these relationships then it makes finding a sense of belonging a lot more difficult. I have struggled to find a community because of my difficult time finding a balance between school and friends. As a pre-med biology major, there is not a lot of free time to spend with other people. Not only has my work load limited my capability of building strong relationships but also has increased my likelihood of feeling burnt out. In Laramie there are plenty of activities that I do to fill my little free time. This includes being apart of many group like NMDP that spends their free time volunteering to find donors for cancer patients, and also by volunteering at the soup kitchen. I always find the soup kitchen is low staffed so anytime I can make it in to help out our community I do. However, when I travel back home for breaks I spend my time in Evanston working at BEst KIND EMbroidery. This is a company I have worked for for over four years. It is a small locally owned embroidery business. At this establishment I do anything from completing orders to cleaning the bathroom, truly I do whatever needs done to make BEst KIND a well oiled machine. Overall the last few years is Laramie has shown me the importance of community and a balanced work life cycle. There are many goals that I am always working towards in order to become a better person not only to help me make it through my undergrad but also for the community. I believe that Wyoming as a whole is a tight knit network and we always work together to get things done. Whether it is at work, in a school setting or volunteering this is how I address every situation in life.