Service has been a value instilled in me for as long as I can remember. Being the son of two first-generation Americans, I was quick to learn just how fortunate I was to have access to good health and education, and I was raised to use that to help those less fortunate. In middle school, I began volunteering for my local Community Soup Kitchen. Here, I found satisfaction in being a part of an amazing organization and seeing the effects of it first-hand in the warm meal being served, but I always felt like I wanted to do more. Especially after the pandemic, I was no longer allowed to volunteer, and I began looking for other ways to satisfy my desire for service. Witnessing the effect of the pandemic on my community through the tragic stories of neighbors and friends urged me to do something about it. The suffering taking place all around me, especially to my rabbi, a role model of mine who was forced into retirement by the effects of Covid, brought me feelings of frustration and helplessness. This motivated me to take my first step into the medical field and to do my part in combating the effects of Covid-19. In October 2020, I joined the Morris Minutemen, my local first aid squad, and began my journey as an Emergency Medical Technician. Since then, nearly every Tuesday night, I sleep over at the squad house, responding to medical emergencies in my community throughout the night. In addition to these weekly shifts, I cover for friends and pick up extra shifts when I have the time. Thus far, I have committed over 1500 hours to the organization, developing my affinity for helping others and initiating my passion for medicine. I have been on hundreds of calls, and with each one I've been on, my motivation and passion for the medical field grows. Although the pandemic is what initially motivated me to become a first responder, I've come to realize that it is only the cause of a fraction of the suffering that takes place all around me. The things I've witnessed, such as severely underfunded nursing homes, that have little ability to care for the elders who have given so much to society, and even my own classmate's suicide attempt, have made me realize that it is my responsibility to take care of those around me. I realized just how fortunate I have been; and how this fortune comes with the responsibility of helping the less fortunate. I volunteer as an EMT because I believe it is my duty. I want to be of service to others, and I need to know that I am making a difference. To me, my service means that I am not taking my opportunities to make a difference for granted. This is why I will continue volunteering throughout my college career and beyond because as long as I can serve, I must.

Service has been a value instilled in me for as long as I can remember. Being the son of two first-generation Americans, I was quick to learn just how fortunate I was to have access to good health, education, and a seemingly limitless future; and I wanted to use that to help those less fortunate. In middle school, I began volunteering for my local Community Soup Kitchen. Here, I found satisfaction in being a part of an amazing organization and seeing the effects of it first-hand in the warm meal being served, but I always felt like I wanted to do more. Especially after the pandemic, I was no longer allowed to volunteer, and I began looking for other ways to satisfy my desire for service. Witnessing the effect of the pandemic on my community through the tragic stories of neighbors and friends urged me to do something about it. I have always valued pushing myself, whether it be on the wrestling mat, as a Trader Joe’s crew member, or in the classroom. This motivated me to take my first step into the medical field and to do my part in combating the effects of Covid-19. In October 2020, I joined the Morris Minutemen, my local first aid squad, and began my journey as an Emergency Medical Technician. Since then, nearly every Tuesday night, I sleep over at the squad house, responding to medical emergencies in my community throughout the night. In addition to these weekly shifts, I cover for friends and pick up extra shifts when I have the time. Thus far, I have committed over 1400 hours to the organization, developing my affinity for helping others and initiating my passion for medicine. During the 5-month training course of over 250 hours, I was introduced to the intricacies of the human body. Connecting the dots between what I had observed in the field, such as diaphoresis, syncope, and cardiac arrhythmias, to the microscopic elements that created them was fascinating. One thing was learning it, but it was even more gratifying to be able to watch what I had been reading about in the field and make (unofficial) diagnoses of patients For the last two years, I have been transferring the care - and responsibility - of my patients to hospitals. I want to be on the other side, creating the life-altering treatments that people need. I want to develop new technologies which will help combat many of the conditions I've seen cause extreme suffering within my community, specifically cardiopulmonary ones. I have always been a service-oriented person, and to find gratification in my career, I know that I would need to be benefitting more than just myself. This realization, in combination with my passion for academics and the stem field, led me to a clear conclusion: biomedical engineering. In the fall, I will be attending Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering where I will earn my biomedical engineering degree and gain the skills to tackle head-on the national health crisis that plagues our society. I plan on doing their 4+1 Master’s program and then entering the workforce. I want to make a difference in the lives of others, and I know that biomedical engineering will allow me to do that.

I can’t roll my r’s. I went to speech therapy in elementary school to turn my ‘th’ into ‘s,’ because I also used to have trouble saying my s’s. But, speech therapy never extended to the classic r-rolling of the Spanish language—and I didn’t mind. Growing up in a Mexican household in an American suburb, I didn’t need to speak Spanish all that often; I could always respond to my parents in English. So, I never bothered to make the effort to fix my speech impediment in Spanish. The only time I seemed to regret that choice was during my annual summer trips to Mexico City to visit family. Even when speaking to family, who appreciated and encouraged my effort of bilingual communication, I associated each word I had to repeat with the characteristic shame of my speech impediment, so I often retreated to silence. To add insult to injury, my name had two of those pesky consonants—turning the gusto of Ricardo into the more pronounceable, and Americanized, Ricky. Even as I matured, spending more time in Mexico and growing closer to my family, the shame never left. I realized the short-sightedness of this shame thanks to a recent patient of mine. I was on shift as an EMT when we received a call for an unresponsive male. Arriving on the scene, it immediately became evident that the family spoke exclusively Spanish. I was the only one of my crew that could communicate with them, yet I held my tongue, abashed to reveal my shortcomings. Quickly coming to my senses, I snapped out of this and began translating the questions I’d asked so many times before, learning of the man’s condition, his medical history and medications, as well as what transpired before we arrived. The man had been in and out of consciousness and had not moved in hours. I expressed the urgency of the situation to my crew, and we agreed to transport him as soon as possible. On the way to the hospital, the man began to panic, unaware of where he was and how he got there. I held his hand and spoke to him in Spanish, reassuring him that the hospital would take great care of him. The look he gave me told me exactly what I needed to know about how much my words had helped him. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel ashamed for speaking Spanish aloud. For the first time in my life, when he asked me for my name, I responded, Ricardo. I failed to realize the significance of that call for several months. The sudden passing of my grandfather had brought me to Mexico. While catching up with my family, I was asked about my EMT experiences, so I shared the story of the unresponsive man. As I was telling it, I realized that not only had I forgotten about the shame of my speech impediment, but that I had also captivated them with my story. The content of my words mattered infinitely more than my delivery. This story marks the first time I had ever spoken unabated Spanish, without avoiding the rolling of my r’s by substituting Spanish words with their English translations. The fear of being my own self, even in front of those whom I know would never judge me, prevented me from embracing my family’s unconditional support. Just like how the content of my words matters more than my pronunciation, so does my character. My self-worth is defined by who I am, who Ricardo is—not by how well I can roll my r’s.

I hope to look back at my life with fulfillment and satisfaction. I want to know that I did everything in my power to not only live for myself but improve the lives of others as well as my own. My dream is to work in the biotechnology industry and be able to develop new technology which will allow those suffering from debilitating medical conditions, especially the cardiopulmonary conditions I see wreak havoc in my community, to be able to live a more fulfilling and meaningful life.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, I found myself stuck at home all day, passing the time by eating whatever food I found in my house and being online. My mental health began to deteriorate: I hated how repetitive and meaningless each day felt, but I felt like there was nothing I could do to change it. My self-esteem plummeted and I yearned to feel productive again. My dwindling confidence motivated me to begin achieving my goals of self-improvement, so I began doing home workouts with the set of dumbbells in my basement and running outdoors. This was the beginning of my fitness journey. I continued these daily workouts and began to fall in love with them. I instantly found that they helped me focus more on school. I also decided to spend more productive time online to learn about the basics of nutrition: calorie intake, macronutrients, and micronutrients. These videos showed me just how poor my diet really was, and how my diet should be a tool to make me look and feel better. Soon enough, I was working out daily and making my own high-protein recipes from home. The progress I saw in the mirror and the decrease in my screen time gave me a sense of accomplishment I hadn’t felt in a long time. After the lockdown, these habits have stayed with me. Junior year was my first normal year back at the school in two years, and I began to go to my local YMCA to weightlift after school every day. I had a rigorous schedule; I was taking 5 AP classes and had weekly shifts of volunteering as an EMT for my local EMS agency and working as a crew member at Trader Joe’s. Working out allowed me to relieve my stress from a long school day in a productive way and allowed me to achieve a level of mental clarity which helped me find academic success. I was able to manage my academics and my extracurricular activities without having to sacrifice one for the other, and I believe that I was only able to manage such a hectic schedule because I placed my workouts so high on my priorities list of ways to spend my time. This, along with taking responsibility for my own nutrition, gave me the headspace I needed to push through such a tough year. Now, it has become clear to me that the benefits of weight-lifting have allowed me to reach my full potential. It has given me the confidence to be myself and to worry less about how others view me. It has allowed me to witness first-hand how far hard work can take me. I learned the importance of spending my time in a productive way and that if I want to be successful in achieving my goals, whether they be academic or fitness-related, I have to be ready to put in the work, day in and day out.