If someone would be able to reply as soon as tonight that would be greatly appreciated!
Being able to give back to the low income communities that I once was a part of is a crucial factor in my decision to become a physician assistant. Growing up, I knew that someday I wanted to enter the medical field. Raised as a child of two Egyptian immigrants, education was always one of the most valued things in my life. However, it was not easy pursuing something as challenging as medicine, especially as a minority where there is a constant pressure to succumb to negative influences in order to fit in. It was as if the world outside the confines of my home was completely different from the environment inside of it. I was lucky enough to have something that kept me from falling victim to these pressures, and that made me want to try to create a positive influence in the negative environment which can lead so many away from their dreams. It is my desire to constantly improve my community that led me to my goal of being a Physician's Assistant, where I would be able to bring important medical care and information to people that need it most.
Being able to affect other people's lives by simply helping them improve their health and wellness was my first stepping stone to my path in the pursuit of this noble profession. If it was not for my passion for the human body and my athleticism, I cannot imagine where I would be today. Capitalizing on my success as an athlete in high school particularly holding records in the weight lifting gym, and being an integral part of the varsity soccer team drove me to obtain a job as a personal trainer. The adrenaline rushed through my veins followed by a warm feeling in my heart every time I was able to improve the life of a client struggling with an illness such as diabetes, obesity or depression. At the age of 20 I realized that, soccer, the sport that has kept me afloat when it was so easy to drown in a sea of negative influences and peer pressure could very well be used to influence teens in my community to overcome the struggle to stand up against peer pressure and focus on their dreams. I started a soccer program for youth in my community that was successful, and eventually helped pioneer the NYPD Summer Soccer League, a free program for youth around the city. It was very rewarding to know that my determination to share a positive influence and ability to lead an initiative and follow through allowed me to affect so many people.
Although these experiences have been very rewarding they have also hindered my academic success in my primary years of college. Coming from a low income family and having the most supportive parents, it was impossible to fight the urge to help out financially at home. However, the most significant justification for a part time job out of high school was to pay off college tuition especially that my parents were very against me taking out any sort of loans. As my journey began in the job I soon came to love at the gym, I began to take on more hours, excited that I was helping people, in turn neglecting my education. After I left the gym I pursued a position at a dental practice in order to gain experience in a medical setting. As a dental assistant serving an underserved community with a variety of patients, both pediatric and geriatric, I found that being in the medical field requires the genuine gift of being a care giver, a quality that I knew I had, but was confirmed with my experiences.
After completing a BS in biology working closely with several physicians I realized that medicine is not just a science; rather it can be thought of as an art as well. A physician assistant can be viewed as a physician and an artist melded into one. To be a part of this sincere profession one must play the role of the educator, problem solver, and excellent communicator, and I believe I am adept and practiced in these roles.
