I am indeed working on some REALLY good stuff for you guys, but I figured that I should post something in the meantime.
So I wanted to let you all see a short essay that I wrote some time back for a scholarship.
I am a strong believer in self-reflection. One form of this comes in going back and looking at things that you have done in the pasts that you produced physically, like essays or artworks or class projects. This, like all other forms of self-reflection, gives you an idea of how much you have changed over periods of time.
So I wanted to provide you with a piece of work from my past. It had the title "How Do I Invest In My Future?".
Hope you enjoy!
***
“Cash, or credit?”
Now-a-days,
this seems to be the only way people feel as if they can invest in their
future, or even in themselves. The modern society promotes dollar signs as the
only way that one can be successful in this world, and that the extent of one’s
success is dependent on the number of trailing zeros before the decimal on
their bank statement. Because of this, people too often fall for the scam, and
end up short-changing themselves, with their future as their present and their
present having a balance of $0.00.
But I…I
feel differently. I feel as if money is not the golden currency to use to make
the best investment in my future. Instead, I choose to take the route that
allows me to slowly invest in my future, one deposit at a time, in the
commodity of knowledge.
Growing up,
I never really had a significant household income, and my mother made no effort
to hide our financial struggles from my siblings and me. Thus, from a young
age, I never considered money to be a feasible option as far as something to
put towards my future was concerned. It was around this same time when I became
fascinated with healthcare systems, and declared my goal to become a doctor. I
would spent my free time watching shows based on doctors and Googling every
medical term that came across the lips of each character. I often times was
even subject to punishment when my mother would catch me watching the more
inappropriate scenes in such shows. But as I got older and my awareness for
what it takes to earn the title as a medical practitioner increased, I realized
that I wasn’t going to be able to make it to medical school by memorizing the
name of different procedures and diseases; I had to put my energy towards
excelling in my academics.
From then
on, I was completely informed on what it was I had to do. I became known by my
peers as the “bookworm”—always reading or studying or asking questions—doing
whatever I could to gain more knowledge. Even my elementary school teachers
would be shocked when I would pull out encyclopedias when it came to “free
time”. As I continued to grow and age, I ensured that I would study and do all
I could to maintain the grades that I expected a doctor to have: all A’s. Even
until today, I push myself to produce the best work possible, so that I not
only in return get high marks, but also so that I get the most out of my
education.
Of course,
though, knowledge is not only gained in the classroom. I learned this through
engaging myself in extracurricular activities, such as soccer, basketball, Quiz
Bowl, Speech & Debate, and Science Olympiad. I also got a job working at
Subway, and would volunteer in the local community through my school and other
organizations. These activities were able to provide me with experiences and
skills that would have been impossible to learn by just sitting in the
classroom, and provided me with more knowledge that I felt have helped me on my
journey to become a doctor.
Now, of
course, my journey is nowhere near done. The path I am taking is still very
long, and teeming with obstacles, challenges, and even a few failures. But I
feel that on this path, I will be able to collect the maximum amount of
knowledge, which, in my world, makes me the richest of them all.
No comments:
Post a Comment