I am one of the lucky people who have never had to worry about not having enough finances to tend to my wounds, illnesses and other health problems. My parents worked hard to provide me with all of the essentials in life, including good health, shelter, clothing, food, water, education, love and affection. Having been born and raised in South Africa, however, I have been able to see and experience the pain and suffering that less fortunate people have had to endure because of their circumstances. While many people around the world have seen pictures or videos of those in Africa who lack medical assistance, not many have been able to actually experience it with their own eyes. This is why I have dedicated my self to becoming a doctor and serving the less fortunate in my home country.

Ever since I was a child, I had been exposed to doctors and the realm of medicine. My father was a pediatrician who would often take time away from his clinic to tend to those in the remote areas of South Africa, where health and medical services were not openly available. He would often take me along with him as a sort of exposure trip. Since I was eight years old and even up to today, my father brings me along on these trips. As a child I had neither an understanding of what my father was doing while he was serving these people, nor did I comprehend why he would take me along with him. As I got older and began to mature, I had come to many realizations about medicine, my father and my aspirations. He was not trying to force me into taking up medicine to follow in his footsteps. Instead, my father brought me on these trips for me to comprehend that good health and medical services are basic necessities that need to be tended to.

As a result of the realizations that my father guided me to experience on my own, I have dedicated myself to becoming a doctor and helping those around me. Having graduated from a prestigious college in South Africa, I feel the need to go beyond my boundaries to seek an education in medicine that will help me continue on the legacy that my father had built-up. Like my father, I would like to gain top-notch education in medicine so that I may return to my home country and help those who I grew up with. ________ University provides a medical school with the proper education, training and values-building I need to help in achieving my aspirations in life and to help others achieve theirs.

Photo Credit : Christopher, Vanbelle