make me sound like someone who prioritized my problems over everything else, and considering the outcome (how great my dad really has been to me), it felt selfish, and a little narcissistic.
Grabbing my laptop, I hauled it on my lap and began to write. Within a few hours, I had something that looks liked like this;
“I originally wrote my personal essay about my dad. My dad is great, and I feel like it’s a great story, but it’s mostly about him and the sacrifices that he made in order to provide for me growing up. He’s an RN, and my mom died giving birth to me. My dad did everything he could to make sure that I was always taken care of and loved, and I grew up missing a mom and not really seeing what he did for me until it was almost too late. And that’s a good story, but I don’t feel like it would demonstrate why I would make a good doctor.
I want to be a doctor because I know that I’m capable of putting aside my own suffering in order to make other things right. When I was growing up, my best friend was this guy named Domenic. We lived right next door to each other, and we did everything together. As kids, we were inseparable. In middle school though, things changed. He had always been popular, but when we hit puberty, his popularity skyrocketed. He dated around, he played on the baseball team, he went to parties. He drank underage, and it didn’t matter because everyone loved him. And my crush on him only intensified as things went on. I know it sounds typical, and like everyone’s stories growing up, but I really felt like I loved him. And that was absolutely ridiculous because he never did anything to deserve it. In fact, I don’t think I should have given him an ounce of attention.
You’re probably wondering what this has to do with med school. In high school, Domenic invited me over one day out of the blue. It was right after we’d taken midterms, and he knew that he’d be getting an athletic scholarship to play baseball, no matter how bad his grades were. His coaches loved him, so they were never too bad anyway. Domenic never tried in school, and I resented him for that. I spent almost all of my time studying, and making sure that I had the best possible grades. I was valedictorian of my class for years. And then, something happened that day that changed everything. My heart was completely broken, and I let my grades slip once. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to push me out of the valedictorian spot. Because of that, I didn’t get the scholarship that I was hoping for and instead of going to my first choice school, I went to the state university. It was a crushing blow to everything that I had ever worked for, and I hated myself for allowing myself to fail.
I’ll be a good doctor because having experienced that once, I know I can never do it again. I know I can never be in that same place again, where my own feelings trump my professional desire to succeed. I let a childhood crush and infatuation ruin my chances to become a doctor sooner, and having had that taken from me, I can promise that I will never again allow it to happen. “
With a sigh, I leaned back in my chair. It was after midnight and the house was still silent. I checked outside; Dom’s car wasn’t in the driveway. I didn’t think I’d be able to get back to sleep before he came home, so I went in the bathroom and took a long, hot bath and had a glass of wine. I couldn’t stop thinking about the med school essay; it had come out angrier than I’d intended, but it was true. I wondered if that was the real reason I resented Dom. Not just because he took my virginity and ran off, but because he’d ruined my chances of going to med school immediately after college. The bath did a great job of relaxing me—or was it that realization I’d just had? Either way, I finally felt sleepy enough to crawl back in bed.
Chapter Six
The next morning, Dom was downstairs making breakfast before I woke
Grabbing my laptop, I hauled it on my lap and began to write. Within a few hours, I had something that looks liked like this;
“I originally wrote my personal essay about my dad. My dad is great, and I feel like it’s a great story, but it’s mostly about him and the sacrifices that he made in order to provide for me growing up. He’s an RN, and my mom died giving birth to me. My dad did everything he could to make sure that I was always taken care of and loved, and I grew up missing a mom and not really seeing what he did for me until it was almost too late. And that’s a good story, but I don’t feel like it would demonstrate why I would make a good doctor.
I want to be a doctor because I know that I’m capable of putting aside my own suffering in order to make other things right. When I was growing up, my best friend was this guy named Domenic. We lived right next door to each other, and we did everything together. As kids, we were inseparable. In middle school though, things changed. He had always been popular, but when we hit puberty, his popularity skyrocketed. He dated around, he played on the baseball team, he went to parties. He drank underage, and it didn’t matter because everyone loved him. And my crush on him only intensified as things went on. I know it sounds typical, and like everyone’s stories growing up, but I really felt like I loved him. And that was absolutely ridiculous because he never did anything to deserve it. In fact, I don’t think I should have given him an ounce of attention.
You’re probably wondering what this has to do with med school. In high school, Domenic invited me over one day out of the blue. It was right after we’d taken midterms, and he knew that he’d be getting an athletic scholarship to play baseball, no matter how bad his grades were. His coaches loved him, so they were never too bad anyway. Domenic never tried in school, and I resented him for that. I spent almost all of my time studying, and making sure that I had the best possible grades. I was valedictorian of my class for years. And then, something happened that day that changed everything. My heart was completely broken, and I let my grades slip once. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to push me out of the valedictorian spot. Because of that, I didn’t get the scholarship that I was hoping for and instead of going to my first choice school, I went to the state university. It was a crushing blow to everything that I had ever worked for, and I hated myself for allowing myself to fail.
I’ll be a good doctor because having experienced that once, I know I can never do it again. I know I can never be in that same place again, where my own feelings trump my professional desire to succeed. I let a childhood crush and infatuation ruin my chances to become a doctor sooner, and having had that taken from me, I can promise that I will never again allow it to happen. “
With a sigh, I leaned back in my chair. It was after midnight and the house was still silent. I checked outside; Dom’s car wasn’t in the driveway. I didn’t think I’d be able to get back to sleep before he came home, so I went in the bathroom and took a long, hot bath and had a glass of wine. I couldn’t stop thinking about the med school essay; it had come out angrier than I’d intended, but it was true. I wondered if that was the real reason I resented Dom. Not just because he took my virginity and ran off, but because he’d ruined my chances of going to med school immediately after college. The bath did a great job of relaxing me—or was it that realization I’d just had? Either way, I finally felt sleepy enough to crawl back in bed.
Chapter Six
The next morning, Dom was downstairs making breakfast before I woke
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