I am a professional basketball player. This is what I told myself all of my years throughout grade school. I gathered many merits from my skills by leading the team in points and being recognized across my district, I even managed to play on a Nike-sponsored elite team called “Texas Select.” Over my years of hard work, I gained the reputation of being one of the few to play Division 1 basketball from my small, rural town. Eager to prove everyone right, I found myself sprinting down the court for a breakaway layup in the eyes of college coaches. As I went up for the shot, I was hit midair and fell, tearing my anterior cruciate ligament. Yet, if I had known the fall would leave me out of the running for Division 1 basketball, my stride would …show more content…
My friends and family would ask what generated the spark of passion. Was I surprised by the sudden change of heart? No, I would say no. I have been performing medicine since the day I first stepped on the court. Through my years at the University of Texas, my passion for athletics and medicine has not subsided. My passion first stemmed from wanting to help athletes return to their sport. From my own experience, I knew that I wanted to provide the proper care that my medical team did for me. As a physician, I want to be able to provide the best care possible by being able to understand what happens during surgical recovery and how surgery can be prevented. During my time as a physical therapist technician, I was exposed to different rehabilitation techniques and the importance of preventative care. Most importantly, however, I was able to gain the skills of proper bedside manner, empathy, and the necessity of community in a medical setting. While shadowing Dr. James Bothwell, an orthopedic surgeon, I was able to understand the importance of proper surgery recovery and the responsibility to provide not only accurate but meaningful information to
Unfortunately like all the other sports I am apart of, basketball has its own fair share of injuries while participating during the sport. Unlike soccer, I have not experienced as many sport related injuries, but none the less, I have my fair share. Throughout all four years of high school, I still have to fight and take caution of my weak right ankle. It is because of my ankle that my basketball career has taken multiple catastrophes. For every time I land on my ankle in any that I see as a danger to my ankle, I immediately have to call myself off the court and miss valuable practice and game time. Plus, every time I step foot on any basketball court, i must have my ankle tapped and I must wear a brace. Not only must I worry about if my ankle will finally give out, I also have to worry about pulled muscles, strained back, bruised body parts, sore limbs, and even headaches from getting bashed in the head from an elbow every now and then. Finally the worst injury of all, being dropped dead tired and still having over an hour left in your practice. But after read The Glass Castle, I always think of a saying that Jeannette Walls’s father always told her, “ Things usually work out in the end. If they don’t, then you haven’t come to the end yet.” This saying has taught me that no matter how hard something seems to be, it all will eventually work out in the end and the good times
I have always had a passion for nursing. As a child, I watched my mother getting up early, putting her scrubs on and headed out the door for a 12 hour shift. She was always content, and at ease to go for a long shift and even overtime at times. I love the fact that after work, she would always come home, satisfied with the day no matter how hard it was for her. She would sit and tell my brothers and sisters how she enjoyed the conversations that she had with her patients and what impact she had on their lives that day. Listening to these stories as a child, I knew that I wanted to become a nurse and listening to the same stories and helping people, making their day feel better. I wanted to follow my mom’s footsteps. At the end of a long shift, it is a rewarding profession, knowing that I am saving people’s lives, making them comfortable when they are near of dying, advocate and teaching them. As nurses, we care for patients through illness, injury, aging, health. We also promote health, prevent diseases and teaching the community; that’s what I love about nursing. I believe that this is the right profession for me because I have all the qualities that a nurse should possess when
Starting my freshman year at County High School, I played basketball and loved every minute of it. I wouldn’t be conceited enough to say I was good, but God did bless me with the talent to play. My life revolved around the sport of basketball; some would say I slept, ate, and breathed every part of it. I spent all my time training and practicing to make myself a more dedicated athlete. This dedication not only helped me as a player, but also molded me into the person I am today. It somehow helped to prepare me for what defeat I would face with back surgery in the future.
Once upon a time, it seems, physicians were wise and good, and medicine was an art. That's the feeling I get reading from the Chahar Maqala, tales from a time when doctors diagnosed lovesick princes from a urine sample, a pulse, and a review of local geography.
My mom always used to say,” Look at the person as a whole to understand the condition.” Even though it made little sense to me as a child, I learned the concept when I was doing my Internal medicine rotation. The passion of knowing that I could improve a person’s quality of life drew me into pursuing medicine. The multitude of different organ systems that one covers while practicing medicine fascinated me to delve into a field that encompasses them all - Internal Medicine. In addition, I enjoyed the challenges that Internal Medicine would provide me with its diversity. Altogether, Internal Medicine was the amalgam of everything I learned in my medical practice and decided to pursue my residency.
My motivations in life have always been centered on my desire to maintain independence and happiness. My passions for physical therapy and health originated from those same motivations. Throughout my childhood, I repeatedly found myself in tough situations that required a level of self -dependency and perseverance that I don’t believe many young minds possess. My parents’ divorce put my life on a trajectory that could have easily been destructive. As a young girl, I realized that despite the lack of control I felt in my hardships growing up, I had control over my academic and future successes. I vowed that I would remember the struggles I faced and concentrate my energy on creating a better life for myself. To this day, it is important to me
Growing up in rural Texas, you have to learn to care for the things that are important to you. There really is not much to entertain yourself with so many adolescents become vulnerable to trouble. Luckily for me, I grew up with the responsibilities that came with growing up on a farm. I had things to care for on a daily basis and for the longest time, the things I cared for most were animals. I exhibited livestock in my youth and this is where I spent the majority of my time. I would come home from football or basketball practice and go straight up to the barn to tend to my animals. Along with feeding and cleaning, I would often administer vaccinations and antibiotics when needed. Because of my interest in medicine and science coupled with my love for animals some could say that I was destined to become veterinarian. The major I chose, animal science, even supported that notion. However, it was not until the summer after my freshman year of undergraduate where I realized it was human medicine that my heart was yearning for.
With tearing my ACL I learned what I want to achieve in my life. I want to become a physical therapist. Becoming a physical therapist is more than just a job to me, it’s a way for me to assist others the way my physical therapist did for me. He was there motivating me when I wanted to quit. I want to be their motivation when they don’t have any. I want to push people past their limits. I don’t want anyone to face a setback like I did. Being stuck behind an obstacle is lifeless. You can’t enjoy life to its fullest
I figured that I had grown about five inches since my freshman year and had gotten stronger it might be time to play basketball competitively once more. When November rolled around I was on the varsity team, but unfortunately my basketball skills was not up to par. It was tough at first, because I was a new face on the team, and the guys on the team had a great chemistry that they had built up throughout the years. After a few weeks had rolled by, I realized that I would not be in the rotation.I told myself that the team’s success is more important than my personal desired statistics.I decided to make the most of my role on the team. It was a tradition for the guys who were not in the rotation to contribute to the game in some way, guys did this by preforming stunts after significant plays and momentum shifts in the game in our favor. This was great because the crowd loved and it and more importantly my teammates fed off of the
As a former point guard and shooting guard for the University High Hawks, I, also, had a shot to play Division I, in Michigan for the Wolverines and Spartans and West Virginia for the Mountaineers, and Division II, in West Virginia for the Fairmont State Falcons. With all this excitement, I was told that my talent stood out but, I was the best vocal player these four schools have seen but, my dream of playing college basketball ended when I received a brutal knee injury in the beginning of the season of my senior year in high school.
As a traditional Native American saying goes, “Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart.” My heart was captured by pediatrics at an early age. My journey was started growing up in a small town of India with different but significant healthcare needs and limited availability of resources. During the school life, I was always attracted towards human biology. As a young student, I was very curious and used to ask many questions, and my teachers always explained every principle by scientific reasoning and rational thinking. Childhood, after all, is a time when every human begins to construct their concepts of the physical, social, mental and emotional portions of their life. In turn, these perceptions can profoundly
At three in the morning, the phone rang. A trembling voice relayed the news that my friend had fallen into a coma due to an inoperable brain aneurysm. A few days later, her family decided to stop life support after confirmation that she was completely brain-dead. The fact that nothing could be done for her in this day and age, despite all our technological advancements, was a great shock to me. In addition, the fact that she was younger than me made me realize how short and precious each life truly is. Her death inspired me to pursue medicine so that one day, others in similarly hopeless situations, would have a chance to survive. My dream is that one day, I will contribute to bringing medicine one step closer to curing someone with a currently untreatable disease.
Practicing for the upcoming season I was faced with what could have been a season ending injury. I tore my ACL and meniscus, now this injury had to have surgery and at the least six months of recovery. Now I could have either given up in this situation, hung up my jersey and just quit. Or I could have fought through all of this and faced this adversity head on. Now I think you can figure out what I chose. I was never gonna give up on this sport that I have bled and cried for. I have worked for this spot ever since I was a little kid watching all of the seniors play on that court, under all of that spot
As an undergraduate student, I explored different career options and at one point the question arose "Why medicine?". The more I thought, the question itself became an answer, "Why not medicine?". Witnessing a person heal because of one's skills is the most gratifying experience one can have, and I could not be more fortunate than to pursue a career in a field, the fundamentals of which are based on it. Hands on clinical experience during my 3rd year medical school clerkship at a tertiary care military hospital in Pakistan, sparked my initial interest in the practice of adult medicine. Even though the medical hospitals in Pakistan do not rank among the top in the world, they offer a unique exposure to a variety of medial illnesses.
It was the start of summer 2002, and the Mid America Youth Basketball (MAYB) national tournament was taking place in Andover, Kansas. Along with the rest of the team, I was excited to play some basketball for the first time since the middle school basketball season was over. Our team, Carlon Oil, had been together and played every summer for the last four years. We were a really good team, with an overall record of 65-4 over those four years and were hoping to continue our legacy. Lonnie Lollar, our coach for the summer, was also the coach of our high school basketball team. I had a history of groin injuries, and every summer it seemed that I would have to sit out at least a game on the bench icing my groin. But this summer was different, and I along with everyone in the gym wouldn't have expected my summer to end with a injury such as a broken leg.