Lifeguard Personal Statement

When I was young my mum had an educational book depicting various systems within the body. I thought it was the most disgusting thing in the world. The human body had always terrified me - funny how things change. My interest crept up on me. When I decided to be a lifeguard I was required to take First Aid, cringing my way through the course. But during my first major incident, a boy with a spinal injury, I realized how incredibly crucial this knowledge was. As life progressed I frequently used these skills; walking into a room with a man seizing while choking on his vomit with about a dozen people just watching him unsure of what to do demonstrated the importance of education to me. I became determined to improve myself, searching for as much

I was accepted into the Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) program, which fits intense paramedic training into mere weeks. I both loved and excelled at the challenge, graduating top of my class and one of the only students to have earned 100% on the practical exams. This success inspired me, though I was consistently on the Honour Roll in secondary school. I enjoyed being involved in my school community, dedicating many hours to organizing events as a member of Grad Exec, Leadership, MUN, Youth in Action, and Global Perspectives - where I volunteered at the local soup kitchen and coordinated a fundraiser for the Nepal earthquake project. I also worked with a special needs group focusing on socialization skills, building connections with the individuals was incredibly gratifying. I found balancing the workload to be a challenge, but over years I have improved to become quite adept at time

Finding it difficult to balance the line of respecting the culture while also standing up for what I believe to be ethical, I learned to examine and critically think about the patient's feelings and situation. I was often asked to do things that were beyond my scope of practice as an EMR. I spent the majority of my time on the Pediatric ward, often having more patients than beds and facing more death than I thought I could handle. Coping with the highs and lows of this challenging experience sparked an interest in healthcare in developing countries. Paediatrics was the most chaotic and emotional place I have ever experienced; one minute doing CPR while another child begins to convulse, the next minute seeing a previously unresponsive child talking! I saw the different sides of medicine, witnessed both the power of healing and the constraints of