Personal Narrative: To Be More Competitive

I would tell myself to be more competitive. Not with others, as I believe the best way to grow to be a more tolerant and knowledgeable person is by actively seeking out and working with peers, but instead to be more competitive with myself. I would tell myself to never be satisfied with my current limits and to find joy in striving to end each day as a better and more erudite person than I was when I woke up.

Although this drive to always be better has become an integral part of my character, through my high school career it was not, and I derived my drive to succeed from other’s disbelief. When my track coach told me I was too short to be a triple jumper, overcoming his doubt became the driving force in my life. I toiled endlessly in

the gym and on the track. I pursued guidance from successful athletes and developed my own workout plan. I sacrificed all of my time to become better and to prove my coach wrong; however, when I finally did, when I finally won competition after competition and began being recruited by college coaches, I lost all motivation to work. When everyone believed in me, I had no reason to try, and as a result, I never won another competition

As an EMT, always striving to be the best me I can the best me has allowed me to sharpen my ability to solve problems quickly, be a more tolerant person, and to gain a deeper appreciation for the impediments that hinder underserved populations from receiving medical care. I am confident this ideal will succeed in medical school and allow myself and my peers to become physicians that are capable of providing patients with the upmost care and to reducing healthcare disparities in underserved populations.