I will officially introduce myself

I know you guys are just chomping at the bit to know who I am
I’m 27 and married. My husband, two dogs, a cat and some fish rely on me daily.
I work as a book keeper and sales for a promotional and awards store. I stopped my undergrad work to become an EMT to gain even more exposure to medicine since I’m interested in emergency medicine (besides orthopedics, ENT, general surgery…I could go on). And because, well, my job is mind numbing and I definatly need a challenging career.
I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. I’m sure it was dismissed when I was a little girl as something a child typically says they want to be when they grew up. But I was serious. I would gladly miss cartoons to watch a surgery on PBS. When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I got a microscope and the year after, a 3D model of the human body which I put together. I didn’t watch the puberty tapes in class to find out what all the hype was about. I watched them for the scientific value, lol.
As for my late start, I kind of lost touch with myself after my mother died suddenly when I was eleven. She was the only one who supported my dream of being a doctor. Shortly after, my grandmother died. I had to take care of my diabetic and autistic brother by myself while my father worked long hours to support us. Baby sitters, adult ones, simply could not and would not handle him as his autism can make him difficult to deal with. Being his sister, it came easily. As for the diabetes, luckily, I could handle it because years back, I had taken it upon myself to learn how to manage his diabetes with adjusting his snacks, insulin dosage, giving him shots, and helping him check his blood sugar. However, I began to not care about school and the grades showed. Councelors let me use the excuse that I had a lot to deal with in life, but it wasn’t what was really going on. I didn’t see the value of social studies and other classes and felt I was wasting my time.
My father’s idea of parenting was more harsh than it should ever be and so when I left the house at 18 after my father and stepmother’s sudden divorce (giving me 2 weeks to find a roof over my head), I took advantage of not having rules, so to speak. So, my first year or so of college was a disaster (1.8 overall GPA, 1.2 science ). I wish I had my stuff together, but I did pat myself on the back when I decided to stop and take a step back to figure out just where I want to go in life. Had I continued with college without the motivation, I would have been kicked out or barely graduated.
Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me. But, this is something I truely desire and it’s taken a few years to hear that calling once again. That calling is somewhat unexplainable. It’s almost something I’ve just got to do-a bone deep “destiny” if I’m to get dramatic about it. I have an insatiable interest of the human body, but also a desire to help those who suffer. I’m glad to say that I am also enjoying learning everything about anything. With maturity, I guess, I’ve learned to apply what I’ve learned in classes I had deemed unimportant, whether it be arguing politics and the constitution to philosphy, etc. This has solved my problem of those courses which weren’t interesting to me. If I see the point, I’ll have the motivation which is what my scholastic problem was all those years. And if what I learn can be applied, then voila, there’s a point to it
I know it’s a long shot with my GPA and all, but I’ll give it all I’ve got. Otherwise, I will always regret it.
Anywho, there it is and I hope y’all will put up with me If things don’t work out, well, you can catch me on an ambulance.

Hello Wackie and welcome to OPM.
Your story is truly inspirational as a person who has had a rough time growing up. I suggest you look for Old Man Dave’s story on here. He explains how he went from having a 1.2 GPA as an undergraduate and successfully completed his training to become an anesthesiologist.
I am not going to lie to you and tell you that everything will be easy. It will certainly not be. To paraphrase Dave, this is a marathon not a sprint.
Ask any question you want, people will be glad to answer. You are amongst friends and kindred spirits.
Again, welcome.
Gabe

Hey Wackie, you are a few years away from thinking about your med school application yet - but that intro piece you wrote has the “bones” for a really good, compelling personal statement. I suggest you print that out and put it in a safe place. Yours is perhaps the best description I’ve ever read of why college initially seemed pointless and now seems so much more interesting, even social studies LOL. My hat is off to you. You have beautifully articulated some things that are often difficult to put into words. Get the grades, keep the current attitude, and you’ll be fine!
Mary

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Yours is perhaps the best description I’ve ever read of why college initially seemed pointless and now seems so much more interesting, even social studies LOL. My hat is off to you. You have beautifully articulated some things that are often difficult to put into words. Get the grades, keep the current attitude, and you’ll be fine!





Mary










Thank you for the kind words. I read personal statements from others and am awed at some of the content and the writing. I then look at a draft I might have scribbled out and think, “There’s no way” simply because theirs are works of art and mine looks like “This summer I went to camp. At camp, I went fishing. It was fun. I can’t wait to go next year.”


I can write and write on my life and what I’ve learned from it, but answering the “Why do you want to be a physician” question is hard for me to elaborate on. Just imagine some little blonde Texas girl thinking hard and only able to come up with “Cuz I wanna and I gotta”.

I come from a family of national honors society and A students. I was always the slacker but a thinker the same way you seem to be. I have bad grades to overcome too. To me this calling was something I never knew I wanted till now. It’s not that hard. The sciences don’t scare me at all. If I went into Law or engineering, now that’s scary.

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I can write and write on my life and what I’ve learned from it, but answering the “Why do you want to be a physician” question is hard for me to elaborate on. Just imagine some little blonde Texas girl thinking hard and only able to come up with “Cuz I wanna and I gotta”.


While I think that’s a tricky question for anyone to answer suitably, just your intro here reflects both sincerity and eloquence. I’d call it inspiriational for sure - especially when you’re a doctor, and you can share it with the next generation of old pre meds