The stress of a college student is never ending. The worst part of it is, is that I did this to myself. I chose a major and minor with a big work load. As a biology major with a minor in chemistry student, I have to remind myself that I am passionate about the science field. It does get tough at times because professors and other professionals can look at your profile and judge you off of numbers in this field. There’s the gpa, MCAT or any specialized exam scores, and your age. I just have to stand up for myself and let them know that even though grades show one thing, my work ethic and strength show that I have taken on this challenge and stuck by my decision to go forth with my dream and never give up. This is more important than anything else, because it really shows that i dedicated my time and efforts to work in the science field. One day, I will become a doctor, and I know it will happen because I care about the mission that much. I have always known that I wanted to be a doctor which is why I spent my time studying and working in this field trying to gain experience and skills to help strengthen my ability to show myself and others that I am capable of doing something I honestly care about, which is the health of the community. Nothing will be of greater honor than to serve my community and gain their trust to provide care and treatment for them. I have never considered a back-up plan or alternative career route, because being a physician to practice medicine is my only concern. Everything I have done is to reflect my personal interests and prove that I really am using my time to help others by volunteering, and help myself by studying science and health related topics. There will always be stress from personal to professional life. But it is the choice of what to do with it that matters. I use my stress to motivate myself to do better and be better. I like challenges because it expresses what I am capable of doing in difficult situations. There are many choices and opportunities in life and it only makes sense to do what your heart wants. My heart has always been for people who suffer from health related reasons, and that is why I have put my heart into my work at school, volunteer services, and anything else for that matter to surround myself with experiences of my interests.
Stress is a sign of our body trying to tell us that we need to slow down. Our mind is not able to catch up with what we are doing or the other way around. It is a response from our body that it cannot meet a certain demand. For students, stress is mainly from school work or our personal lives. For me, it is easily from both my personal life and student life. I lost my dad when I was in middle school and he was the strict parent pushing me to do my best. Now, I feel like I am missing that strong motivator in my life, so I rely on myself to push through any obstacles and remind myself that there could always be worse things in life and I need to focus on what matters most, which is my future.
Everything that I have been working for has been to gain experience and skills to enhance my knowledge in the science field. I enjoy spending my time with volunteer work, science, and clinical based enviornments. I have learned that I truly do love spending my time helping people. Freshman year of college I searched for an organization with a meaningful mission. I was introduced to GlobeMed, a social justice and health equity organization, and St. Edward’s didn’t have it so I decided to start this organization here. This is what I have been spending my time working on. I have been trying to build it from nothing and try to make it flourish at St. Edward’s. I have also earned the position as President in American Medical Student Association and have been able to shadow with other practitioners.
I always take my time to remind myself that stress can be a motivator. It is good to turn a bad situation into a good one. If something negative comes along, turn it into an opportunity to do something good either for yourself or for someone else. And never forget what your are working for or if you are working towards a certain goal. It is good to have stress sometimes because that means you are working hard and doing something with your time. But don’t let it overcome you. You’re heart is stronger than what your mind is trying to tell you. Follow your heart and use your mind to guide you. That includes stress, people provoking stress out of you, and your own mind thinking about “what ifs” and “buts.” There will always be those things surrounding your space, but there’s only one you and you only have one dream. Fight for it, overcome your own stress, because things can always be worse, but nothing is better than achieving your ultimate dream in life.
This is what my mind has come to from St. Edward’s. I have been through stress many times which has led me to remind myself every time that I am working hard to become a doctor and the only thing that could get in the way of it is myself, and I will never let that happen.
Stressful times needs you to remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing. And then remind yourself that everything you are doing is towards a certain goal. Any goal can be achieved if you really put your mind into it.