First draft....NEED HELP!!! Any feedback would be much appreciated :)

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“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...” I can remember three different occasions where I heard this line from Dr. Suess’s popular book, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!:” once in the fifth grade, again at high school graduation, and recently in my Biology capstone course. For most of my classmates this book carried a new meaning when it was read to them as adults as opposed to when they were young children because their dreams have changed multiple times during the process of growing up and completing their education. For me, however, each time this story was read to me I was one step closer to my original goal: to obtain a career in the medical field.

I have wanted to practice medicine for as long as I can remember and I attribute my initial passion for healthcare to my early life experiences. For example, when I was seven years old, I was told that I was going to require heart surgery to fix a complication of being born two months premature. Surgical procedures are scary for anyone, but it was a lot to take on as a first grader. Luckily, I had a strong support system and an outstanding team of doctors and nurses caring for me. The caregivers at St. Louis Children’s Hospital made a positive impact on my life during my stay and to this day I am grateful for the exceptional care they provided.

As I grew older my interest in medicine continued to expand and I began to get involved in the medical field in any way I could. For my senior year service project in high school I chose to volunteer at a local pediatric hospital and continued to volunteer at the University Children’s Hospital where I attended college. In addition, during one of my summer breaks I returned to the hospital where I had heart surgery and volunteered as a counselor for a camp for children born with heart defects. Although all of these experiences contributed to my passion for medicine, it was when I became a nurse technician that I truly understood my natural desire to help people. Nothing made me happier than hearing positive feedback from my patients or being able to put a smile on their face despite the situation they were in. It was also during this time that I first became exposed to physician assistants and their role in the team approach to patient care.

After my career as a nurse technician I obtained a position as a medical scribe in the emergency department to further develop my understanding of the roll physicians and physician assistants fulfill in the medical community. My work as a scribe has exposed me to clinical decision making and enhanced my knowledge of medical terminology as well as common medical problems and their clinical presentations.

I believe my life experiences have prepared me for a career as a physician assistant in many ways. I have the ability and desire to care for people and I believe becoming a physician assistant will allow me to offer the most to those who need help.