Growing up as a child of first generation immigrants from China, I have always felt distant from American society. The language barriers and lack of knowledge of my non-English-speaking parents has caused me to be unfamiliar with the country\u2019s system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a young age, I had begun working in my parents\u2019 restaurant business. We often did not take breaks (only two days of the year) and worked eleven or twelve hours a day, struggling to pay bills. Because of this, my parents often experienced health issues and eventually illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doctor visits and medical attention were considered luxuries to my family. We often could not afford it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unable to have these necessities had made me curious about the medical field from a young age. Since middle school, I have been fascinated by the science of the human body. My curiosity has driven me to desire to know more about health in order to help myself and my parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In high school, I participated in a variety of extracurricular activities that has given me certainty that I want to pursue medicine and medical research. For example, I was able to speak with doctors and listen to their experiences in my high school\u2019s \u201cPre-Med Club\u201d. Through the club, I volunteered and participated in meaningful events, such as giving gifts and meeting children who have suffered from injuries or diseases at my local hospital. In addition, I conducted a seven-month long research project about bell peppers and its effect on the stimulation of hair growth. These experiences have solidified my decision to become a physician, which is why I choose to pursue chemistry today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the future, I hope to obtain a Doctor of Medicine degree and participate in research. I hope to start my own foundation that helps those in need have access to basic healthcare in order to give back and uplift others. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Growing up as a child of first generation immigrants from China, I have always felt distant from American society. The language barriers and lack of knowledge of my non-English-speaking parents has caused me to be unfamiliar with the country\u2019s system. From a young age, I had begun working in my parents\u2019 restaurant business. We often … Continue reading Personal Statement<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26343,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/bzgenetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/bzgenetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/bzgenetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/bzgenetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26343"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/bzgenetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/bzgenetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/bzgenetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/bzgenetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/bzgenetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/bzgenetics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}