My grandmother, Maria, was born and raised in Puerto Rico. I used to love to listen to stories about her nine brothers and sisters who each took turns going to school and working to support their family. My grandfather was an English bank inspector whose job required quite a bit of travel. As a result, my mother was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and lived in South America, Puerto Rico , and Cuba. My mother lived in a turbulent Cuba with my grandparents at the start of the communist revolution. Since my grandparents were unable to leave the bank in Cuba unattended, they sent my mother out of the country alone at the age of 15. After emigrating to the United States, my mother attended college and married my father. My sister and I were both born in the U.S., and moved to Puerto Rico as small children. I spent six years on the island, moving with my family to California at the age of ten. Here I was forced to adapt to a new cultural environment which included shifting from the daily use of Spanish to English. Adjusting to a new culture was difficult, however, I feel very lucky to have experienced a bilingual and bicultural upbringing. In June of 1992, one of my worst nightmares came true. My grandmother, whom I was very close with, became ill. The doctors believed it was her gallbladder which was causing her pain and scheduled her for surgery. I flew to San Francisco the night before her operation in order to take her to the hospital while my mother was at work. In the waiting room, my grandfather and I grew impatient, as the surgery took longer than expected. Finally, the surgeon emerged from the operating room and called us into his office. “She has cancer”, were the first words out of his mouth…. … middle of paper … …y the looks of comfort and relief I see on the faces of patients when they find out I speak fluent Spanish. I feel I can fill a need for Spanish speaking doctors and improve the lives of others by promoting primary and preventative care. Since I can remember, I have held an intense interest in health care and the health community. I studied Psychology in order to learn more about the human mind, now I would like to learn more about the human body. I believe the knowledge of more than one culture and language has given me a greater sense of empathy for, and understanding of others. Education has been the means of survival for my family and I am a person who has overcome many obstacles to achieve success. I am aware the road to medical school will be challenging and rigorous, but I am confident I have the ability and perseverance to be successful.
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