Sample Essay #1:
My mother loves telling the story of my response when my parents asked me what I wanted for my
third birthday. I responded by pounding both fists against my chest and jerking violently. Eventually they
realized that I wanted defibrillators, as seen on the beloved television program “Emergency.”
Although impressed with the technology, even then I was attracted to the idea of helping people.
Through example and upbringing, my family instilled in me the importance of being involved n all levels of
life. Their dedication to living a full life kept my grandparents participating in family and worldly matters,
active and vigorous well into their eighties. My parents are also lifelong students and gives of themselves in
many ways to their family and community. My father is a pediatrician. My mother has a masters degree in
Special Education and is currently a resource teacher. My sister now attends graduate school studying clinical
psychology. They all emphasize education and are all concerned about the well being of all people.
I have patterned my life similarly. Academically, I chose honors classes and a challenging major in
Cognitive Science. My original academic interests were in neuroscience and research. While pursuing my
interests in education in neuroscience, I had the opportunity to work as a research assistant in the neuroscience
department of the Biotech company, Amgen. I helped design and carry out research to explore the possible
correlation existing between the learning and memory deficiencies of Alzheimer’s Disease and altered levels
of neurochemicals. I am a co-author of two experimental reports from these studies which have been accepted
for publication in the Spring of 1995.
As I progressed in school and maturity, my interests evolved into the people-oriented aspects of
medicine. In retrospect, this interest in people was manifested in many of my extracurricular activities. A
central theme of my extracurricular...