Admissions Essay - I Dont Want to Be a Doctor :: Medicine College Admissions Essays

Admissions Essay - I Don't Want to Be a Doctor I was talking to my sister on the phone, the little one, and she said, "I don't think I want to be a doctor." And I thought, "Oh, no." Now, you gotta understand, we're Asian. South Asian, actually. Sri Lankan, specifically. And the thing about Asians is, we're *all* supposed to be doctors. We all *are* doctors. My dad's friends are doctors. my mom's friends are doctors, my dad's *friends'* friends are doctors. and all of their kids are in med school right now, planning to be doctors. My middle sister is planning to be a doctor, fourth year Johns Hopkins, pre-med, volunteering at a local hospital, studying for the MCAT's. And I had thought the youngest was safely on the track, a few years behind, a freshman in college, pre-med, taking Biology, Chemistry, studying all the damned time, going to be just what the world needs, another Asian doctor. And you gotta understand -- I was happy about this. They'll be successful. They'll have money; they won't have to worry, They'll be able to pay the rent on time unlike their big sister who's dumb enough to try to make a living as a writer, but best of all it'll make the parents happy. After all -- *someone* had to to do it. Someone had to make the parents happy, and it certainly wasn't going to be me: black sheep, dater of white boys writer of pornography, destroyer of her parents' happiness. So the little one says to me, "I don't think I want to be a doctor." And I panic. And I ask why. And she says, this sweet kid says that she wants to make a difference in the world, do something good, unselfish, help people. I get the impression that she has vague ideas of working in a soup kitchen somewhere. She's eighteen, remember? Remember eighteen? And I want to cheer I want to stand up and say, "You go, girl!"