Verified

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.... We cannot change our past... The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it…”
-Charles R. Swindoll

My application is now “verified”…excited not really. I woke up this morning not in the best mood. I decided to make this post not to have a “pity party” but to encourage other premeds that may feel the same way. I truly believe that turning obstacles into opportunities not only keeps you in the right frame of mind it facilitates growth. (Don’t worry I will explain the first sentence soon enough)

Many nontraditional premeds say to me “my earlier grades are weak, will I ever be able to move past this? Can I demonstrate improvement?” My response is always you will never be able to hide your “skeletons” (bad grades) but you can grow. You must first move past a defeatist mind set (something I know well). Go over the basics. Like many nontraditional, underrepresented minorities who attended inferior public schools, you may not have a strong foundation in the natural sciences. Get a High School textbook go over, review, relearn and rehash. Filling in the gaps is KEY. Key to assessing the path you will take.

As I grow, I learn that living your truth is the key to happiness or at least the password. So here it is: I am a first generation American. My parents are immigrants from Jamaica, West Indies. My dad works 12 hours a day as a cab driver and my mom works two jobs (16 hrs a day) as a nurse’s aide. My parents have sacrificed so much to provide me, as well as my siblings they left behind, with opportunities that they didn’t have. (I’m sure many of you can relate to this)

I grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens and I attended the local high school, a school that had a graduation rate of approximately 30 percent. My graduation class was its last; the following year the board of education closed it down because of a long record of poor academic performance. Not surprisingly, my high school did not prepare me for college. With this being said I floundered for two years at the college of Staten Island- CSI (Did I forget to mention I worked full time as a certified nurses aide, a physically demanding job). Transferred to Brooklyn college, got my grades up (learning the basics is the only way to do this) and decided to seriously pursue medicine.

I joined clubs, took on leadership roles and utilized every tool and resource Brooklyn College provides. I submitted my application to medical school. Since My Brooklyn college transcript says a 3.0 I was confident that I at least meet the minimum requirements to have my application reviewed (at least at some schools don’t worry I am realistic). My application gets “verified “ (dun Dun DUNNN!!!) Lets just say my skeletons from CSI aren’t hidden.

I am not giving up. I will most likely have to attend a Post bac program.

This journey is not for the swift !!!