Essay On Machismo

Uniqueness is a quality that I possess in different areas of my life, and it is my journey to become a doctor that makes me a unique candidate for medical school. As a young child, I loved to play “doctor” and clean my playmates’ skinned knees using my first aid kit. At the time, I never thought to myself, “I want to be a doctor when I grow up!” This changed on my eighteenth birthday when I saved my mother from choking. I was putting a bookcase together in my room when she stormed in desperately gasping for air. Luckily I had learned the Heimlich maneuver in high school and gave it my best shot. A rush of relief surged through my body when she finally drew in a breath of life. The fulfillment and euphoria I felt from knowing what to do in that …show more content…
When he was informed that he needed to be placed on dialysis his “machismo” attitude was amplified. For Latinos machismo can be defined as a man’s pride and a need to portray a strong and aggressive masculine character. He refused to have his body burrowed with large needles three times a week, to have bulging scars on his forearms, to look feeble and helpless before his family or to be taken care of by anyone other than himself. He would continually say he preferred to die than to become a burden to his wife and …show more content…
As the years passed, my father began to deteriorate quickly as he went through strokes, heart attacks and other complications. Each trip to the ER, operating room, and doctor’s office was a new science lesson and another heartache as I watched my father suffer and fight for his life. Each one of his health crises helped me become emotionally strong and objective without compromising compassion. Sadly, he passed away in June of 2015 when his heart stopped in the middle of his second amputation surgery. The hurdles that my father and I conquered together built my resilience to overcome my personal obstacles in my quest to be a