The Importance Of Move To America

“I don’t know” I can still distinctly recall my eleven-year-old self repeatedly saying to anyone who tried to talk to me. It was my first day of school in America and that was the only sentence I could put together in English. I was born in China and lived there my whole life until my mother decided to move to New York. I thought I was just visiting her for winter break, but she dropped me off at school just a week after my arrival. As my new classmates tried to talk to me, I can see their mouth moving but they might as well be speaking gibberish. For the rest of the day, I felt like I was dropped off on an alien planet where my only means of communication were hand gestures. When my parents told me that my move to America was permanent, …show more content…
I find that to be more conducive than confronting the student in front of the whole group. I feel that the student deserves an opportunity to explain why he/she have not been contributing, and sometimes she/he might have valid reasons. One of my group members for a biochemistry project missed three group meetings, but it was due to her mother passing away and she was attending the funeral. I would then either personally, or have someone else if that’s more suitable, try to convince the other student to start carrying his/her load. If I am not able to, I will discuss with the rest of the group how to divide up the remaining work. My first priority is to ensure that the project is completed to the best of my abilities. If the other student claims credit for work he/she did not do, I will then be obligated to inform the professor about his/her lack of …show more content…
During my time off, I pursued both clinical experiences and research opportunities. In 2012, I helped care for my grandfather who suffered from lung cancer. I was particularly close to him as my grandparents helped raised me. My grandfather’s cancer was inoperable and my he passed away that April. Ever since I moved to the US at age eleven, I have rarely gone back to visit. My grandfather did not want to disturb my studies so I was only told when he was already very ill, thus I felt was very important for me to spend his last moment by his side. It was during this time that I first began volunteering at the pediatric department of the hospital he was staying at. My grandfather’s cancer also spurred an interest in nonsurgical treatments of cancer that led me to shadow Dr. Simon Cheng, a radiation oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. In 2013, in the midst of multiple health issues, my mother was told that she might have breast cancer. Since my father was working in China, I took time off to be with her. I also decided to transfer schools. Columbia would dramatically decrease my financial aid for the upcoming year, while Brandeis offered me a full scholarship. With my mother’s health issues, I did not want to place an even greater financial burden on her, especially since I was already considering medical school. Brandeis was also ideal since my mother had a job offer in Boston at the time, so I will be