This I Believe.
October 4th, 2012
While I am not old enough to have a large amount of experience in many things, my choice of activities in grade school and high school have influenced me to a degree that I was not aware of until I got to the University of Cincinnati. During high school, I participated in several sports and student government. Outside of school, I was in the Boy Scouts of America. Because I participated in these activities, I have had the opportunity to help with more Eagle Scout service projects and volunteer opportunities in my community than I can count. These experiences eventually culminated into the completion of my own Eagle Scout project about three years ago.
My experiences in Scouting and the values I have learned up to now have lead to my first core belief. I believe that those with the ability to help others have the responsibility to do so for the greater good of their community. When I was in scouting, I volunteered my services for Eagle Scout Projects because I knew that I could help my fellow scouts. As captain of my high school wrestling team, I offered help and advice to my teammates. Now at UC, I give back to my community by volunteering at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and by helping students in difficult classes as a Supplemental Instruction Leader.
All of these activities have helped guide me to a career path that many consider to be long and arduous. Nevertheless, I have chosen to pursue a career as a doctor so that I will be in a position to help my community. Until recently, I was not really sure why I have been drawn to the long road of education that leads to becoming a doctor. In the past few months, however, I have discovered that my drive to help those who are less fortunate than I am and those who cannot help themselves is a direct result of the activities I have been involved in and the values I have learned from my parents throughout the years.
Along with the responsibility I feel to help others, I believe that hard work and determination are necessary for improvements in any facet of life to occur. I wholeheartedly believe that if I work hard enough, I can achieve anything. In high school, that meant working hard to be the best athlete, student, friend and son that I could be. I was not determined to be the best at everything; I worked hard because I was determined to be at my best, to know that I had done everything in my power to excel. This belief has carried over to UC, and now my hard work is being used to do my best in school, to be the best mentor I can be as a Supplemental Instruction Leader, and give back to my community through volunteering.
Working hard does not always lead to perfection, I do not believe that I will be perfect, but by working towards excellence I will continue to better myself. For example, for my Eagle Scout project I lead the construction of a brick patio at a disability NorthEast School, a school for kids with disabilities located in Gahanna. After completing this project one of the first things I did was walk around to check that every brick was as level as it could be and that the entire site looked better than it had been when I began my project. I tried my best to check every detail of the project to ensure excellence; this is very similar to my test taking habits as well. After every test I go back through each question to be sure that I answer the best that I can.
I have a habit of always double checking my work for mistakes because I always believe that I can do better. I believe that if I keep trying, keep working hard and believing in myself, I can get just one step closer to perfection. Whether that makes me obsessive or a perfectionist, at the end of the day nobody can tell me that I do not try my hardest to do my best.
I believe in myself, and my ability to succeed through my desire to help, hard work and determination, and continual drive for perfection. I have made it this far with my beliefs, but I cannot stop yet. I know that if I continue on the road I have chosen for myself it will not be easy but in the end it will be worthwhile. I have not picked the path that is easiest, similar to Frost I have picked the path less traveled by, and it has made all the difference, for me and one day for my community.