RandoSuddo
Member
Hey everybody, hope your day has been going great.
I'll try to provide as much description about myself and my situation, and if you'd like - you can skip to the end where I'll have a TL;DR waiting for ya!
I feel like my circumstances aren't too unique, but academically, I don't have the greatest track-record. This is arguably my biggest weakness. Throughout HSC, I'd like to say that I didn't really try - but the truth is, I did. I did the best I could, but I wasn't motivated. I had no drive. Nothing pushed me out of my comfort zone. I set low expectations, and I settled for less... far less. My ATAR was the culmination of an entire year worth of effort (or lack of), so it speaks for itself. I settled for a subpar degree at an average university and spent 6 months of that miserable year not knowing any better.
I'd like to think that if I continued studying that degree, I'd graduate with adequate job security, earning between $60-90k/pa, sitting behind a desk, punching numbers, interpreting graphs and trends. Who was I helping though? How was I in any way making this world a better place? These questions became the forefront of my thoughts following a period where my closest friend went through (what I would call it) a depressive state. What skills do I honestly have? I'm empathetic, check. I can grasp concepts quickly, check. I have a burning desire to leave this world in a better place than I found it... check.
But (there's always a but), there are different ways to do this. I spoke to my girlfriend at the time - psychology perhaps? How about chiro? What about physiotherapy? For some unknown reason, the idea of studying physiotherapy appealed to me. Okay, where can I study this? WSU had an undergraduate course at their Campbelltown campus - sub 20 minutes drive from home. Keep in mind, each sentence in this paragraph was probably the span of a fortnight of head-throbbing consideration.
95 ATAR. My heart sunk. If I input my highest mark in every subject I ever got in HS, the dodgy ATAR calculator would probably show me an 88.
"Alright, what are my options?" That brings me to the present day, 3:30am in the morning - with almost nothing better to do than sleep. I'm studying a Health Science degree at the WSU Campbelltown campus. I had every intention of transferring into Physiotherapy until just over a month ago. Medicine was never an option. For me, the likelihood of studying Medicine would be the equivalent of a separated calf escaping a troop of lions.
So what changed my mind? A discussion in passing. Remember the friend I brought up earlier that catalysed my entire shift in perspective? Him. He's studying Medicine at UNSW. We were stuck in Monday-morning traffic, but neither one of us was irritable. We were having a productive conversation about what I wanted to do with my life. One attribute to my lousy ATAR is probably my memory - so I probably can't recite exactly what he said to me over 9 months ago, but it went something like this. "Ever since I've known you, you've had a genuine interest in helping others. Why don't you consider studying Medicine?" Between me and the beautiful stranger behind the screen reading this, at the time, I almost took it as an insult.
Now the thought is almost comical. "How dare he suggest I push my limits and find my passion?" Ha.
I apologise for the essay, so I'll try to wrap it up. If you've read this far, please continue - your input could literally change my life.
Anyways, (okay scratch that, this might go on a while, seriously - either skip to the end for the TLDR... or don't, I'll never know) my Med friend and I were having a discussion on the effects of saturated fat and cholesterol on our coronary arteries. Does it cause heart disease? Is there really a positive association, and if so - why is there such conflicting data in the medical literature?
Studies interested me. I loved learning about the human body. Two years ago, I was in the chess-club, pretending to study Economics at lunch. Today, I was reading peer-reviewed studies about human heath for the sole reason of 'I enjoyed it.'
The idea was brought up again. "You know, once you study Medicine - you could create your own studies. Recruit your own healthy population, design your own study models and publish what you find. You could travel internationally to present your results and could quite possibly save millions of lives." There wasn't the faintest stutter in his voice. He had rehearsed this. It confirmed a thought, he truly wanted the best for me. And he had given this plenty of thought on my behalf.
(I really hope there isn't a word-count on this thread, that would be anti-climactic).
Prior to this conversation, I applied to become a volunteer at an aged-care facility specialising in dementia. (I start this Thursday!)
The steps necessary to study Medicine at WSU; obtain the minimum of a 5.5 GPA, smash the UMAT, ace the interview. My ATAR holds no weight. (F**k yeah!)
My friend stated quite eloquently over a text late Saturday night, he said - "Are you going to let the world continue doing what you hate most [suffering], or are you give it your best to try and stop it?"
Following that question, I asked myself one - 'Am I brave enough to give it my best shot?'
UMAT Preparation; he told me he had enough UMAT resources where it was 'humanly impossible' to complete them all, even if I started today.
I want this now. More than anything. It now serves as my motivation. I want to study Medicine with the sole purpose of making decisions to save lives. I want to give people a new lease on life. This is my purpose and I want to set myself up for success, despite my history, despite the odds. Please help me.
TL;DR - Okay so! I got a Med best friend, strongly encouraged me to pursue studying Medicine. He has all the resources necessary. I want to set myself up for success in the 2019 UMAT. What should be my plan of attack?
I'll try to provide as much description about myself and my situation, and if you'd like - you can skip to the end where I'll have a TL;DR waiting for ya!
I feel like my circumstances aren't too unique, but academically, I don't have the greatest track-record. This is arguably my biggest weakness. Throughout HSC, I'd like to say that I didn't really try - but the truth is, I did. I did the best I could, but I wasn't motivated. I had no drive. Nothing pushed me out of my comfort zone. I set low expectations, and I settled for less... far less. My ATAR was the culmination of an entire year worth of effort (or lack of), so it speaks for itself. I settled for a subpar degree at an average university and spent 6 months of that miserable year not knowing any better.
I'd like to think that if I continued studying that degree, I'd graduate with adequate job security, earning between $60-90k/pa, sitting behind a desk, punching numbers, interpreting graphs and trends. Who was I helping though? How was I in any way making this world a better place? These questions became the forefront of my thoughts following a period where my closest friend went through (what I would call it) a depressive state. What skills do I honestly have? I'm empathetic, check. I can grasp concepts quickly, check. I have a burning desire to leave this world in a better place than I found it... check.
But (there's always a but), there are different ways to do this. I spoke to my girlfriend at the time - psychology perhaps? How about chiro? What about physiotherapy? For some unknown reason, the idea of studying physiotherapy appealed to me. Okay, where can I study this? WSU had an undergraduate course at their Campbelltown campus - sub 20 minutes drive from home. Keep in mind, each sentence in this paragraph was probably the span of a fortnight of head-throbbing consideration.
95 ATAR. My heart sunk. If I input my highest mark in every subject I ever got in HS, the dodgy ATAR calculator would probably show me an 88.
"Alright, what are my options?" That brings me to the present day, 3:30am in the morning - with almost nothing better to do than sleep. I'm studying a Health Science degree at the WSU Campbelltown campus. I had every intention of transferring into Physiotherapy until just over a month ago. Medicine was never an option. For me, the likelihood of studying Medicine would be the equivalent of a separated calf escaping a troop of lions.
So what changed my mind? A discussion in passing. Remember the friend I brought up earlier that catalysed my entire shift in perspective? Him. He's studying Medicine at UNSW. We were stuck in Monday-morning traffic, but neither one of us was irritable. We were having a productive conversation about what I wanted to do with my life. One attribute to my lousy ATAR is probably my memory - so I probably can't recite exactly what he said to me over 9 months ago, but it went something like this. "Ever since I've known you, you've had a genuine interest in helping others. Why don't you consider studying Medicine?" Between me and the beautiful stranger behind the screen reading this, at the time, I almost took it as an insult.
Now the thought is almost comical. "How dare he suggest I push my limits and find my passion?" Ha.
I apologise for the essay, so I'll try to wrap it up. If you've read this far, please continue - your input could literally change my life.
Anyways, (okay scratch that, this might go on a while, seriously - either skip to the end for the TLDR... or don't, I'll never know) my Med friend and I were having a discussion on the effects of saturated fat and cholesterol on our coronary arteries. Does it cause heart disease? Is there really a positive association, and if so - why is there such conflicting data in the medical literature?
Studies interested me. I loved learning about the human body. Two years ago, I was in the chess-club, pretending to study Economics at lunch. Today, I was reading peer-reviewed studies about human heath for the sole reason of 'I enjoyed it.'
The idea was brought up again. "You know, once you study Medicine - you could create your own studies. Recruit your own healthy population, design your own study models and publish what you find. You could travel internationally to present your results and could quite possibly save millions of lives." There wasn't the faintest stutter in his voice. He had rehearsed this. It confirmed a thought, he truly wanted the best for me. And he had given this plenty of thought on my behalf.
(I really hope there isn't a word-count on this thread, that would be anti-climactic).
Prior to this conversation, I applied to become a volunteer at an aged-care facility specialising in dementia. (I start this Thursday!)
The steps necessary to study Medicine at WSU; obtain the minimum of a 5.5 GPA, smash the UMAT, ace the interview. My ATAR holds no weight. (F**k yeah!)
My friend stated quite eloquently over a text late Saturday night, he said - "Are you going to let the world continue doing what you hate most [suffering], or are you give it your best to try and stop it?"
Following that question, I asked myself one - 'Am I brave enough to give it my best shot?'
UMAT Preparation; he told me he had enough UMAT resources where it was 'humanly impossible' to complete them all, even if I started today.
I want this now. More than anything. It now serves as my motivation. I want to study Medicine with the sole purpose of making decisions to save lives. I want to give people a new lease on life. This is my purpose and I want to set myself up for success, despite my history, despite the odds. Please help me.
TL;DR - Okay so! I got a Med best friend, strongly encouraged me to pursue studying Medicine. He has all the resources necessary. I want to set myself up for success in the 2019 UMAT. What should be my plan of attack?
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