I am an ambitious, hard working student who works hard to achieve the goals that I want to achieve in life, a key quality of an honors student. I am also a person who loves to read, travel, and paint in my free time and loves to be outdoors. I am a person who loves to show empathy to other people, and help them in their time of need. I am a person who is strongly motivated by my goals and my values, and use them to guide every step that I take towards my future.

Reflection:

In this statement, I talk a lot about want I want to do to become the best version of myself. I believe that these characteristics and these activities can help me not only become the best version of myself, but also help me reach my career aspirations and goals because they help keep me accountable for my work and effort. Being empathetic and having a growth mindset are both essential for healthcare professionals. It is necessary because it helps the professional communicate effectively with a patient. Even outside of this profession, these characteristics and activities are important to me because it helps me help my community as well.

Since the beginning of my college journey, I have lived through many experiences that have solidified by values and interests. I have learned that I am someone who is very curious and reflective of all my expereinces. I use my experiences to help other people, either by using them to practice empathy or to simply show up for people and things that I care about. 

In a professional setting, I have learned that I view challenges as an opportunity for growth and leadership. My skills within research, technical skills and confidence have greatly expanded, and I am not able to collaborate with multiple departments on any topic or discipline. 

Additionally, I am very motivated by impact, and I also believe that growth is something that does not happen overnight. I am someone who expects great things from myself, which is why I can also be very hard on myself. However, as a soon to be graduate, I am confident that my commitment and passion for serving my community will help me realize that my skills and talents make a real impact on people.

After reading my ‘I am’ statement from the beginning of the semester, I believe that I still stand for everything that I mentioned within my previous statement. However, I believe that there is more to the statement that could be added. I previously mentioned that I am an ambitious student who works hard to achieve my goals, and that I am very motivated to pursue them. Though I still believe that I am motivated to reach these goals, I also aspire to develop myself as a full-rounded honors student as well. I believe there are three different ways that I want to reach this goal.

In a professional context, I want to become a physician. Though I do not know what specialty I want to focus on, I know that I want to help impoverished and neglected communities. I have learned, researched, and seen many communities struggling to survive with negligible healthcare. Becoming a physician who helped these communities would offer be the chance to practice the empathy that I strive to exhibit. Being an honors student, I see anticipated growth towards this goal, as I believe that there are many professional opportunities that can help me get closer to this goal.

I want to be an empathetic and compassionate person who helps individuals regardless of their struggles. Empathy and compassion are one of my core values, and so I aspire to exhibit these very same qualities. Empathy creates trust and communication, both things that are essential within the development of personal relationships, in a professional context, and for the sake of being a good person. I believe that as an honors student, I can develop this quality through my volunteer work throughout my community.

I also want to improve my growth mindset. Occasionally, I find myself viewing certain situations with a very fixed mindset, such as my performance in class, or with feedback. I want to approach situations with the thought process that though a task might be hard currently, it will get easier with practice. Though I am working on improving my mindset, it is a very slow process. As an honors student, I am presented with many opportunities to face my fixed mindset through the rigor of my classes and campus engagement.

As such, currently, I see myself as a very ambitious individual. However, I do not see myself as a fully rounded quite yet. I want to become fully rounded by practicing empathy and compassion, improving my growth mindset, and by reaching my professional goal of becoming a physician. Through continuous dedication, passion, and the opportunities to reach these goals as an honors student, I am sure that I can achieve these goals!

After nearly graduating at the end of this semester, I have learned who exactly I want to be. I want to become a physician who combines everything I have learned throughout my college journey, whether it be through my academics or my personal values, to help the underserved community. Through my volunteer experiences, I have learned just how far systematic barriers can limit access to healthcare. As such, I want to be someone people can trust to understand the factors that shape their healthcare, and use that understanding to advocate for more equitable care.

I also want to be someone who continues to practice empathy, without affecting my personal wellbeing. In this way, I want to make sure that I am also prioritizing myself, and not ignoring my own needs. Empathy is something that requires listening and patience for everyone, including yourself. 

Lastly, I want to be someone who focuses on impact within my community. I remember once viewing challenges and feedback with hesitation and discomfort. However, since the beginning of my college journey, I am learning to approach them as opportunities for improve myself, rather than limitations. I