Crisis Counselor Self Report

Throughout my life I have been a strong proponent of service to the poor, and my motivation to be in the medical field has come from the fulfillment of giving back. The impoverished have always been a segment of the community that have been neglected but in need of the greatest amount of care and compassion. During my undergraduate career I majored in Health Services and was involved in a service learning research project where I spent time in the McAuley Health Center Clinic in the metro Detroit area. I worked to promote and educate the community on free healthcare resources and preventative care services, food drives, and donations.

Growing up in a spiritual black home, the topics of sexuality and gender are barely discussed, and if the book that my mom bought me when she couldn’t find the words to teach me about sex herself say anything, then it’s easy to see how I was sheltered from most things as a child. Despite having sex ed in middle school, I still didn’t know much about anything outside of those very awkward and giggle filled health classes. It wasn’t until my best friend pulled me aside after class into the bathroom and whispered in my ear that she was gay, that it’d even cross my mind that maybe I wasn’t as straight as I thought. Even then her coming out to me was an awkward. Picture this, two young girls awkwardly staring at each other in a dirty middle school

Living in a small, conservative town in rural Illinois, I knew there would be many people opposed to my decision to simply exist as I would. However, I knew I couldn’t internalize this. My sexuality was like some sort of horror

I was born in a refugee camp in Kenya to escape war-torn Somalia. I was then raised in Atlanta, and will complete school in Madison. I’m the 7th daughter in my father 's line, the 8th in my mother 's line, and the 1st in my family to attend a University. My involvement in the Legal Studies and Criminal Justice fields allow me to understand the social and legal factors placed on our health care system. My African American background, my role as a 1st generation college student, my Somali culture, and my identity as a Muslim, have all contributed to the person I am today, and to the doctor I will become. Because I’m a linguaphile I casted away my comfort zone and immersed myself in a new culture, language, and land for three weeks and explored my foreign language studies in Deutschland. I’m an avid gym goer since high school, when I set a record in my weight training class. I consider myself an extreme foodie, and I’ve traveled to far places solely to try out new cuisines. My interests in social justice marked my college years with protests and causes I partook in, due to my passions in furthering equality and justice. I have considered a law career, but ruled it out because I desired a career in medicine too fiercely to ever walk away from it. I also understand that I face challenges in obtaining an acceptance, but I am hoping that the mistakes of my past do not cost me my future.

My whole life has been fairly homogenous. Most people around me have families similar to mine, and diversity at my school always meant the two kids of color in every class. In theory, most people are accepting, but underneath the surface lies a deeply uncomfortable feeling towards anyone considered different. As I grew up, I realized why I felt so alienated from my community. My sexual orientation conflicted with the messages I had received my whole life. I felt so vastly different than everyone around me, it was as if I were a different species, slurs and ignorant comments greatly affected my self-worth.

As I grew up I started to notice I wasn't like other girls in my grade. I wasn't having crushes on boys and I didn't understand why I had feelings for girls. It was terrifying being different. It was at a age when the goal was to look exactly like a carbon copy of other kids, being different was not something anyone embraced it was something that was frowned at. I pretended to look at the boys that were supposedly cute and I fawned over Zac Efron and Daniel Radcliffe; I acted as any straight teenager would. When I went home however I would sit in my room on the floor in tears crying because I was so upset that I couldn't be myself. If you were look at my search history at the time you would have seen pages of hundreds of LGTBQ+ activists come up

I was young when I began to question my sexuality. All my life I grew up around a supporting family who told me it was okay to be whoever I wanted whether that was sporty or nerdy, shy or outgoing, straight or gay. I went to sunday school and had great grades, I even played the piano. But something started to change my behavior, I felt ashamed for being who I was. I stopped going to sunday school and couldn’t focus on piano anymore. I knew I liked girls and

The type of questions a counselor can approach Carl about in regards to eliminating or confirming criteria of the suspected diagnosis would be:

Along with my concentration in Biology and French, my involvement with the Francophone community, as the President of the Francophone Club, will prepare me for the study of medicine and also help me work with the Francophone community. Over the years, I have developed this passion to work with French-speaking individuals. Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine will give me the opportunity to practice medicine within West African and French Canadian communities in Detroit and the surrounding communities. I am committed to improving and addressing the need of this underserved community. Moreover, I have volunteered extensively in my undergraduate years with underserved African-American and Hispanic minorities. I am greatly devoted

I ultimately aim to obtain a Biology degree and become a Physical Therapist. I hope to dispel the myth that many of my classmates have that people of color are only successful playing sports. There are a lot of students like me who play sports and get so lost in this dream of becoming a professional athlete, that they forget about the most important thing, and that’s education. I believe that the biggest issue within the science field today is the lack of African Americans entering into the field. African-Americans have one of the lowest numbers of medical school enrollments and I aim to shed light on the importance behind increasing this number. Underrepresented minorities are more likely to go back and serve in their communities. This means more physicians are treating populations that are traditionally undeserved. An increase of minorities in this field will also increase the amount of cultural understanding and ultimately bring a sense of comfort to

As a child I would run throughout the house doctoring up my mother with band aids, my brother with an ace bandage and my father with a painless shot. After several years of providing ‘medical care’ to my family, my childhood dream became a goal. From this point forward, my father posed the question: “where do you wish to attend college to attain your goal?” and my aspirations began to take shape. Knowing that The University of Oklahoma had an extraordinary medical program, I strived to better myself in order to achieve my childhood aspirations. Since these early days of youthful hopes, my identity is found in my dedication to become a

As a freshman in high school, almost every aspect of my life was changing - my social circles, my hormones, my spirituality, among others -- as I explored who I was and who I wanted to be. The last thing I wanted to do was challenge my beliefs. However, the realization of my homosexuality, more than anything, turned my once secure sense of self upside down. The more I realized being gay was a part of me, the more I kept it to myself. I suddenly realized that I was in the middle of a vicious internal conflict with what I knew was an inevitable decision: accepting myself or burying myself in debilitating denial and having to build a mask to hide my true self. Fear of being ostracized kept my mind in constant doubt, even as my own freedom was

On the Caltech campus, as an upper class counselor (UCC) and health advocate, I have been involved in mentoring the underclassmen and being a health resource for the community. I have experienced what it is like to be confronted with difficult personal and academic situations and have learned how to calmly and diligently support these students. As a certified Red Cross first responder, through my health advocate training, I have already begun to emulate the care and treatments I had seen shadowing at the hospital. In my role as a UCC, I have received certified mental health training to combat any personal or academic issues. These rewarding experiences have complemented my goal of pursuing a career in medicine.

I believe in providing patient-centered care and have demonstrated my capabilities through academics, volunteering, and extracurricular activities. Coming from an impoverished community as a second generation Chinese American, I have always placed utmost concerns of my friends, classmates, and peers who are enduring personal adversities. I became a mentor for new students because, as a first-generation college student, a university is a huge step that is exciting, intimidating, and perplexing with little guidance. I stepped forward to lead an organization when it was on the verge of closing and brought it to new heights as a popular and thriving organization. In one of the most rigorous classes for my degree, I studied with a classmate who was in the failing range and was able to improve his study habits and test taking skills.

Although my fifth grade classmates eventually stopped, I realized the laughs, the derogatory remarks, and the overwhelming embarrassment were effectively longstanding. As I grew from my 11 year old self, homophobia greeted me every which way I turned. My mother often harassed and interrogated me about my sexuality. My brother often beat me and called me a “faggot”. When I came home from daycare with perfectly painted pink nails, my father condemned me, severely damaging my self-esteem.