Spanish Immersion Personal Statement

I sat down and started thinking about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and what my passions were. A few things came to mind, but I decided on a few main principles that I wanted to continue in any future career I decided to have. The first one is that I want to help people. I believe the best way to feel fulfilled in my life would be to devote it to helping others. The second principle is that I want to use Spanish in my day-to-day life. I have been in a Spanish immersion program since I was five years old, and Spanish has always been a very important part of my life. I have realized recently that it has grown into a passion that I want to pursue. To me, the best way to proceed with these two principles in mind is to go into the medical field and become a doctor. This job directly helps people every single day.

Last semester I studied abroad in Ecuador with the MSID program. This program has a focus on public health and allows you to do a public health internship. I took this opportunity to do an internship inside a hospital in a rural community in Ecuador. This experience was amazing because I got to see first-hand how doctors worked in another country and used my Spanish in a medical context. When I got home, I wanted to continue with the idea of connecting Spanish and medicine. I started volunteering as a Spanish interpreter with the St Mary's health clinics in the Twin Cities area. Within this job, I interpret medical care for individuals who only speak Spanish or do not have a high fluency in English. I am the one connection between the doctor and the patient which allows them to get medical care. The second thing I have done while being at home is I started taking an EMT course this semester to hopefully be able to have a part-time job of being an EMT who speaks