Why? This is my why. by Sophia

Why? This is my why. by Sophia - August 2025 Scholarship Essay

A pediatric physician assistant. This title, is what pushes me everyday. I come from a middle class household, but with my mom being in and out of the hospital, my father deceased, my step father being the only income to 4 children (one being a child of divorce so paying thousands of dollars a month) I didn’t have the opportunity to grow up in sports or even get the right medical attention I needed. To achieve my goal of becoming a pediatric physician assistant, I plan to focus on on majoring in health science at FGCU. I will seek out opportunities to gain clinical experience, such as volunteering in hospitals or shadowing physician assistants, to understand the daily realities of the profession. But why? My why is because we never got to have the right the medical attention, doctors who wouldn’t advocate for children. My sister almost died. We saw her hair falling off, her energy decreasing, weight decreasing. All the signs were there. But no doctor could diagnose her with Hashimoto’s Thyroidism. That one doctor that advocated for her changed her course of life. He saved her life, and changed mine as well. This is my why. This is my inspiration. Additionally I plan to continue coaching competitive cheerleading. There is not a lot of opportunity here in SWFL for cheerleading, so I would like to expand this and give more opportunities to kids who want to have this experience and not have to long for this big dream like I had to. These two roles may seem distinct, but they both revolve around my passion for helping others especially children. Making every childhood be the best it can be.