[Prompt & Essay]
Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.
My sister was distraught - sobbing beside me, she asked over and over to see our parents.
I did my best to console her after we moved 7,000 miles from home with our parents in [state] to live with our grandparents in [country]. Starting 4th grade with a new curriculum, I found myself behind, but when my sister came into my room gasping between tears, it broke my 8-year-old heart. Putting her welfare ahead of mine, I stepped up, helping her with classwork and ensuring she did not feel alone whilst barely navigating my own education. Over the next few years, we lived in multiple places in [country], Abu Dhabi, and America. I adjusted to constantly changing environments while also helping my growing siblings. When we moved back to the US, I proactively stepped up as a second parent, filling in for my dad when he went abroad during my first two years of high school, then for my mom, who went abroad when my dad returned. Over the years, my responsibilities evolved from improving their handwriting to teaching swimming and preparing them for math tests. At the time, I did not realize I was cultivating leadership abilities. Looking back, I see that this experience helped me learn to guide others while juggling my own obligations.
In 11th grade, I became a Link Leader to help freshman transition to high school - it came naturally to me. Years of helping my siblings led me to be more in touch with peoples' struggles, and I had developed a sense of responsibility to take care of my friends and family and intuit when something is wrong. Giving a tour to freshmen, explaining all the programs our school had to offer, reminded me of guiding my sister through unfamiliar territory in Pakistan. Dealing with these challenges in the moment was difficult, But through these obstacles, I've developed independence and become a leader. As I set out on my own for university, I will translate these skills to yet another adventure.
Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
Frantically mixing shades of orange, red, and blue, it was my fifth attempt replicating a dried green shade for a meadow. In my decade of painting, I've come to learn that painting begins with the deepest layer and gradually works toward the surface. With acrylics, I can layer as much as I want. One would assume that painting a stream surrounded by meadow would only require shades of blue. But to make the stream appear as if the sun is glistening upon the water, I start with a yellow-white mix. Then, I use a mixture of purple, black, and light blue to emphasize the depth of the water. Finally, I blend shades of blue down the canvas creating the illusion of the stream going deeper as it descends.
While learning to paint, I endured bouts of cystic acne, ultimately leading to my interest in dermatology. At first, the two ideas felt disconnected until I realized the importance of "layers" in both. Acne appears to be a surface-layer problem, but actually permeates systems beyond the surface. My genetics and hormones have made me more susceptible to acne, and my lifestyle contributes to it. There are layers to improving my skin, and if I don't adhere to each of these layers I develop a burst of acne and self-consciously avoid mirrors for weeks.
Likewise, if I don't add yellow to the background of the stream, the painting wouldn't have a glowing aura to it. The tiny details in both painting and skincare come to make the finished product. Both painting and dermatology bring layers to my life. Painting is an escape from daily life, being a constant during times of change. While painting is my safe haven, acne is an ongoing struggle of understanding. Through my experience with acne, I've grown passionate about dermatology and, in the future, hope to be able to relate to and help other teens affected by cystic acne as a dermatologist. Whether it be in art or biology, the world is essentially layered to the core with elements that make the finished product.
What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
I entered the National Institute for Handicapped in Islamabad with my aunt, feeling overwhelmed at the sight of many people scattered on the sides of the entrance in the scorching summer heat with physical disabilities such as amputated body parts and tumors. Frightened, I asked my aunt why they were outside not receiving medical treatment. She explained it was because they couldn't afford it. At seven I didn't understand the underlying disparities causing this. Several years later, the summer after my sophomore year, I again visited Pakistan. I remembered my experience at the hospital and decided to volunteer there. I was assigned as a helper in the physical department, where my heart broke as I saw children crippled by polio. I'd assumed polio had been eradicated globally but then learned that Pakistan is one of the three countries that has not eliminated it due to a lack of environmental vigilance and inadequate vaccine access.
Seeing the devastating consequences of not having an adequate healthcare system showed me the social determinants of health in physical health outcomes. Though polio is eradicated here, the US still has a deeply flawed public health system. This motivated me to join Hands4Hope, where I helped outreach to the homeless community in [city]. We first fundraised for toiletries, clothing, and food then donated it to a shelter. Giving shampoo and blankets wasn't going to make a huge difference, but I've learned change starts with small impacts; people's everyday needs don't disappear while they wait for systemic change. This highlighted the similar issues both the US and Pakistan share, such as homelessness and treatment access disparities due to governmental failures.
While I want to pursue medicine as my career, my experiences in both Pakistan and the U.S have taught me that science isn't all there is to healthcare, especially on a national scale. Moving forward, I want to continue learning how to apply an interdisciplinary approach to public health solutions, one valuing both biology and sociology. There's no better place for me to start this journey than at a UC.