Admission Essay

By Michael Chen

 Not surprisingly, my family background has played a great role in making me the way I am now. When I was born, I became the 5th member of a family of 4 generations.  My very old great granny was over 100 years old and my granny was 70. As the only child in the family,  I have always been around with people much older than me, and I have learned my lessons from them.  I witnessed the aging process of the old and their daring courageous fight against senility and chronic illness.  As I grieved for the death of my great granny, I could‘t help being amazed by the precious life with which we are bestowed.

My experience with the old people has taught me to be mild, caring, and empathic.  I am more mature than people of my age.  I seldom become upset even though things do not go as I want them to be.  I am friendly, easy-going and like to mingle and enjoy company very much. With a clear idea of what I want to achieve in the future, I always act cautiously.  Even at an early age, I learned to take the responsibility of taking care of my old grannies. I am conscientious and have an earnest attitude toward the tasks I undertake. However, I am a bit self-conscious, so I get nervous when I am the center of attention.

I  believe that one way of making life meaningful is to utilize one‘s abilities to the fullest to help others who are less fortunate.  In my case,  I have always maintained a high level of interest in biology and physics; and consequently, achieved higher standards in these subjects.  That is why I have decided to enter the medical profession in which I can best make use of my strengths.

As John Keat says, “health is my expected heaven.”.  Health is the basis on which everybody builds their life.  If I can enter the medical profession, I‘ll  try my level best to provide this good foundation for others.  Serving people who are unfortunate in illness, and bringing them to heaven is my greatest aspiration of life.  I expect myself to study hard in the medical school as I want to prepare myself well  for the future challenge. And I will pursue my goal full of passion and enthusiasm.

Another aspiration in line for me is to contribute to the community, no matter where I live.  As a Chinese immigrant here in New Zealand, I feel I‘m impelled to enhance the understanding between the New Zealanders and the Chinese. During the past two years of living in Auckland, I have found racial tensions are getting high because of the lack of communication between the two ethnic groups.  I strongly believe that the interaction between different cultures will result in harmony of all humanity. The Asian community needs to reach out to the local society and hopefully we as second generation immigrants can help bridge the gap.

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