Essay for scholarship

Additional essay for scholarship:

(1) Describe your academic, career, and life goals. How will your academic program at Lane help you meet your goals?

My academic and career goal in America is to continue getting good grades in school and to become a nurse manager or a nursing instructor in the future; Using my cultural and language background to serve the nursing profession in the US.

I was born in China, and lived there for 38 years. I worked as a pediatrician there for 18 years. I understand Chinese culture and healthcare system well. I have been here in the US for 6 years now. I want to learn more about the American healthcare system and more about American culture. I am also fluent in both English and Chinese and willing to use my language skills to serve patients.

My personal goal is to start an English Language Nursing School in China to help the global shortage of the nursing professionals.

Studying in LCC nursing program definitely helps me to meet my goals. The LCC nursing program will help me to get my RN license. After graduating from LCC, I will continue working on my bachelor’s and master’s degrees so that I can teach in a nursing educational program. Also, I will strengthen my leadership skills in order to become a nurse manager in the clinical setting.

(2) How have you demonstrated leadership? (e.g., family, community, church, class projects, paid or volunteer employment).

When I was in Medical School in China, I was a leader of my class that contained 45 students. I was in charge of all the class activities for instance art performance, sports, and academic posters. It was a challenge to find enough time, but I enjoyed it. So I served as a president of the class for 3 years.

When I worked in Nanyang city’s hospital, I was a research leader in the pediatrics department. During the 15 years I worked there, I designed 11 research projects. I was a manager of a boarding school clinic during 1996-1999. I actually established the clinic and ran it for 3 years. I always got a bonus since there were no disease outbreaks, a low injury rate, and low cost and satisfied students.

I still like to do research. I have done some research of Ketogenic Diet in the treatment of pediatric epilepsy and wrote a report in both Chinese and English. I also organized a little group of Chinese to help each other. We meet few times a year to exchange information and help the people who need it. I will keep doing that for the rest of my life.

(3) What significant life challenges have you faced, and how did you handle them?
As a new immigrant, the most significant challenge in my life was trying to find a job in a country where the language is completely different from my native one. That is why I am still trying my best to help other new immigrants to find a job here in the US.

When I first came to the US, I spoke very little English. I even didn’t know how to shop in a grocery store, how to order food in restaurant, and how to use public transportation. I needed to find a job to feed myself.

To find a job, the first thing is to have a nice resume. With the help of my dictionary and the sample resume in the computer program, I composed one. Second, I needed to find the job opening in the paper. It took me a whole day to read the few pages of the paper and find some jobs I thought I could apply for. Because of the language barrier, I had to go to place by place to apply in person that was easier for me to communicate with them.

As an experienced medical doctor, I thought I could do lots of things in medical field. But after I failed many times on the job-hunting, I realized that without good English language skill and proper credentials in the US, there is almost no job that I could get.

Then I decided to go to college to study English and at the same time worked as a volunteer in the American Red Cross, while still trying to find a paid job for living. As my language improved, I found my first job as a support staff in a community service helping people with disabilities. It was completely different from the job I was doing in China, but it sure helped me to stand on my feet. I appreciate the opportunity and did my best on the job.

With the improving of my English skills, I have tried to go back to medical field. I worked as a phlebotomist, a medical assistant, and an ECG technician. And now I am in nursing school. I believe that if I work and study hard, in a dynamic country like the United States, I will have much more opportunities in the medical field and provide my best services to patients in the society.