Melanie

Self Consciousness

Some students are blocked by self consciousness. They worry about the finished product - that it will be subpar, reveal their writing and grammatical flaws, and will make it clear to the admissions committee that they are not graduate school material. This nagging sense of self consciousness and worry that your essay will reveal you to be a fraud is known as the imposter syndrome. The impostor syndrome, feeling that one is an impostor, not the competent individual one claims to be, is very common among students and professionals. How do you fight the impostor syndrome? Remind yourself of your successes, that you have earned the right to apply to gradate school and have the skills to succeed. Make a list of all of your skills, accomplishments, and successes. Brainstorm - don't evaluate, just list them. The resulting list will help you to see that you're accomplished and that you belong in graduate school. Being able to throw your graduation cap into the air after your high school graduation is one of the happiest and proudest moments in a person's life. After that graduation though, the happiness and joy can quickly fade away into fear and uncertainty if you have not yet already made some decisions about your future. It seems like there are so many choices these days. You can go to college and then start your career, find a career that doesn’t require a college education and start right away, take time off and do as you please, or practically anything else you want. Personally, I know that I do not want to be faced with those fears and choices after my graduation so I have already decided what I plan to do in my post-high school years.

First, I plan to attend college in the fall after my senior year at a major university where I plan to major in medicine. I have been involved with medicine since I was in the eight grade and I have enjoyed every minute of helping people in need. Also, my grades in biology and sciences range from A to B so I...