Would you want to engage in a sport that involves grabbing other sweaty men? Does anyone not? This is how wrestling generally works. This is something that my peers have said to me multiple times, and every time, I find it hilarious. More than just a sport, wrestling is a way of life. More than just hard effort and determination are things I've learned from wrestling. One of those sports where your summer body shows up in the winter and vice versa is wrestling. You must shed pounds while wrestling, wait for hours in between matches, and are unable to celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving. Wrestling is the world's toughest and most taxing sport, even though it initially seems like a horrible activity. Now, growing up with all my male cousins, my uncle peer-pressured my father into putting me into wrestling. A 50-pound girl going into 3rd grade would tackle other boys. My mom would be worried to death that I would get beat up, come home with a black eye and a bloody face, and cry that I lost every match. Yet realizing that gender doesn't matter and that I was easily beating these boys brought a smile to my face. But wrestling was so much more than that. Simply losing weight for wrestling has taught me a lot. I've discovered that you should always keep a little extra gas in the tank, no matter what. There is always a solution to the chaos in your life, therefore you must make the most of it whenever you feel depressed, lost, or hopeless. I also gained discipline and commitment through wrestling. These two qualities have demonstrated to me that I am unable to give up and that if I must accomplish something, I should give it my all. I believe that this sport has continuously taught me how to give or be given. I've learned how to devote everything I have to the people, things, and activities I love through the sport of wrestling. It has taught me to extend my generosity even when it seems impossible. I've learned through wrestling that sometimes you have to sacrifice everything to achieve your goals. A person needs to learn to give first before learning anything else. Because of the lesson of giving, the me-first culture in which we live is reversed. Giving need not involve an item either. You may contribute time, optimism, inspiration, love, support, strength, and dedication in both life and wrestling. On and off the mat, the capacity to give contributes to the greatness of oneself, of others, and of the world. I've discovered through wrestling that the little things add up. A word can be changed by changing a single letter. Gadson becomes Gadsen, or Walk becomes Talk. Taking care of the minor details will enable your ambitions and vision to materialize and be seen by people all over the world, which is the best thing you can do in life and as a wrestler. You cannot effectively grow and develop if you don't take care of the little things. Focus on the fundamentals of wrestling and life because they will help you become a better wrestler and person instead of trying to be showy.

Political movements, reform, the college application process, and medicine all have one thing in common: Collaboration, diversity, and the advancement of frontiers. In medicine, collaboration and diversity are important in advancing the healthcare and medical field because they bring a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and expertise to the table. In regards to the language barrier, diversity allows for better communication and understanding between healthcare professionals and patients. When a healthcare team includes individuals who speak the same language as their patients, it can facilitate better communication and understanding between both parties. This can lead to improved patient satisfaction, better treatment outcomes, and a higher quality of care. In my future work in the healthcare field as a surgeon, I will prioritize collaboration and diversity by actively seeking out opportunities to work with and learn from people with different backgrounds and experiences. I will also make an effort to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all team members, and work to ensure that all voices are heard and valued. One experience that stands out to me in terms of working in a collaborative setting was during my clinical rotations in high school. My passion for healthcare pushed me to enter a highly selective program in which I would go to school half day, and then do clinical rotations in the hospital the other half of the day. What started as a seemingly normal situation ended with me unknowingly saving a life. A quiet hospital floor is music to any healthcare worker's ears; it means that patients are comfortable and that nobody is screaming in pain. It was 3 pm in the labor delivery unit. An Indian female comes screaming through the door on a stretcher. In an attempt to act quickly, I asked the EMT to “tell us the name, date of birth, medical history, and any other information.” I waited with my notepad ready to relay the information to the nurse midwife. I was shocked when the response was “the patient was unresponsive.” The patient did not have an altered mental status, the patient was conscious, and the patient was responding to verbal and physical stimuli. The answer to the unresponsiveness saddened me immediately: the language barrier. All the nurses in the room scurried around to prepare for a vaginal birth. I ran up to the patient and asked her one question in her native language of Tamil: “did your last child have a c-section or a vaginal birth?” Her answer established the importance of diversity in healthcare and the need to adapt to the language barrier. Suddenly, the entire room of nurses was now preparing to transport the patient to the operating room. When the OB surgeon was removing the baby from the uterus, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby twice. Without someone who can speak Tamil present in the hospital, the baby would have died. We had to communicate effectively and coordinate our efforts to provide the best possible care for the patient. This experience taught me the value of collaboration in healthcare and the importance of bringing together a diverse team of professionals to work towards a common goal: saving innocent lives.