During my undergraduate time as a biology major, I was always surrounded by peers going into their pre-med or Ph.D. I was in the lab for most of my free time and realized that I did not want to do experiments and write papers for another five years. My friend from a pre-pharmacy club reached out to me. I attended their meeting and started to consider pursuing a career in pharmacy. It is a career that many parents like because it usually has a stable salary and generally has less interaction with the patients than nurses and doctors
A little about me…
My family immigrated to America at the end of my eighth grade. The language barrier was quite a challenge for me. Fortunately, I went to a local middle school before immigrating and adopted many study techniques there. Getting good grades was not tremendously difficult for me if I put the time into studying. I went to a public high school in L.A. for four years.
In high school, I did not know much about colleges because I was the first child in my family to go to college. I knew that I wanted a career in healthcare, so I knew that I needed to go to a good university, so I studied hard in high school and was involved outside of classes.
That was a long hike!” Penny says. “Good thing we brought a lot of water and snacks!” “Whoa! Look at how cool this place is! I can’t believe nobody lives here!” Jimmy says. “No one has lived here in hundreds of years,” Jimmy explains. “Now it’s a place to explore and learn about history!” They walk through the town center called The Agora and have a picnic 野餐. Then they go to the theater 劇院. Jimmy and Petey run through the big space. There are 1,500 seats! Their last stop of the day is at the end of a cul-de-sac. “Wow! Check out this view!” Penny says. They are at the highest point in the city.
Penny the Christmas Elf There is only one week until Christmas and the workers of the North Pole are busy, busy,busy. Santa checks his list, once and then twice, to see which boys and girls have been naughty* and nice. Santa lives in a big beautiful* log cabin with a big wooden window in the living room. The North Pole is bustling with elves* and fairies* and animals who all want this Christmas season to be the best one yet. The North Pole village is at the tiptop of the world.
If I could travel back in time to visit my young high school self (who would be studying, studying, studying, often all night long, to do well in her AP classes), I would tell her that college preparation requires more than studying. As important as understanding derivatives in calculus or the logic behind the periodic table of elements is, there is more to preparing for an American college than studying. In fact, at most top American schools, there are more applicants with very high SAT scores (say, above 1450) than there are spaces available for them.