I was ten years old and about to show my parents everything I had learned over the last few days at ski camp when everything went black. I remember coming to myself and thinking, “Did I just pass out?” As my eyes slowly opened, the frenetic movement and crowd of onlookers confirmed my previous hypothesis. Once the paramedics arrived and got me into the ambulance, everyone had their own idea about the cause. But without a definitive answer, we will have to wait for the hospital to reach a conclusion. No one who entered the room could give us an explanation until an assistant guard saw me. He immediately diagnosed me with febrile seizures. He explained how the ear infection caused a rise in body temperature which led to the seizure. I don't know how to put it, I'm amazed that she was able to diagnose me so quickly and that my family and paramedics report coming to the conclusion of seizures and not passing out even when other experienced doctors made the mistake. As traumatic as the experience was, I am still grateful for it because it introduced me to the physician assistant field and ignited my passion for medicine. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Year after year, that passion continued to grow. I was invited to participate in my middle school's Future City program, a national STEM and engineering competition that challenges students to design the city of the future; after placing third we were invited to meet the president and talk to astronauts on the international space station. In high school I continued the STEM trend, taking numerous dual enrollment and advanced placement courses in math, biology, environmental science, and chemistry. In addition to academics, I also played soccer and was the captain of the lacrosse team. Through these sports, I was able to learn a variety of skills different from those taught in the classroom, including discipline, leadership, resilience and teamwork. As a result of my successes in sports and academics, I was invited to participate in my high school's Mas Scholar program and accelerated program for gifted and highly motivated students. Part of the requirement for graduation was 80 hours of internship, for which I shadowed a cardiologist. One of the days I was given the opportunity to witness an open heart surgery. Incredibly, neither the blood nor the open chest of the man in front of me deterred me and instead heightened my curiosity about the human body. From that moment on, my heart was dedicated to medicine. My interest in becoming a physician assistant was strengthened once again during my senior year of college. As my normally sleepless nights began to be accompanied by frequent trips to the bathroom, sleep apnea, and loud snoring, I knew a trip to my school's health club was in order. The medical assistant who examined me ran a series of tests and informed me that I had a sore throat. A prescription of amoxicillin and a few days of rest later I felt normal again, but then about a month later the fever started again. After another sickly visit to the spa, lab tests confirmed that the strep had returned. Repeating another course of antibiotics, the test confirmed that I had finally eliminated the bacteria from my body. Then, three weeks later, to the PA's surprise, I saw a recommended ENT and I, the annoying Strep, was back. My options were a tonsillectomy or one last try with several.