Living in today’s world, some of the most important social justice issues to me are gender equality and education. I believe that just because women are a different gender than men does not mean that they should be treated any differently and I came to this belief through witnessing just how disadvantaged a woman can be in certain fields if she is a parent. In terms of education, it is no surprise to me that the American educational system needs an upgrade. The fact that my brother was only five years old in the USSR and was already learning what Americans only start in third grade really put it in perspective. It’s been put even more into perspective for me after I became a member of my high school’s chapter of the National Honor Society and saw that kids in suburbs have a much better education compared to those in urban public schools.
Currently, I try to volunteer in my public library, local hospital, and my old high school. Back in highschool, I used to play in my school orchestra and was also a part of Project SPARC; an extracurricular activity that had five different sections where I was a manager of the medical division. I have also been a part of the Philadelphia All City High School Orchestra as a viola player. I have also volunteered with a Jewish organization that provided all types of relief to various people. At Drexel, I would also like to become a member of the orchestra, maybe become a member of a sorority, become an R.A, and also hope to get into the Drexel early assurance program for medical school. When I was in SPARC, I was the medical manager for two years and I was also a spokesperson for the actual students in the program. In music, I was the section leader for the violas, first chair in the school orchestra and fifth stand in All City. I have no qualms about taking the reins and telling people what to do as long as they themselves have no other ideas. It is because of this that I have a slightly different definition for “active citizenship” than other people.
In my opinion, to be an active citizen, one must give back to their Community. I do not mean in the traditional sense of just volunteering for the homeless or something ike that, I mean just give back. It may involve being in an orchestra comprised of local musicians, or it may involve working in a profession that serves the community such as a teacher or doctor. In my life, I try to be an active citizen in the sense that I play in a local orchestra. In terms of my career goals, I want to become a doctor. Civic engagement is a major part of the medical profession because you are constantly working with the community and treating those people. Doctors work to help the community, not for their own purpose and for people that are just going into medical school, it really helps to show that you have had direct patient contact prior to applying; it shows the admission staff that you really are dedicated to becoming a doctor and helping the community. While I do not consider myself at all skilled to work in the medical field right now, I do think that I possess some skills that may be of an advantage. I am bilingual in Russian and English and can help translate infomation. I can also entertain people because I can play both the viola and the piano to a degree. In terms of further career goals, as I mentioned I want to become a doctor, but not just any doctor; I want to become a trauma surgeon. This is not really important to so much as it is something that I know will be interesting for me; I need that adrenaline. As for my greatest accomplishment, I just want to be able to save as many people as possible, without causing them any detrimental effects.
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In real life, there are a few people that I consider my “hero” but there are more fictional characters that I can recall who bring justice to the term citizen and civic engagement. The most prominent characters are William Darcy from Pride and Prejudice and the Doctor from Doctor Who. I consider William Darcy as my type of citizen because while he belongs to the upper class, he does good to the community and does not really discriminate, in the end. He has his own faults but he overcomes them and even though Lydia Bennet has nothing to do directly with him, he still helps her out because she is the sister of someone he loves. He also pays off George Wickham’s debts because he realizes that if he does not, the society will be even worse off. The Doctor is even more of a civically engaged person because he helps not only his community but the entire world and galaxy. He constantly saves the Earth and has no prejudice about saving people that are not even closely related to him. So basically, both of these people share the common traits of being good people, unprejudiced, smart, and assertive. They have no problem doing something that will hurt one small part of humanity if it helps a bigger part, and that is why I consider them as the epitome of good and civically engaged citizens.
