Hello Everyone!
This is my very first post! I have been a long time reader and have learned a lot by researching this forum. I have just taken the GRE and am beginning to apply. My first deadlines come up Dec. 1st and so I am in definite crunch time. I have written a draft of my SOP, and have edited it quite a bit. However, I cannot get it down to the recommended "500-1000" words for a SOP. Currently I have 1220. I will be applying for a PhD program in the biological sciences with focusing on Complement and it's impact on regenerative and reproductive medicine. I need help!
Any criticism or suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!
Imagine a hot and humid afternoon in downtown Cabanatuan City in the Philippines. My cousin and I were on our way back from a grocery trip when we saw a chaotic mob of people outside of a local clinic. We asked what the commotion was about, and a woman told us that the clinic had just informed them they would no longer be administering Typhoid Vaccine because it was left out too long at room temperature and was no longer guaranteed to be efficacious. This was beside the fact that the vaccine cost some an entire month’s salary. The experience I had that afternoon in the Philippines encompassed a saying I play over and over in my mind. It was Poul Anderson who said, “I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you look at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated.” The ideal conveyed by his statement provides some of the foundation that compels me to make a difference through research. Any problem, no matter how large or small can be solved if you garner the right perspective and remain diligent. With this guiding principal, I see no reason why I cannot positively impact the lives of others through research.
Having an impact on the lives of others was instilled at a very young age. My father, an African American, and my mother, Filipino, showed me that achieving a goal does not always come easy, but through hard work and sacrifice anything is possible. Because of their dedication, my Father is now a successful trauma surgeon and Dean of a Medical School and my mother is the Head Nurse at a non-profit Hospital. With the example they set for me, I knew that no matter how I wanted to do it, I too could make a significant impact on the lives of others. But even with the support to take any path, it was science and medicine that was the backdrop to make my impact. Even as a child, while my friends were playing whiffle ball on our street, I was sitting next to my Father as he put slide shows together for presentations on Bariatric surgery. And while my friends went to the pool for the day, I was with my Mother as she read about how Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) were going to be implemented at her hospital, allowing for patients to receive more efficient care. The experiences I had back then showed me that science could facilitate my contribution.
By the time of my experience in the Philippines, I was already confident that I wanted to pursue a career in research. My passion for science evolved into a desire for research when I started becoming fascinated by the symbiotic relationships our body maintains in order to function. In terms of the Complement System, the area I study currently, this especially holds true. For instance, the difference between a healthy individual and a person with Lyme Disease can be attributed to a slightly higher level of one component, such as C4 anaphylatoxin or lacking charge on an amino acid in a regulatory protein such as Factor H can cause Macular Degenerative Syndrome. Similarly, I maintained a constant balance during my research in the Masters of Science in Integrative Biology Program at the University of Illinois. It was here where I started to learn how research was much more than technical; it was also a type of cooperative relationship. For instance, the process that finally led to our whole-mount staining technique required months of constant redrafts and adjustments. We had to balance the raw technique previously used to stain whole embryos with the ability to use it on regenerating limbs. We had to balance our experimental goals with how it would apply to the real world. You can imagine the frustration when things do not go your way, but I was steadfast and dedicated and that allowed us to be successful. I realized that balance is critical to allow research to impact lives, and this consequently put me on a slightly different path.
After graduation, I decided that I would take time to gain more practical experience in science before a return to research. Until this point, I had spent my entire time in academia, but I realized this was only part of the puzzle. My new goal in the short-term was to combine my academic research experience with the chance to learn what it takes to move an idea from the lab bench to a hospital or a diagnostic testing center. I initially got a glimpse into where the lab bench ends and the patient begins during my time at Carle Hospital in Reproductive Medicine. There I was able to add the beginnings of a clinical and practical aspect to my future research aspirations. I would see the struggle couples had to go through in order to conceive. I wanted so badly to do something about it. I wanted to give them a chance to start a family, but the existing advances in infertility made that, not only expensive, but also arduous and far from guaranteed. My time at Carle exhibited the intimate connection between academic and clinical research. It is not merely experiments or results; it is also a tremendous way to have a first-hand impact on the lives of others.
Soon after, I was lucky enough to be involved with both at National Jewish Health, a long-heralded Respiratory Hospital in Denver, CO. I was able to work with Dr. Patsy Giclas and Dr. Ashely Frazel-Abel in the Complement Diagnostic Laboratory. The lab had the unique combination of not only being the Gold Standard as a reference lab for Complement testing, but also encouraged research towards innovations in Complement diagnostic testing. I could not have asked for a better environment to combine my skills as a both a researcher and a technician. I had the opportunity to develop experiments and studies, and I could also perform them myself and was given the freedom to take it from beginning to end with a laser-like focus on how it would impact the patient directly. Working in the Complement Lab gave me the practical experience I desired in terms of where research and diagnostic testing meet and how that relationship eventually leads to the best innovations in testing.
The combination of all of my experiences has led me to where I am today. I want to carve a new thinking of research. Not just resulting in new treatment and discovery, but how we can apply that to help those less fortunate, who do not have all the luxuries and opportunities to obtain novel health care. Through academic research and practical experience with Regenerative and Reproductive Medicine, Complement, and Immunology, I feel I have a strong background that will allow me to achieve that goal. Whether it be through developing a new way to facilitate better transplants or reattachment of limbs or transplantation of organs, to developing markers or diagnostics that tests levels of Complement components to pinpoint the onset of labor, I want to convey to Cabanatuan City and our society as a whole the idea that, through research, areas like health care and patient treatment are a right and not a privilege; something we should all have the opportunity to obtain.