cultivating my garden essay
TRANSCRIPT
Stotler 1
Cultivating My Garden Essay
Mikayla Stotler
March 17, 2015
Mr. Gibbs
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Quotes Page
“The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.”
-Rafiki, The Lion King
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Thank you to the following for influencing me throughout the journey of my life:
1. My Mom
2. My Dad
3. Breanna
4. KT Schneider
5. Sarah Craft
6. My Dog Izzy
7. Anna Taugher
8. Gabby Quitevis
9. Maddy Kieth
10. All of My Aunts and Uncles
11. All My Past and Present Teachers
12. My Softball Coaches
13. My Soccer Coaches
14. My Band Family
15. YouTubers
16. Cousin Anna
17. Aislynn
18. Antonia
19. Grandma Bundesen
20. Grandpa Bundesen
21. Grandma Morris
22. Grandpa Morris
23. Pop Pops
24. Grammie
25. Cousin Bobby
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Table of Contents
Quotes ........................................................................................................................................................... 2
Thank you’s .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 1 ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................................................... 8
Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 5 .................................................................................................................................................... 11
Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................ 13
Table of Figures
Figure 1-Your Stomach ................................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 2-Friends ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Figure 3-Eiffel Tower ................................................................................................................................... 8
Figure 4-Stress .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Figure 5-Art ................................................................................................................................................ 12
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High School College Gastroenteologist
Introduction
So far, my life has involved doing what’s necessary to have a bright future, as well
as having fun in the process. Such as Girl Scouts, band, Sierra Service Project, etc.
However, when thinking about the future I get scared. Scared of what cause and effect the
world has in store for me, if there is a future, or if I’ll even do anything worth being proud
of. This essay involves what my goals are and how I hope to achieve the goals I set for my
life.
Chapter 1
Gastroenterology
Ever since I was little it has been
my dream to become a gastroenterologist
(a stomach doctor). Everyone thought I
was odd; you would too if you heard a
nine to ten year old pronounce a word you
never even heard before, but the only
reason I knew the word was because I had
stomach problems. I would have stomach
pains that would ach twenty-four-seven.
There was no break. My doctor could
never figure out the problem with me so I
have always dreamed of helping others
with similar problems and seeing if I
could try and figure out what was wrong
with me. I know that becoming a
gastroenterologist will not come easily,
but hopefully I will make it easier and
more obtainable by planning ahead.
First, let’s talk salary. In the article
from Salary.com, it states that, as of 2015,
the median annual salary for a
gastroenterologist is $343,680. Using this
information, it tells me that if I make the
right decisions with money, my finances
will not be an issue. This will give my
children and family a little support if they
ever are in need. Also, gastroenterologists
(depending on if they work for a hospital
or provide it for others, according to the
website, advances of becoming a doctor)
get benefits. Sometimes they even get
hospital benefits for their whole family.
Even though being a
gastroenterologist has been my dream ever
since I was little, it doesn’t mean that I
will get it automatically. That means I
have to work really hard starting as soon
as possible to get myself ready for the
long journey. To start, this summer, I will
need to go to the library and read as many
books as I can, like
Gastrointestinal
Physiology: The
Mosby Physiology
Monograph Series by
Leonard R. Johnson PhD or The Little GI
book: An Easily Digestible Guide to
Understanding Gastroenterology by
Figure 1-Your
Stomach
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Douglas Adler MD. Both these books
teach people about the gastrointestinal
tract and other information to help people
understand what gastroenterology is.
Other than reading books I’ll have
to take internships and prepare
myself with skills I’ll need to
be successful in the
gastroenterology practice. To
get an internship I’ll will
research gastroenterologists
nearby and get into contact with
them to see if any are interested
in having an intern. The
internship will help me follow
the doctor and learn the skills I
saw while I was on Cypress,
such as how they talk, listen, and
handle their patients in a professional
way. However, I do have some existing
talents such as being able to understand
someone quickly enough before
frustration occurs. Being able to
understand quickly will help me better
understand what my patients need help
with.
Another thing I need to
think about is school. In
high school I need to
balance my schedule
with some honors
classes and some regular
classes plus a full
schedule to show
commitment, that no hour
has gone to waste. Some
honors/AP classes I want
to take to prep me are
Chemistry Honors, Algebra
2 and Trigonometry Honors, and
Literature 2 Honors. Those classes are the
ones I am striving to take next school
year. They will help me be ready for the
fast pace college level. For college I will
need to go a school for medicine plus my
regular college to get a doctorate and my
license. I have two colleges I really want
to go to that have gastroenterology
divisions; Stanford and UC Davis.
However, since both those schools are
difficult to get into it would be
illogical to not put applications in
for other great schools with great
gastroenterology programs that
will benefit me on my path
towards my dream career, such as
UC San Diego.
Lastly, my backup plan.
Since gastroenterology has a
high pay and can interest many
people or I find out it is not the
career I am destined to have, there
needs to be a cushion I can fall back
on. That pillow-y fall back plan for right
now is becoming a pediatrician. Working
to help people, especially children, was
the main reason I chose to want to become
a gastroenterologist, so if I were to
become a pediatrician I would still help
people (children) just not solely with the
digestive/stomach regions. Even though I
will not be getting the same
money as I would if I were to
become a gastroenterologist,
the average amount for
pediatricians hourly is $77.60
equaling about $161,000
annually (according to
pediatrician salary), will still
be a good support for my
family to live a good life.
The career I am striving for
will take me on a long journey
throughout school and life, but I
still have to remember the little girl
playing with her Barbie’s and dressing up
as Cinderella who dreamed to become a
doctor on stomachs and not lose my way
mentally.
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Chapter 2
Family and Friends
When I think of a family and friends for
the future I think of going to family for
the holidays and keeping my friends for
long term friendships. With these
relationships, I’ll have someone to turn to
in my time of need or in times of joy.
Family has been one of the most
important things to me ever since I was
little. To me, my family will hopefully
consists of 2 kids, a husband, and
however many dogs we can
handle. Families take a lot of
work, especially marriages.
According to news.com.au, the
average length of time for couples
to stay married is 8.7 years. Since
it would be better for my children
if their parents live together
happily and not have to have a
divorce, I will need to make sure
my husband is “the one”, by
hopefully dating him for a while
before making a commitment.
That way my children will have the best
possible outcome for their futures.
Especially since theguardian.com says
that if parents get a divorce, their children
are more likely to put themselves into
harm’s way.
However,
love cannot be
determined by what
I hope and wish for,
because of this I
will not be certain if
the one that is
supposed to be with
me forever will ever
come until later in
my life. If I do not
have a husband by
at least 35 I will
start to think of adoption. I think adoption
is a good choice for people not in a
position to have kids because it helps
children whose parent(s) were not capable
of taking care of them at their time of
birth not go into foster care. I would be
honored to adopt a child even though I
have always wanted the experience of
having my own child, but to me the only
difference between adopting and
having my own child is the way
you have your child. There is no
difference in the way you should
treat or even love your kid.
Since we live in an age with
so many different ways of keeping
in contact with people, it will not
be super difficult to keep in touch
with my friends from high school
and the new friends I will make
throughout my life. With
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
Pinterest and Tumblr, keeping in
contact with people that I grow close to in
the future will be easier than say ten to
fifteen years ago. This way those lasting
friendships created will be able to last
longer than hoped. This will help me
always have someone there for me in
times of trouble as well as
good times.
Friends and family
helps give you the support
and love you need to get
through difficult times. They
show you that you do have
someone as a resource at any
time, even when you don’t
think you could go to
anyone.
Figure 2-Friends
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Chapter 3
Traveling the World
I have always dreamed about
traveling the world to see and learn
interesting new things about different
places. Some things I would like to go to
do is eat croissants under the Eiffel
Tower, eat Cecina while looking at the
Leaning Tower of Pisa, and see the
pyramids in Egypt. When I grow up, I
would be honored and grateful if the
opportunity came where I am financially
capable to travel because then I would be
able to see all the sites, eat all the
different foods, see what it’s like to be in
the different cultures of the world, and
more. To do this, however, will take a lot
of planning ahead
of time.
According to
airtreks.com, they
say that a round
trip around the
world would cost
anywhere between
$20,000 to
$30,000 for one
person. If I do
well throughout
my career this
price will
hopefully not be a
problem. This way
I will be able to
see all the sites I have always wanted to
see like the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning
Tower of Pisa or even see if 42 Wallaby
Way, Sydney, Australia really exists for
me.
However, to be able to save that
much money and not be in any debt, I
need to watch what I am spending and not
take for granted the finer things in life. To
watch what I am spending I could either
hire an accountant (according to main
street practitioner it would
cost about $68 to
around $157 an hour) or
take some classes in
college, or even high
school to learn about
money. Hopefully doing one
of those, plus maybe having a
husband that knows
a few things about
money, my plans for
traveling aren’t going to be too farfetched.
I also need to think about my kids.
To me, traveling around the world would
not be best for them. I feel that they need
one (or two if it comes to that) stable
home(s) for them to have the best chance
at happiness.
So, traveling
while they're
still living at
home is not
going to
happen. That
only leaves two possible times for my
dream of traveling to come true; before I
have kids or when I am retired and the
kids are out the house.
Most people never even have the chance
to think about traveling to the next state
over let alone a whole new country, so I
am going to try my hardest to plan sooner
than later so that this dream of mine can
become reality .
Figure 3-Eiffel Tower
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Chapter 4
Living a Healthy Life
In classes that we take on health
throughout our lives, we learn a few
things on what being healthy really
means. Most people think health only
requires you to eat good food and
exercise, but that’s not completely true.
To be fully healthy you need to think
happy thoughts as well as keeping
yourself physically healthy.
However, most people my age
struggle with that especially around big
tests, like finals.
The eating portion of health for me
has always been a struggle. I struggle to
eat lunch regularly, I don't drink water,
and when I eat snacks they are very
unhealthy to the point where it’s a
wonder why I am the size I am. I
recently have been trying to
decrease my unhealthy eating habits by
drinking water and bringing lunches when
I have a packed salad at home (most
days). When I do bring lunches I feel
obligated to eat them. According to
mainlinegi.com it says that to solve eating
problems you need to catch them ahead
and deal with them patiently. So I'll take it
slow but be as effective as possible by
trying to eat and drink at
least the recommended
amount for my age.
However, this initiative
should not stop when I grow
up and have kids of my own.
I have also struggled
with exercise. I
tend to be a bit lazy
when it comes to
either television and eating
or running and choose being
a couch potato. However, I
have been trying to do sit ups
and core exercises to keep
myself a little more
healthy when it comes to
the physical exercise portion of health, but
I would like to do more. So that's why this
summer I plan on running every morning
to keep up my physical health.
Figure 4-Stress
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Lastly, for my health, I have
always struggled with stress ever since I
was little. Stress has been the hardest
thing for me to deal with. For me, stress is
caused by anything. From the littlest
things like how people are going to like
what I’m
wearing
each day all
the way to
what will
happen to
me the next
day. It’s
what keeps
me up at
night and
sometimes
can lead to
cause me to minor-ly be depressed. No
one deserves to feel the way that my stress
makes me feel. It’s my worst enemy and it
feels as if it will never go away. It causes
me to not be open about my feelings and
make everyone think I’m fine when I
actually feel like I’m dying inside.
However, there are some ways that I can
limit the amount of stress I have. These
include deep breathing and talking. Some
activities that help are swimming and
playing my saxophone.
Living a healthy life doesn't just
involve my health it involves my family’s
as well. So I can keep my husband and
kids healthy, I will try to cook healthy,
nutritious meals each night and try to
schedule times where we go on hikes or
walks as a family. Doing this will help my
family get into a healthy routine so when
they grow up and have children of their
own they will have good healthy habits.
Some
habits
would be
being
involved
in sports,
looking at
labels on
food and
drinks so
when
know what
we are
putting
into our
bodies, or
even just
eating more fruits and vegetables than
McDonald's takeout.
Since stress has affected my life so
much, I will try to make it so that my
children will not be put into the position
of stress as a young child. Even though
stress is inevitable throughout school
careers I will try my hardest to make their
home atmosphere as stress free as
possible. With a stress free home
environment and healthy physical bodies I
hope to provide my children with healthy
lives.
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Chapter 5 Hobbies
Hobbies help people take their
mind off of a difficult day, or just to have
fun doing something they love. Some of
the hobbies I would like have would be
paragliding, knitting, drawing, swimming
in the
ocean,
or
even
continuing with my music.
Paragliding has always interested
me. Seeing those people jump off the hills
and gliding down the hillside feeling like
you're flying. That's what I want, even if
it's just for a couple minutes or even
hours, to feel like a bird for as long as I
possibly can. However, I do know that
things could go wrong and something
tragic could occur.
That's why I'll have to
do research before I go
out a do a jump. For
example, that while
paragliding it is only as
safe as you make it
(according to
eagleparagliding.com)
I had an interest
in knitting ever since I
was little and tried it out
for a little bit. I have always wanted to
make something substantial, maybe even a
work of art. Most people think of knitting
and think of little old ladies talking about
their cats or whatever has caught their eye
recently, but I want to make it fun for
everyone. Maybe make a little knitting
circle for all ages or something along
those lines. I could learn how to make
little figurines, sweaters, socks, mittens,
booties, or even traditional scarves.
I have wanted to be able to draw for a
while now. I am able to draw whatever I
am shown how to draw. However, I would
like to be able to just
draw whatever comes
to mind,
without
being
taught. I
imagine
myself sitting
on rocks drawing the
ocean with people and
their pets running around in
the water, having the time of their
lives.
I love the ocean. It has
always made me happy to
swim or even boogie boarding
on the white water. Any water
activities interest me and
make me super happy. The
ocean is a center for me. It
helps me take my mind off of
the crazy world just by
walking along it with my feet
in the cold salt water. It helps
me think of my problems or even how to
solve them.
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Music has been a place to get away
ever since I was 9. Music helps me calm
down, especially when I am stressed out
about something that happened or going to
happen. Some people that I talk to say it is
calming because you have to take big
breaths that help calm you down, but to
me it's the beauty of playing something
and listening to how the
song goes or will go calms
me. Music has a way of
controlling people. It can
make people sad,
exhilarated, happy, or
even angry. When it
comes to music, playing
my sax or even singing, it
makes me happy to see the
effect it can have on
people.
Hobbies for me
will make my life more
calm, cool, and collected.
They will help me get my stress out in
good, healthy ways. This way I will not
ruin some of the good relationships I have
with people because I got a little too
stressed and got snappy at the wrong
person. Hobbies will help me be a better,
healthier version of me.
Figure 5-Art
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