Mary Patterson

Personal Statement

Becoming a scientist has always been my life’s path. I dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, a law student/environmental activist, and a marine biologist. I wanted a job where I could spend my days outside, on a boat, with my dog. With my dream in mind, I set out and applied for college to obtain my Associate in Arts Degree.

Fast-forward, six years later, and I finally received my degree. The mailman had dropped it off, concealed in a cardboard box, in the middle of a hurricane. I will never forget the day it came in the mail. Today, it hangs on my wall, framed, and still a little wrinkled from the wet weather.

I learned a lot while obtaining my Associates degree but most importantly, I learned that six years can have a profound affect on a person’s life. I did a lot of growing up and maturing during those six years and just as I believed then, I still believe now, that taking all that time to complete my degree was exactly what I needed.

I have always known that my career or path in life would include helping others, animals, or protecting the environment. My mother always instilled in my sister and I the strength and peacefulness of Mother Nature. She is a nurse, and I am quite aware that the tendency to put others before myself comes directly from her. Every day after school was spent listening to my mother tell us about her day at work; the patients she encountered, the people she helped, the lives she touched. I also listened to the stories about mistakes, errors, and heartbreaking decisions that families had to make.

There comes a point in everyone’s lives where they find themselves having to make tough decisions. Whether it involves a family member or not, usually the hardest decisions a person has to make are those regarding a loved one. I have experience in making these same types of decisions about my father when I was only 15 years old. I understand the sadness and difficulty families must endure when making end of life choices. Having to go through sadness and recovery for my father actually helped me develop a strong ability to sense others pain and their happiness.

The ability to experience such empathy for others has really shaped my life and my values. The more I learned about what empathy is and the more I learned about the different personalities of people through school, the greater my sense became for wanting to help others in any form possible.

My quests for protecting nature and the environment are still as lively as they were before I began my college courses however I realize that I have a larger part in this world. Whether I work hard to sell a product that I believe will help a person live their lives easier or I help console a person during tough times, I will always feel that I am doing what my life was intended for.

My journey in life is to succeed in helping those around me in a nonjudgmental way and even maybe connect on a spiritual level as well. I believe that my path in life has been paved to provide support, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of others.