How to write a winning scholarship essay - Gen Tanabe, Kelly Tanabe 2018

Your career & future questions
Real interview questions & answers

Q: why do you want to enter this career?

a: I want to be a journalist because I want people to react to my writing. Whether I am uncovering an injustice or celebrating a hero, I want to invoke readers to respond. I recently wrote an article on ethnic barriers on our college’s campus—how students tend to socialize with others of the same ethnic background. That series of articles sparked a huge controversy on campus. The minority clubs asked me to be on a panel discussion on the topic. Over 300 students came. There were a lot of tense moments, but I think they were necessary. My article made people think about a tough subject.

a: It might sound like a cliché to say that I want to become a doctor because of a television show, but for me it’s true. I became inspired after watching “ER.” I know that the show is a fictionalized drama with the purpose of entertaining and that it is as much about the personal lives of the doctors as the medicine that they practice. But what inspires me is seeing the characters act selflessly for the good of their patients.

It’s heartening to see that even though people see medical care as impersonal and bureaucratic, these characters give a human and humane face to the field. That’s a trait that I think is important and that I want to carry with me when I become a doctor.