I have not done as much as I could have done when it comes to extracurricular activities; when it comes to volunteer work it is a different story. During my freshman and sophomore year I volunteered at A.G. Holley state Hospital. This was a great experience for me. Being able to amerce myself in the medical field was an incredible opportunity that I am quite grateful for. During my time there I saw many aspects of medicine. During my first year I was mostly helping patients to feel better by doing activities with them, reading, talking to them, and many more things. Helping the patients showed me how to be a compassionate person in order to work in medicine. As time passed I was able to see the more clinical aspect of the field. I was involved in doing paperwork to get a feel for the aspect of laws, regulations, and rules. I never thought so much paper work was needed but boy was I wrong. Yes this part slightly turned me away from the pursuit of my career but I was able to see that everything needs regulations. Besides that the paperwork is great record keeping. Many people have conditions that need to be kept track of and without paperwork they would not be able to know if they are improving or declining. After this I was more involved with the doctors. During this time I was able to sit in during patient conferences to discuss the wellbeing of the patient. This was quite thrilling to me in that I got to see the medicine at work. I heard all the technical terms, saw the procedures done such as x-rays and I was able to interact with the patient to get further knowledge about their condition. This was probably some of the best times I had during the summers I volunteered. Sadly the hospital closed down my junior year and I was no longer able to volunteer at that location. Besides volunteering I have learned a lot from my family. My family has had financial struggles for as long as I can remember. It got even worse when my baby sister was born into the family. It became a struggle because both my parents started working extra jobs. While they were out working I was in charge of taking care of my sister and the house chores. At first this was over whelming but after 4 years of practice I have finally have gotten the hang of how to manage school and all my house work. This has definitely taught me time management, how to take care of a house, and how to be a mother. It has been stressful but in the long run I think it has been for the better that I went through it. I have had some lovely experiences and some hard times but in the end I think that everything that has happened to me has been for the best and I have learn so much from each and every opportunity I have faced.