This time last year, I thought it was going to be a crucial point in my life. In hindsight, I was just another regular senior high-school student, full of ambition and dreams, confronting the uncertainties I was facing. Today, I find myself at that same spot I was a year ago, applying for Universities and once again trying to determine my future. A situation that in my culture might be regarded as negative; however, I completely disagree and refute such stereotype. This year that has provided me with unquantifiable life lessons and a fuller understanding of myself. As my father would continuously tell me, “everybody matures eventually, but it is not a natural process just by becoming older.” This past year I came to realize what exactly he meant by this. I had always thought that maturity was something that came with age. When I was a student, adults seemed very responsible in their way of thinking, and acting; and at the same time, I thought I was more so than those who were around me. This was because I came to realize that my parents, being older than other parents, were not going to be around for me as long as I would like them to be. This realization about the inevitable helped me to see the world in a completely different perspective. I knew that in a very near future I would have to be able to endure society by myself. A fact that is both scary and my the driving force behind my motivation, for I not only want to make my parents proud by achieving academic and social success, but also for myself. I want to be well prepared when I have to confront the world by myself. I have spoken about this fear with my parents this past year and I remember my father telling me how mature I was. I have nothing but gratitude toward my parents for being so unconditionally supportive. I particularly remember when I was helping the physically disabled people at the Raphayel Facility for the Disabled Children, in Korea, I would notice they would leave their rooms in the morning and come back to the unaltered. I remember feeling grateful when I would come back home and feel the presence of family. I am well aware that I cannot change the natural process of life, but want to find out if there is anything I could do to. This inquiry for what causes a problem and what the solution is, has lead me to direct my interest toward research. One day I would like to be part of the medical or pharmaceutical world, and I believe that studying sciences will provide a solid foundation that I need to achieve my goals.