In addition，I volunteered as a tutor。I really enjoyed being able to help a fellow student understand something and improve。I remember one particular instance where my using the idea of a scale on which each variable was a weight to explain balancing an equation caused an instant epiphany。
Most recently，I volunteered at St。Agnes Medical Center，our community hospital。Being allowed to assist nurses in caring for patients as well as to observe surgery，I discovered that I want to spend the rest of my life as a physician so that I can help alleviate the pain of others。
Obviously the first major step for me is to get an education。This past year I completed my senior year of high school and was very fortunate to be named a member of the top 5%of my class，National Merit Finalist，Maryland Distinguished Scholar，AP Scholar with distinction，and of course the Elks National Foundation's most valuable student。I graduated on June 2nd this year，and this fall I will be attending the college of my dreams，Harvard，where I’ve wanted to go since I was about eleven years old。
In fact，I remember that day in early July，while passing through Boston when my father first took me to see Harvard，and told me that it was one of the best universities in the world。I absolutely fell in love with its ivy covered brick walls and cast iron gates，and I said，“Dad，I think Im going to Harvard”and I believe he just chuckled。So last December 15th when I received my acceptance letter at about 5：13 p。m。I told my dad“Remember what I said when I was eleven？Well，I think Im going to Harvard。”
But of course after the initial excitement，what with calling everyone we knew，family，friends，cousins cousins and those people we once sat next to on an airplane，it kind of struck that we were facing a bill of about$45，000 a year for four years。So what was the first thing we did？We panicked。
I knew I needed to apply for scholarships because even with the hard work of my parents，my mom even holding two jobs，I knew I had no way to realize my dream of going to Harvard without outside financial assistance。So，you can only imagine my joy and deep sense of gratitude when I received that phone call from the Foundation that Wednesday afternoon in May telling me I was not only receiving a scholarship from the Elks but that I was receiving the 1st place scholarship from the Elks。I was so absolutely stunned，I'm sure I was rather incoherent。When I realized the amount I was even more overwhelmed。I apologize for my incoherency by the way Debbie；I hope it wasn’t too difficult to understand me。