Personal Statement

Hey. I had to write this personal statement for my RA job and I figured you all might like to read it. So, here goes:

My name is Zach Triplett. I grew up in the small town of Haysi, Virginia which is tucked in the hills of Southwest Virginia. I went to a small high school and graduated with a class of 80 other students. The value of hard work, meaning of family, and the ability to love home are only a few of the things I learned while growing up in Dickenson County, Virginia. In this short statement, I plan on telling you a little about myself, my plans, and why these things are important to me.

I was very involved with community service in high school. Although I did a lot of service, I wasn’t fully aware at the time of what exactly community service was. I helped to tutor kids, I volunteered at community events, and I would help out around town when help was needed. When trying to figure out where to go to college after graduation, I knew what I wanted. Since I grew up in a small town and was used to small town life, I wanted to go somewhere that had similar qualities. Emory & Henry College was the only school I applied to my senior year of high school.

As the new chapter in my life approached, I got an application in the mail for the Bonner Scholars program. I applied for the community service scholarship and was told that I had not received it. I was rather relieved because I felt that eight hours of community service per week was a bit much for a first year college student. It was July before I came to Emory and I received a call one day from someone that offered me the Bonner Scholarship. After much debate, I decided to accept the award. I was unaware at the time how much this decision would affect my life.

While in high school, I took an anatomy class online and I loved it. I became obsessed with health and I wanted to become a doctor. I shadowed at a local hospital and I decided that a career as a physician would be great for me. It is interesting, the pay is excellent, and doctors tend to have good reputations. So, I came to Emory & Henry as a chemistry and biology double major. I struggled my freshman year. College was unlike high school. I found my classes challenging and I didn’t study as much as I should have. I ended my freshman year of college still dead-set on becoming a doctor. During this first year of school, I began to volunteer with Crossroads Medical Mission. Crossroads is a non-profit organization based in Bristol, Virginia that provides free health care to uninsured and uninsured residents of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. My work with Crossroads also was fulfilling my plans to one day become a doctor.

My first semester of my sophomore year was a large struggle for me. I ended up taking three extremely challenging classes in one semester. It proved to be almost fatal. I did very poorly in my grades. It is strange, but it was like I woke up one morning and decided that I was on the wrong track. If I was meant to be a biology student going into med school, wouldn’t I have more motivation to do well? Since I began at Emory, many people had suggested that I take a Public Policy & Community Service class. It was a major unique to Emory and I thought it sounded very interesting. On the day I decided that my classes were leading me in the wrong direction, I went straight to a new advisor and changed my major. I began my second semester as a sophomore at E&H as a Public Policy & Community Service major. I knew that this was the right track for me. I loved all my classes and I began to make good grades. I am still a PPCS major to this day.

Throughout high school, I was able to travel a little but not a large amount. I would go on field trips and occasionally go to places with a program I was a member of. But, I never took the time to appreciate the places where I was visiting. During my spring break of freshman year, I went with a few friends to Boston. It was this trip that sparked my love of different places and traveling. Just a few months later, after the end of my freshman year, I went to New York City with the Bonner Scholars program. I fell in love with the place. Even though Appalachia is my home, I love to experience new places. For my last spring break, my mom, my brother, and I took a trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I often joke that I went on the National Treasure tour because I visited all the places that were important to the history of America. I decided that last summer I needed to do something big. I didn’t want to take a job that was close to Southwest Virginia. I wanted to experience somewhere new. So, I applied for a position with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth. I applied for an RA position and was expecting to be placed somewhere on the east coast. Instead, I was offered a job in Santa Cruz, California.

The job in Santa Cruz was one of the most challenging, but rewarding, experiences of my life. I faced many obstacles out there with my students, but at the same time I learned more about myself than ever before. Not to mention, I met many friends who still mean a lot to me. I was happy with my decision to go to California. Again, my love of travel was sparked, so this summer I am going to Quito, Ecuador for four weeks. I am excited, but nervous, about the experience.

I am unsure what I want to do after graduation. My love of people and volunteering is leading me towards an Americorps VISTA position in a city. I feel like I need the experience of living in a city for some amount of time. I have always been a person with plans. But, over the past couple of weeks, I have decided that not having plans may actually be good for me. I’m just going to go where life takes me. So far, it has led me to Emory & Henry. Where it will be next…I guess only time will tell.