Admission Essay Sample: Graduate School at the University of Michigan

I grew up surrounded by teachers. My mom is an elementary school teacher, all her friends were teachers, and somehow, completely inadvertently, many of my friends’ parents were teachers. Whether intentionally on their part or just naturally, this meant that learning and discovery were a central part of nearly everything I did as a child. A natural result of fostering such a love of learning is a deeply rooted desire to not only learn as much as possible, but to teach and instruct others as well. While this means that I’ve often been asked why I’m not becoming a teacher, I believe that my skills and experiences better suit me to educate and teach in less traditional settings.

For two and a half years, I worked in mental health education and advocacy at my university— informing and supporting my peers in an area of health that can often be overlooked. Through creating theory-based campaigns and programs, innovative events, and working with students one on one, I was proud of the difference my team and I made on campus. In my freshman year of college, I was diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder and ADHD, and it was uniquely healing to help others alongside my own coping & recovery journey. With my peers, we worked to reduce mental health stigma, to educate students on the resources available to them, and to raise awareness of how to recognize suicidality and prevent tragedy. 

Then, in the spring of 2019, I experienced my own tragedy. Completely unexpectedly, one of my lifelong friends died from suicide. My world was rocked, the rug pulled from under my feet— this was the exact thing I claimed to be working to prevent, but now myself and my entire community at home were devastated by grief. My grades suffered, my mental health plummeted, and I struggled to cope with the seemingly overwhelming responsibilities of school, work, and volunteering. When, finally, I felt that I was on solid ground once more, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and everything was shaken once again. Like the rest of the world, I’ve spent much of the past two years in a constant state of adaptation and change. While this meant that I experienced academic struggle once again, living through a global health crisis has only solidified my desire to pursue a career in public health.

I have known since early childhood that I wanted to work in health— from the age of 4 to 16, I wanted to be a dentist. My reasoning was simple— through science, I could use my knowledge and abilities to help improve other people’s quality of life. Teeth and oral health, while often overlooked, are essential not only to a person’s overall wellbeing but to their personal confidence. I wanted to be able to make other people’s lives better, not only through medicine but through something deeper and more holistic. The old adage about teaching a man to fish comes to mind: heal a person’s disease, and they are better that day. But teach them to make healthy decisions, to advocate for their wellbeing, to avoid easily preventable disease, and you are supporting them for a healthier future. I firmly believe that attending graduate school at the University of Michigan will allow me to unite and realize the two passions closest to my heart: the intersectional pursuit of equity and inclusion for all, and the empowerment and education of all people to achieve greater wellbeing.