Michael Chuang
Myself Third Spirit of New York 2002 Scholarship Winner
Stuyvesant High School
City College of New York
"Michael Chuang is a hardworking young man who is focused on a career in the medical field. However, Michael has diverse interests and one of his most interesting experiences here at Stuyvesant High School was a project done in the Video Journalism class.… Michael is a dedicated young man.… His intense course work in AP Biology, Genetics and Intel Research, as well as his work for the American Red Cross… have all been important positive steps in laying down a solid foundation for his future career goal. He should prove a valuable candidate for a pre-med program at the University level."
—Dr. Patrick J. Niglio
Work, Volunteer, and Extra-Curricular Activities
- American Red Cross
- Asians Democratic Association (Friends of Ethel)
- Public Health Research Institute
- Franklin Nursing Home
- Primary Care Rehabilitation Center
Excerpts from Michael's Essay
New York is a global economic center and cultural hodgepodge. The citizens of the city benefit from protection against crime, fire and diseases and enjoy free education and twenty-four hour access to public transportation. In return, each citizen should exercise his/her civic responsibility…to improve the quality of the city and help the people of the city. Civic responsibility can extend from not littering to working at a public health care clinic; it can be considered a kind of pride for New York City. A popular way to express this love for the city is by helping others out via volunteering.
Becoming a volunteer is a great way of civic involvement and is an excellent way to gain experience and to help fellow citizens. An unforgettable volunteering experience I had was when I worked at the Franklin Nursing Home in Flushing. Urged on by my parents to do some good in the real world, I started, with trepidation, as a volunteer at the Franklin Nursing Home. The devoted staff efficiently welcomed me to the home and assigned me some work.… After a while, the staff started giving me larger and more important assignments. I took in stride transporting residents bound in wheelchairs, and in a seeming reverse of the world as I knew it, I would help chaperone trips to malls.
Quickly, I realized that while the bodies of the residents were weak, their minds were still sharp and willing. Instead of silently pushing the residents down the hall, caught in an apparently awkward situation, I found myself making conversation and asking about the patient's family… They would remember happier memories, and their faces would brighten up. I would encourage them with jokes and would try to help them remember the happy moments of their fruitful life. This was the first time that I knowingly brought happiness to a stranger.
After a while, I was offered a job as a feeder; that is, some one who helps those unable to eat. They included residents with severe tremors, and a paraplegic. I accepted the job but found it difficult.… I learned many important lessons in my year working at the Nursing Home, and I found myself viewing the health care profession in a new light: I was not helping a diseased person — I was helping a person with a disease. My yearlong involvement at the Franklin Nursing Home made me choose the health field as a career.
