Personal Statement - Writing about racist hometown and childhood

[TheBlueSnail]

Hi all,

I am not sure if I'll use this in the personal statement or somewhere else in my application but I've been getting mixed feedback. Keeping things vague so I don't dox myself.

I was born and grew up in a super small rural town to two immigrant parents and 2 immigrant siblings (all different origins, siblings adopted). My parents came to the US pursuing the American dream and my dad opened a restaurant in said small town (<1000 people, only restaurant in town other than burger place). Because of ethnicity and religion, it was not a welcome experience. To name a few:

• My dad's restaurant frequently got vandalized, often times with racial/religious slurs.
• We had a brick thrown through our window and cars tires slashed/spray painted. Again, slurs involved.
• My mother had to fight every year for me to be excused from school during our holidays. This gave our family a reputation as "troublemakers" and we were rarely welcomed by our teachers each year.
• I played baseball all my life and was really good but wasn't picked for the school team because our "views and lifestyle would disrupt the team's dynamics".
• Again, not any specifics, but my school district very proudly and publicly held racist/segregation views.

I am a bit older and will be coming in as a nontraditional applicant but a few premed/med friends have looked at my essay outlining these things and say that it's a bit negative. I only reference this in my beginning paragraph to show what I grew up with and why I wanted to leave. Then I move into how I joined the military to escape my hometown and that's where I discovered medicine.

Should I include this first part? Or just skip to the military and go from there?

Thanks everyone for your perspectives and help.

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[Rachapkis]

As with most things, the key is how you use this information. It is fine to make clear that you were the victim of racism, but the key will be showing how those experiences made you into a person who has what it takes to be an excellent doctor (i.e., did they instill cultural sensitivity? resiliency? a desire to care for the less fortunate?)

 

[Moko]

I would skip it in its current form. Portraying others negatively in the application almost always comes back to hurt the applicant. You don't need to trash your hometown (even if it really was a place) in order to explain why you wanted to join the military. Many people join in order to broaden their horizons. I would use something like that instead as a bridge to your military service.

 

[LizzyM]

Your hometown will be listed on the application. Just say you came from a small town (population <1,000) and you wanted to expand your horizons and therefore joined the military.
Anyone who wants to know more can Google the name of your town.

 

[Goro]

Hi all,

I am not sure if I'll use this in the personal statement or somewhere else in my application but I've been getting mixed feedback. Keeping things vague so I don't dox myself.

I was born and grew up in a super small rural town to two immigrant parents and 2 immigrant siblings (all different origins, siblings adopted). My parents came to the US pursuing the American dream and my dad opened a restaurant in said small town (<1000 people, only restaurant in town other than burger place). Because of ethnicity and religion, it was not a welcome experience. To name a few:

• My dad's restaurant frequently got vandalized, often times with racial/religious slurs.
• We had a brick thrown through our window and cars tires slashed/spray painted. Again, slurs involved.
• My mother had to fight every year for me to be excused from school during our holidays. This gave our family a reputation as "troublemakers" and we were rarely welcomed by our teachers each year.
• I played baseball all my life and was really good but wasn't picked for the school team because our "views and lifestyle would disrupt the team's dynamics".
• Again, not any specifics, but my school district very proudly and publicly held racist/segregation views.

I am a bit older and will be coming in as a nontraditional applicant but a few premed/med friends have looked at my essay outlining these things and say that it's a bit negative. I only reference this in my beginning paragraph to show what I grew up with and why I wanted to leave. Then I move into how I joined the military to escape my hometown and that's where I discovered medicine.

Should I include this first part? Or just skip to the military and go from there?

Thanks everyone for your perspectives and help.

Very sorry that you had to go through this, OP. Many thanks for your service to our country.

This is all material that should be in secondaries.

The PS is NOT for reviewing past traumas

 

[ciestar]

Good story for an adversity essay.

 

[Stagg737]

To answer whether it's valid to include or not we would need to know how it connects to the rest of your PS and application. Are you simply using it as the introduction for why you left your hometown? Are you mentioning it to try and score some "uniqueness" points (yes, I have seen this done)? Are you coming back to it in later paragraphs to emphasize how you can relate to minority patients or better serve the needs of marginalized populations? Is it mentioned to show how it shaped you into who you are today and why you have X desirable trait as an applicant?

If it's either the first two, definitely leave it out. If it's one or both of the second two, you should be fine as long as you're focusing more on how it impacted you and not on the things actually done to you. Remember, your PS is supposed to display positive points about yourself and what you bring to medicine. Mentioning negative things won't get anyone any points, but if it is necessary/can be used to highlight your positive features then negative points can be valid. As previously stated, wording is important, but also be cognizant of the overall message you're trying to convey with those specific words.