In Her Own Words
The story of a life fought for, not given.
"My name is Jeongmin Park. I am a student who has spent my youth not in romance, but in a relentless battle for survival. While others dream of the future, I have had to fight for the present, carrying the weight of my family's livelihood on my shoulders since high school."
As the youngest of my siblings, I should have been the one protected. Instead, I became the breadwinner. While my peers headed to after-school academies, I headed to work.
balancing THREE different jobs to cover my family's living expenses, my tuition, and my dorm fees.
I never owned a new piece of clothing; I wore my mother's old rags or borrowed from my siblings, dedicating every cent I earned to one thing: the right to study.
This life of deprivation took a toll. Overwork and malnutrition shattered my immune system, leading to chronic illness I still battle today. My ambition was born from the helplessness I felt when I lost a beloved relative to cancer, and from the tears of patients I witnessed while volunteering at Seoul National University Hospital.
Despite working three jobs, I never stopped volunteering. I stood by the dying and the lonely in nursing homes. Against all odds, without a single person to guide me, I fought. And I won. I was accepted into medical school programs rather than just Western University itself; one of those programs was at Western University. Since I was admitted two years ago, I didn't apply to Western this time.
However, the joy of acceptance lasted only moments. Even with a scholarship and working every hour of the night, the remaining tuition is a mountain I cannot climb alone. As an international student, I am ineligible for financial aid or bank loans. I have exhausted every resource available to me.
Your support is not just a donation for tuition; it is an investment in human life. I promise: I will not be a doctor who chases wealth. I will be a physician-scientist who devotes his life to research and service. I will open my doors to those who cannot afford treatment, and I will dedicate myself to conquering rare brain diseases so that the word 'incurable' may one day vanish from our dictionary."
