An Informed Background Aris Raj Agarwala

While many other candidates applying to the University of California perform volunteer work, I feel my volunteerism in economically deprived neighborhoods as a devout Catholic provides me with insight on life that is only available through firsthand experience of poverty and knowledge of Church doctrine. This perspective, in conjunction with my knowledge on emerging fields of science, creates a unique mindset that is devoted to religion, the poor, and the health sciences.

Working in destitute inner cities, I was exposed to extremely heartbreaking suffering associated with the inevitable progression of chronic diseases: sight-robbing glaucoma, heart disease, diabetes, degenerative joint diseases, and cancer in which conventional medicine is limited. However, while attending prestigious conferences for Future Medical Leaders in Boston, I was exposed to the cutting-edge technology of future revolutionary therapies like Immunotherapy, Targeted Pharmaceutical Drugs and Gene Splicing of diseased DNA. I thought of the future prospects of these treatments permanently easing the suffering of patients I interacted with. These new medical techniques will solve many congenital and chronic issues that afflict humanity but they must be...