I, who thrive on responsibility and friendship, have the makings of an exceptional doctor. As a student nearing my baccalaureate, I completed several paid research internships and led a team to first place in a national design competition. This semester, I won three national awards, an unprecedented number. But my teachers and classmates may be surprised to find that my greatest accomplishments come from outside the classroom. Four years ago, I was lying in a hospital bed with a severe head injury. As a freshman in high school, I was the only victim of a car accident. To this day I don't know what happened other than my head hitting the driver's side window. For all I know, I may have swerved to avoid a deer. Hospitalized for three months, I worked diligently with rehabilitation staff to regain my memory, judgment, speech and other communication skills. Although my doctors didn't know if I would read or write again, I shocked them by asking for my textbooks shortly after I was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital. "Fortunately, with a lot of...