Setting goals and objectives for ourselves can give us a sense of direction in life. But the tides of time are unpredictable and things might not always turn out the way we planned them to be. Growing up, I knew I would finish high school at the age of eighteen, college at twenty-three and be married latest by the age of twenty- six. And of course I knew I was going to be a lawyer or let me put it this way; my parents wanted me to be a lawyer and they made sure my academic performance never declined. I attended the best boarding schools and lacked nothing, so what could possibly go wrong to defer my dream? December 1996 was supposed to mark the end of my high school education and since I had consciously prepared for my core and elective courses, I had nothing to be afraid of; the future looked promising. Then December 3rd came, the day that marked the beginning of my final exams. I woke up that morning feeling hopeful and a little anxious which was perfectly normal. Then we went to the exam hall and settled to start the exam, then all hell broke loose; I started feeling dizzy, cold and sick. I remember vomiting which was accompanied by a throbbing headache but I didn’t remember much after that. I woke up the next morning on a hospital bed, surrounded by my family. I had been diagnosed with malaria, one of the number one killer diseases in Africa. The doctor prescribed “chloroquine” to treat the disease but the effects of the drug left me weak, dizzy and nauseated. As vulnerable as I felt at the time, I was determined to sit for all my exams. This was because my inability to write the exams meant that I had to wait for a whole year to take the next exams and this was something I couldn’t come to terms... ... middle of paper ... ...d a two bedroom apartment that had been funded by “Habitat for Humanity International,” a red 2004 Toyota Corolla and a two week vacation to London. My trip to London brought me into contact with so many fond memories that still linger in my heart. As humans, we tend wallow in despair and self- pity when our dreams and aspirations seem to disappear into thin air before our very eyes. While it is true that we might go through catastrophic situations that are irreversible, we can also choose to have a positive outlook towards life. I do appreciate the gift of life very much so many years ago, I made a commitment to myself that as difficult as it may be, I would live my life one day at a time. I try to control the situations that are within my reach but for those that are nature adaptive, I allow nature to take its course. After all, I’m just human!
Life can always change direction. We can have certain obstacles that challenge us. Sometimes this makes us stronger and we can always learn through these times. We always have
It was like living a poetic death, knowing that it could happen again at any moment. With a racing heart, watery eyes, and hands that trembled with fear, I knew there was something seriously wrong. As I crawled down the hallway to get help from my mother, I had tears streaming down my face and was overcome with anxiety. The pounding in my chest was enough to make me think I was dying. On the night of October 24th, 2014 my life had drastically changed. Suddenly and without warning, I had uncontrollable PVC’s and was unable to breathe.
As a child, dreams of becoming something that often times are believed to be slightly out of reach, such as a pro athlete, or a rock star, or an actor are common. Adults tend to veer juveniles away from aspirations of pursuing these careers because the chance of success in one of those careers is quite
Life is unpredictable—this makes life the greatest gift of all. For example, human beings often tend to complain about their life—instead
The AIDS hospice reeked from disease and neglect. On my first day there, after an hour of "training," I met Paul, a tall, emaciated, forty-year-old AIDS victim who was recovering from a stroke that had severely affected his speech. I took him to General Hospital for a long-overdue appointment. It had been weeks since he had been outside. After waiting for two and a half hours, he was called in and then needed to wait another two hours for his prescription. Hungry, I suggested we go and get some lunch. At first Paul resisted; he didn't want to accept the lunch offer. Estranged from his family and seemingly ignored by his friends, he wasn't used to anyone being kind to him - even though I was only talking about a Big Mac. When it arrived, Paul took his first bite. Suddenly, his face lit up with the biggest, most radiant smile. He was on top of the world because somebody bought him a hamburger. Amazing. So little bought so much. While elated that I had literally made Paul's day, the neglect and emotional isolation from which he suffered disgusted me. This was a harsh side of medicine I had not seen before. Right then and there, I wondered, "Do I really want to go into medicine?"
As a senior in high school, I have come to the conclusion that it is adroit to always plan ahead. I also have realized that plans hardly ever go exactly as contrived. Often times, the plans I have made will alter in some type of way, or drop all together, resulting in a very stressed out senior in high school. I came to this insight when I changed my entire career choice in a matter of forty minuets. My plans were always to become a dance teacher, but while watching a medical drama about kids with cancer, I soon realized that I am supposed to be a pediatric oncology nurse.
Some think of it more like a pass through rather than a journey full of spontaneity, love, and emotion. Regardless of what may happen, we have to learn to embrace all that comes our way and hope for a better day. There will always be challenges that we have to face, and struggles we have to deal with. Life is not all that good, but it's not that bad either, somehow it evens out. Life itself is our greatest challenge of all, but we have to learn how to love it, and like I said, face the challenges it comes with.
The room started spinning, the walls closed in, and my vision went fuzzy. I saw stars everywhere I looked. My palms tingled. My fingers went numb. I felt as if my throat was closing up, and that I couldn’t breathe. If I had to sit in class one moment longer, I was sure I was going to pass out. I was having a panic attack. The first time I had a panic attack, was the beginning of freshman year after my dad had lost his job for the fourteenth time.
It’s funny how quickly time flies by it seems like just yesterday I was complaining about writing the first part of this assignment. Looking back at it now, the reasons why I want to become a teacher remain the same. I want to inspire, shape, encourage, and mentor my students. I want to make the kind of impact on each and every single one of them that they will carry on for the rest of their lives. Whether it be simply believing in them, and telling them that I know they are capable of accomplishing anything they want to, or helping them through a tough time. My desire to become a teacher has increased tremendously the past 16 weeks, and I am so eager and excited to finish my education to begin my teaching career.
I got up at five thirty in the morning to change and make myself look presentable for the day ahead. My roommates and I packed up our bags, careful not to leave anything behind. Getting on the bus was now becoming very tedious to me, but again I entered the vehicle. Today, we were heading to Cedar Point. We arrived and filed out of the bus and got into our little groups. This day, was the day I’d get over my fear of roller coasters. Going to ride after ride and then halfway through, going to see our rankings for our small recital. Our class scored first place for overall best Junior High Choir, mainly because we were the only Junior High Choir performing the day before. After awards all choirs dispersed to go back to their fun day at Cedar Point. We got back into our groups, some members leaving to join another group while others joined mine. At this point, my small group had doubled, so half went on some rides while the rest did something else. My half of the group consisted of Izzy, Iven, Heidi, Jamie, Marissa, and myself. We all waited in line for the enormous ferris wheel. It was a hot day and we stood in line for what seemed like hours. Finally we were next in line, then all of the sudden, we got told there was a thunderstorm coming our way and that all rides were closing down. The choir class was ushered into the indoor arcade where my small group stuck together the whole time. We played games and eat Dip N’ Dots until the rain
The year 2013 was the most deviating year for me, many were killed. That year my friend died, without accomplishing all that she wanted. I remember her saying many times that she wanted to go back to school, but kept on getting discouragement from her brother. She was never true to herself, instead was true to others. My friend death didn’t make me gloomy; it just made me want to live my life to the fullest and be true to myself. Many people did not realize until the end of their life all the things that wish to accomplish, and been happy is a choice. The most common regret is when looking back they see how many dreams has gone unfilled. Therefore the death of my friend makes me want to live my life to the fullest, be true to myself, not the live other people expected me to have, and I wish my friend had allowed herself to be happy. I do things every day that will make me happy, and I encourage people to do so. I live my life likes little children who never hesitate if they want something because they know that, if they lose it they will burst into tears. I have been have been havi...
It was around 11:00 pm during the spring on a school night, and I was working hard on my science project and paper. This paper had a lot of research and so much work to be done. I didn’t know if I was going to finish or if I was going to have a failing grade. All that I
People don't truly accept life for what it is until they've actually tasted adversity and went through those misfortunes and suffering. We are put through many hardships in life, and we learn to understand and deal with those issues along the way. We find that life isn't just about finding one's self, but about creating and learning from our experiences and background. Adversity shapes what we are and who we become as individuals. Yann Martel's Life of Pi shows us that adverse situations help shape a person's identity and play a significant role in one's lief by determining one's capabilities and potential, shaping one's beliefs and values, and defining the importance and meaning of one's self.
Our lives are infused with pain and suffering. Some people experience more of these regrettable symptoms of the human condition than others. Yet, we can overcome hardship with hope. Hope provides us with strength to conquer misery and despair, caused by misfortune, perhaps an unforeseen job loss when on a Friday afternoon, after you’ve worked long hours on a project, your boss, calling your into his office, sitting you down, saying, “Your fired.”
Life isn’t going to go the way you want it to.” (Vanderwerf 1) Mark Weber said to a group of students over a live videoconference. Life has its ups and downs, and certain people get thrown harder than others, but we all have hardships that we must face. We flourish from our mistakes and the aching we face in our lifetime. But how do we do it, how do people keep pushing through when everything feels like it is ending? What is shouting at them in the back of their mind that keeps them moving forward?