How Adversity Changed My Life

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” Joshua 1:9. Adversity is what comes to mind when reading this verse. The Book of Joshua teaches us to accept the good things God provides for us; things like adversity, suffering, and perseverance. I chose this verse because God chose for me to go through something so horrifying at the age of seventeen. It is natural to ask God “why me” in a time of hardship that never think about the purpose he has for us. How can adversity and suffering be a good thing? Because learning to overcome something is what builds your character. It turns you into the person God created you to be; and you find ways

My parents came to the United States 19 years ago with two young kids in their arms. While neither possessed a high school diploma and both spoke non-fluent English, they had the determination to work more than 50 hours a week to make ends meet. In a way, I believe that I have inherited their determination in order to achieve my goals in the face of adversity. While I was growing up as an Asian-American student some of the struggles I faced were a language barrier and sometimes even discrimination. Later, in my academic career as a first-generation college student, I had fears of the unknown and the unfamiliar.

my application would be incomplete without my background not due to its bleak moments but because of its triumphant conclusion. i believe it shows my initiative, tenacity, and determination to succeed even in the face of tremendous adversity. High school began during a dismal period of my life. I suffered from depression due to a combination of bullying and my father's alcoholism and abandonment of my family. i was anxious yet excited about starting highschool,i knew it could be an opportunity to improve the family and social problems that plagued me. I knew that to overcome my shortcomings i would have to devout all of my time and effort into bettering myself. My self improvement began with me starting a counseling program for the children

One instance of me facing adversity in my life is being diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. It started January 3rd, 2007 and I was in fourth grade. It all started with me drinking a lot of water, going to the bathroom frequently, and the loss of 15 pounds. I was taken to the family doctors office because my parents thought I had a bladder infection. After a urine test revealed I had an extremely high content of sugar in my urine, I was shipped to go get my blood drawn. This was a problem as I was deathly afraid of needles and blood at this time. I looked down at the needle in my arm and proceeded to pass out in the phlebotomist’s office. Later that night I was quickly shipped down to the University of Iowa Hospital because my blood sugar was

1. p.138 “This large body of research shows that although traumas, crises, and tragedies come in a thousand forms, people benefit from them in three primary ways… Rising to a challenge reveals your hidden abilities, and seeing these abilities changes your self-concept... Adversity is a filter [that separates] fair-weather friends from the true; it strengthens relationships and it open’s people’s hearts to one another…Trauma changes priorities and philosophies toward the present.”

I was born in the land of opportunity, the United States of America, but my roots are planted in the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean nation that fed my parents. I was raised by immigrant, Spanish speaking, single mother raised me in a foreign land that did not yet feel like home. The years flew by and my mother and I grew together; we learned from each other and shared each other's load. I became accustomed to the day to day battles she encountered to feed and clothe me; there was no doubt in my mind that I would never wish this life upon anyone. The roots she managed to plant through all her sweat and tears have become my garden. A place where we have both been able to flourish into beautiful beings. At the age of six I learned how to speak English and served as my mother’s translator, a role I still carry to this day. At such a young age, I was stripped of a childhood and exposed to the struggles of the working class.

When I was ten, my mother moved to NYC for a new job and my life as I knew it changed forever. The extent of my vocabulary at the time didn’t extend much beyond hello and goodbye. At school, I constantly felt like I was dreaming. My classmates would talk to me, but no matter how I try, I couldn’t understand anything. Determined to master English, I watched everything from cartoons to the news, trying to make sense of the phrases I heard. I spent hours poring over books, looking up meanings of words. It all paid off six month later, when I suddenly realized I was thinking in English instead of just translating. The experience taught me that I should persevere when faced with adversity and that with hard work anything is possible. As a physician,

Everyone faces adversity in some point of their life.Adversity will always make us stronger.Some ways people overcome adversity are by, Identifying the problem, Facing it and considering all options.

I used to think that I was “all that.” In elementary school and middle school I didn’t have to work hard and was able to get good grades without putting forth a lot of effort. My personal philosophy was that if I worked hard in class during the school day, then when I got home from school, my time should be my own. I had been successful following this belief system for years, and then, I enrolled in AP World History (APWH) in the tenth grade. My experiences in APWH changed my entire outlook on my role as a student and caused me to reevaluate my perspective on the things that were important to me.

It is 2016, a lot of things have happened this year. There has been shootings, police brutality, an increase in minority deaths, the killing of animals due to human encounters, terrorist acts, and so many more. Over the past couple of years, I have noticed a tremendous decrease in hope. I have seen that each year that passes, the people of the world turn against each other. They try to eliminate and destroy one another which in most times leaves them in agony. Today all the media covers everything bad going around and I, with honest truth, believe that this affects the people of the future. It decreases happiness and increases hatred and negativity. It is 2016, not enough people have hope nor positivity for the world. I have no idea if the

For every individual, there is one main idea, concept, or occurrence which holds power over their life. I am a perfectionist in everything I do. In my life, the thought of change and fear of the unknown, at times hindered me from life’s possibilities. While it is not unusual to face adversity throughout your lifetime, my ability to embrace change and use it as a foundation of personal growth ultimately culminated in 2016-2017.

Adversity is most commonly defined as a difficulty or misfortune that an individual is forced to face at some point in their life. At many different times in my life, I have been in situations where I have faced adversity: in the classroom, on the basketball court, or just among people I know. The following essay will be detailing a major moment in my life in which I was faced with a difficult time or misfortune.

On a cold weekend day in the middle of December six years ago, my parents sat my brother and me down for a family meeting. I expected to hear exciting news about the upcoming Christmas holiday. Unfortunately, the news was not exciting, and I was anything but prepared to hear it. My parents began by talking about how much they love us and how much we mean to them. I started to get a terrible feeling that the discussion was going to take a turn for the worse, and then came the dreaded word: divorce.

Throughout life, we all become acquainted with life altering experiences, some changing us for the better, others for the worse. It is our job, as individuals, to either learn and develop in the face of these experiences or to dismiss them without looking back. They are what shape our very character, our foundation for the future. Without them, we’d be empty shells, individuals without any substance to guide them. Even though I am still quite young, I've already had quite my fair share of these experiences, and for that I am extremely thankful. Academics, community service and adversity; all have contributed to my development in one shape or another. Without these experiences, I would not be the self that I know myself to be. Nothing is of greater importance.

All of us at some point have faced adversities in our life. I believe adversity make us grow stronger in a why we never thought we could. certain circumstances in life force us to change for the better . it may not be easy and requires a lot of courage nevertheless the results are simply astounding I believe events, incidents and minuscule details mould us into who we are.