How The Obstacles That Changed My Life

The obstacle that I had, stopped me from being happy, or living the life that I wanted to live. Being alone, antisocial, and other obstacles that I had, blocked me from being happy and instead lead me into a life where I did not know what to do. Sometimes an obstacle is nothing physical like a barrier or some force, for me it was mental warfare that I had with myself for years that I still deal with to this day. Conflicting with yourself is just as bad as someone else or an object because you have to deal with the fact that you did this all to yourself, you can’t give anyone else the blame. That however, could lead to even more mental warfare in your own head, especially if you are very defiant to take blame like I am.

There are many obstacles in life that have influenced a person's way of living. Many of them you can overcome and many you can't. Hardships can influence a person's life by impacting it in a negative way.

Throughout my life obstacles appear around every corner. From the time when I was a newborn and my mother had found out she had breast cancer to when my parents had told me they were going to get a divorce. For some, these situations may be depressing to talk about or even uncomfortable. In my mind, however, the more I talk about it and see how it’s changed the way I view life is a more than beneficial opportunity.

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,

All throughout my life I loved to run; I even participated in track and cross country all throughout middle school to quench my thirst for a long run. Around the beginning of winter, of my junior year, there came a time when I thought I could no longer run. To further elaborate upon my situation, whenever I would do strenuous physical exercise, or even write in class, my muscles would instantly feel fatigued. It felt very similar to the feeling one gets when their hands have been outside in the frigid cold. I could not even do ten push-ups. Regardless, my muscles would not move as I would like them to. This became a painful obstacle in my daily life. After countless doctor's visits and no signs for a cure I felt hopeless, defeated, and disheartened.

Ever since I could remember, I heard the expression “you can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it”. I never thought it to be true until I experienced it for myself. My weight was something that I've always struggled with and because of it, I met many obstacles in my life. Some of which affected my physical health and self-image. I also had personal issues that I had to face . I knew that I needed to make a change for the better.

As a teenage there are not many obstacles that have faced, but there are a few. One obstacles that I have overcame in my life was the death of my aunt. During my junior year in october one of my aunt's passed away during her mother's birthday dinner. One minute we were eating and then the next we were at the hospital. It was so unexpected to say the least. This was the first death in our family in 18 years and none of us new how to cope with this sudden loss. I had never felt this grief or loss for someone ever in my life. I had to learn how to grieve and continue on. A similar thing happened when my uncle died last year. I had to be able to grieve and move on because I had so much to do with my everyday life and school.

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 my life I have experienced and overcome different obstacles that have shaped me to be the person I am. My life has been influenced the most by the adoption of my two brothers. My parents had always wanted to grow our family through adoption, and finally when I was about nine we decided to take a leap of faith, and adopt from China. Even from the young age of nine, I knew this was going to be a major life changing event.

Growing up as a female Latina, my parents always told me that no matter what obstacles I face in life, my education will always be there to support me. People expect me not to make it far in life because of my ethnicity and the background I come from. My parents never got the chance to go to college, that only motivated me to want to show them that all their hard work to make sure I get a good education is not going to waste. Just because my parents did not go and neither did anyone else in my family, most are doubtful that I will not make it either but I am pushing to prove all those people wrong.

The pain of losing someone close to you, especially a parent, is never something you can ever quite articulate. But, the lessons you learn and the person you become in the aftermath is a little easier to explain. My mother was my best friend. She was ornery, funny, and brilliant in her own way. She always knew how to soothe me and she always made the effort to, even when she was combatting her own issues. In 2009, my parents divorced due to my father’s anger issues and drug use. In addition to becoming a single parent, she was also physically disabled due to work injuries and dealt with pain almost constantly. Her death was May 26th, 2015, just six days after the end of my freshman year. The exact details are burned into my memory, but at the same time the entire day is a blur. I remember the train of emotions hurtling in myself and in my loved ones; the panic, the rage, and the absolute heartbreak I experienced during what I dub “The First Year”.

“A…apple…B…ball…C…,” I nervously looked up. He knitted his dark eyebrows, leaving visible creases on his forehead. In his brown eyes, there was clearly a look of anger and I knew why. I quickly stared at my small hands and fumbled with them, hoping he’ll be less angry if he didn't see my face. Hiding my face didn't make him feel any better. “C! CAT! Why can’t you remember?” he yelled, pointing at the chart before me. My cheeks started to heat up. “LOOK AT ME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” he yelled at me even louder. I obediently looked up at him and tried to utter “yes,” but to no avail. I couldn’t hold it in any longer and let the water burst out of my eyes. The tears quickly travelled down my cheeks and I tried wiping them away, but they just kept coming. This was the first time I felt like a failure.

I have experienced many things that have impacted my life, but none compare to the second time I have moved in my life.

​Throughout my life, I have overcome many obstacles in my life. Anytime I progress in my school life it is meaningful to me. It may seem blunt, and people may not feel the way I do, but growing up with epilepsy, it was very tough for me to succeed. School was not always hard, and all of my classes are not hard, but it is hard to remember content that I am taught. In the beginning of my ninth grade year is when I was at my lowest point of school. I had my first grandmal seizure since I was a baby, and since then my short term memory has played a big toll in my life. It is bad enough to the point where I can come home from a day of fun, and not remember what all I did, or who all I saw. I knew it was a problem when in my algebra 1 honors class,

Everything happens for a reason. The thing that impacted my life the most was when my parents got divorced. Next was when my two siblings moved out of town to live with their dad. The last thing that had a pretty big impact on my life was when my dad got engaged. These are the three most things that had an impact on my life.