Life : The Importance Of Life In My Life

Sometimes in life, growing up can in fact be difficult. We must face challenges that can sometimes be difficult to overcome, we have to persevere, and overcome the obstacles we have, however when you are born with special needs like Autism, it can be harder to overcome these obstacles. Living in the same household with my brother, Declan O’Neill, who since a young age has had to deal with Autism. Which makes things that is easy for us to do, like talking to people, and socializing, more difficult for him because he is afraid he will be judged.

Becoming a hospice volunteer for terminally ill patients and families is an honor. Volunteering is a gift to these vulnerable patients and families as well as the volunteer. When potential volunteers are asked what the reason is for wanting to volunteer, the answer most frequently given is, “I want to make a difference and give back to our society”. Volunteers make an indescribable difference in the lives of countless hurting people. Volunteers provide companionship and socialization to patients through reading a book, singing, or by doing light chores to name a few. Volunteering can also be something as simple as sitting with a patient, even if that patient is unable to communicate verbally. Their way of communication may instead be through

Throughout this semester, I have been volunteering at the Saint Luke’s Hospice Center. From the start of my service learning to the last stretch, I have learned so many valuable things from this experience. At the hospice center, I volunteer to help in the office but mostly I am spending time with patients in facilities who might need someone to visit with. Before volunteering at the hospice center, I had not experience with hospice and very little experience with death. This is one of the main reasons why I decided to sign up to volunteer in the field of hospice to gain that experience that I probably wouldn’t have gotten another opportunity to do so.

Throughout my clinical training, I have been exposed time and again to the depth of difference that physicians can make in the lives of their patients. I know that as a physician, I will be expected by my patients to fulfill many roles: that of a healer, a guide, a teacher, and sometimes simply a bastion of emotional support. Being there for whatever my patients need is incredibly important to me, which is why I have worked hard throughout my clinical years to not only be a diligent student but a resource and source of aid for patients. During my experiences with hospice and palliative medicine I was witness to the depths of suffering that many patients experience, especially those with cancer or near the end of their lives. What I also saw was hardworking medical professionals bringing everything they had to bear to relieve suffering, treat disease, and comfort patients, no matter what ailed them. Because of those experiences I am committed to continuing that my trend of being there for my patients for the remainder of my career.

When I was younger I did not know much about life and playing football. A lot of the people that my family and I met throughout my life are because of football and how much I loved to play it. When people get older they usually decide to move around what they want to do in life. The main idols that are in my life currently aren’t anyone; they remain no one because, I would like to see what I would become in life and see where life would take me. A quote that I always remember when doing everything in life is “Keep moving forward no matter what you are doing”.

Many mammals may know a lot about life, but many don’t live their lives to the fullest. If they did, many people would change how they do things. In the 1900’s there was a man named Morrie Schwartz, who suffered through ALS, which is a disease that slowly weakens the body. While he was slowly dying, he wanted people around the world to know to live their lives to the fullest so they don’t have regrets later on when they are close to dying. In the memoir, Tuesday with Morrie, Morrie teaches people to live life through accepting death, not being afraid of aging, and valuing money less.

When I was a child, my mom would tell me that all of my prayers always came true, and I believed it. Anything that I asked for or could ever ask for would come to me. I had an amazing family who supported me, trustworthy friends, and my life seemed great. I would go to church every Sunday, as I stood in silence as I opened my heart to God and felt the thrill every time I opened my Bible in the morning before school. I believed that my life would continue to be as blissful as it was when I was a hopeful eight year old girl. I believed in God as a sort of magician who would grant my every wish and desire.

Everyone in life has faced different obstacles, I mean when you’re brought up you learn that life isn’t a nice pleasant place. One of my favorite quotes of all time is by Sylvester Stallone who said, “Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.” Life is defined by how you advance past these obstacles that are put in your path. Look at the successful people life such as: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Mark Cuban, etc. All of these people have experienced failure or tragedy before making millions; however, they did not let this tragedy impair their vision of success.

Life events are important in shaping character traits. You can find examples of this in Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Drummer boy of Shiloh by Ray Bradbury, and The Tell-Tale Heart and Charles by EdgarAllan Poe and Shirlie Jackson. All of these stories shows examples of shaping the person you are.

Ever since I was able to produce thought, and even before, my family has been hardcore Auburn fans. Later in my life I visited Auburn University and instantly I fell in love with this college. As my life continued and as I grew older my family kept telling me how amazing an engineer I would be with my stubbornness to fix things or to find out how they work. Like just recently my computer broke and to find out what went wrong so at 1 am I took apart my computer, with no prior knowledge of what made a computer run, and fixed it. My father, a Mechanical Engineer who graduated from Auburn, jokes saying that I did better than he usually does because when he takes things apart to fix them usually they end up broken more than before. My family has been a huge part of me finding out what I want to become, with me finally deciding on an Aerospace engineer, and what I want to do with my time on Earth and maybe even Mars depending on what the future has in store for me.

Life puts obstacles in our way, it’s up to us to get passed them. I think my biggest complaint is “That’s not fair” as my mom always tells me “Life’s not fair”. Life isn’t the greatest but it’s up to oneself to make the best out of it. I complain a lot about how unfair life is with me, I’ve had personal events happen that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. I lost my grandpa when I was twelve, my grandma is in and out of the hospital for medical reasons. I grew up with my grandma and grandpa due to the fact my mom was always working or to busy too be around when I was younger. My older sister and I always fought and hated being around each other, I was bullied since the third grade for being “fatter” than everyone else. My father walked out of my life without caring. My father named his other child exactly like me knowing about me. Due to all these situations, I began to care less and less about life, my education, the ways it affected my family, and the way it would affect my future.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” My family always asked me. If I were doing what I thought I would be doing when I was a kid, I would be in Hollywood by now. I would be on the must see Thursday night comedy/drama show. This was my life long dream until I hit eighth grade I realized I was camera shy. So like everyone else it was onto the next passion, right? It took me until high school to appreciate how strong my passion for space was. Every night I would stare at the moon, more and more. Eventually, My love for the moon became a want to travel to the moon. “I’m going to make it up there one day” I would always say. Until someone my early junior year of high school told me to give it up because the space companies were gong down the whole, and by the time I would graduate I would have no job.

Lying in bed as I drift off to sleep, I lay and think about what a blessed life that I am living. Dark candle lit room, marshmallow fireside scent, with light creeping under the door as my roommates are still awake out in the living room of our modestly sized apartment. I listen to my fan and tune out their voices and I call to mind the stories my parents have told that have molded me and my brother into the men we have become. Thanks to them I am able to live the comfortable lifestyle that I have and am fortunate enough to attend college at a wonderful university that I otherwise would not be able to afford. I relay so many experiences in my head each night before bed almost as if they happened yesterday.

Life isn’t always easy, but it’s beautiful in the end. Life begins differently for everyone. We can be born into the best or the worst situations, or any combination of both. These experiences will shape us for the future and help us grow. My life hasn’t always been filled with the best experiences, but they have been what has allowed me to grow and become a stronger person. Through all of the tough times, I have been shown so much love and support by some of my friends and family, but most of all through my faith. At some moments that life throws at you, you may begin to question God, but if you stay strong and hold on to your beliefs you’ll get through it.

According to the “Oxford English Dictionary”, ‘life’ is a noun that is defined as, “The condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.” (OED Online, Oxford University Press). So, it’s technically saying that life is the development and change of a living thing until it dies. Scientifically, that’s correct but there’s a much deeper meaning to life than given. There are about 7 billion human beings living on this earth at this moment. Each has their own unique life and destiny to follow. Everyone faces different challenges in life which supports the meaning of life being a unique set of experiences that lead people to their happiest and truest selves.