My Life

Learning to deal with and overcoming adversity is what made me who I am. Every challenge and every difficulty I’ve successfully confronted in my life served as a way to strengthen my will, confidence and ability to conquer future obstacles. A famous quote I liked came from Herodotus, the Greek philosopher, who said, "Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have lain dormant in its absence.” When I responded positively and constructively to my biggest challenges, the qualities of strength, courage, character and perseverance emerged from deep within, because I am human, it was very easy to get caught up in the self-pity, unfairness of life, or the “why me?” trap. When I did think like that, I learned that I failed to recognize the opportunities for wisdom and growth that accompanied adversity. However, as soon as I allowed myself to think more clearly, I was able to let go of self-defeating and unproductive thoughts and get down to the business of dealing with what was happening before me and what can happen for me in my future. My failures and setbacks have nothing to do with me being a menace to society instead I had to realize it’s something every human being goes through. It’s a part of life and has everything to do with being human. Circumstances to me now mean nothing. Limitations don’t hold me back.

Imagine having the perfect life- you get into all honors classes, you get straight A’s, you are the first chair in the orchestra, you get into the A Cappella choir, you are on the varsity volleyball team, President of the Student Council, and you have a perfect home life. You have never had to face a single obstacle throughout your journey in life. When your whole life is like this, you do not know what failure feels like and will never experience the need to rise up after a downfall. There are many types of journeys one can take in life and dealing with obstacles has a prodigious impact on the outcome. The obstacles and hindrances are the things that shape us as we experience the ups and downs in life.

I have gone through many experiences that have tried to tear me down. Life will never seize to throw obstacles my way. These obstacles, however, have proven to be positives that fuel me to be the person I never knew before. They teach me to stand out while taking a stand and be the powerful, independent woman that I am meant to be.

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.

One day, my siblings and I were over at our dad’s house for a short visit. My older brother Andrew was six years old, me, five years old, and my younger sister, who was two years old. No matter how often our dad was in our lives, we never had anger towards him, because those short moments that we go to see him were always a blast. The day consisted of long games of wrestling and pillow fights and laughter and the best kind of tickle-torture. We watched movies and pigged out on all sorts of unhealthy treats. Being four years old, I don’t remember anything more than pure happiness in those moments. The visit with was action-packed and everything we dreamed it to be-- until we all fell

“Hey we need to talk.” my mother said as we just got done cleaning the kitchen on the saturday before we were going to leave. It was December the 19, 2015 when mom told us that my Grandpa had cancer. While we were sitting at the table me and my sister started to cry. Mom said “But just don't bring it up while we are down there please he doesn't need the stress.” We both said ok and carried on with the day. That Monday we got up early in the morning and packed up the car and Jonathan wanted to take his remote control monster truck that he got on christmas and I told him “we don't have any room for that” And mom said “let him take it this could be the last time he could spend time with him.”

Life offers one many obstacles and the way one handles them defines whether they will reap the benefits of the challenges. The experiences that accompany life allow one to appreciate success once it is achieved. In my life, the death of my father forced me to grow up quickly and learn how to be an adult early. Even though I believed it was unfair when I was younger, I truly understand it was a blessing now.

Struggles show people's strength and even brings families closer. It taught me that the only thing that was holding me back from happiness was myself. I distanced myself from my family rather than staying together and being there for them. My mom was suffering from depression and I used that as an anchor to hold all solutions and replace them with excuses. I believe life will go on no matter what. I believe life is what you make of it. I believe life is full of wonderful and horrible things that we must experience both in order to become extraordinary humans. I believe my life has been full of challenges and confrontations, each of which has helped to shape me into the strong young woman I am today. Despite it all I know there is more to learn and observe, meaning room to grow. All these experiences lead me to a happier life in which has motivated me to keep growing, learning, striving, and bettering my life. I believe there is

In life there are challenges that you'll go through. Some of these challenges are beneficial, while the others can be devastated. When people go through these challenges this is called adversity. In case you don’t know, adversity is an unfavorable fortune or fate. Even if you haven't gone through it yet, everybody goes through it in life. It’s a part of life that you can’t escape. When I was 13 years old I got the news that I lost my great grandfather to Alzheimer's disease. When I found out I was devastated. Around this time I was struggling in school, my grades were going down, I had a miserable feeling, and I was feeling sorry for myself. I was putting up a front as if everything was good, but in reality I was sad. I was angry at the same

April, 26 2012 my dad died. I believe it was the month of December when my mom sat me down and told me. I will forget this night, We got Popeye's for dinner and she usually didn’t sit at the dinner table with me but this night she did. I remember her sitting directly across from me staring and smiling, I could tell something was up. Then she told me Papi has liver cancer, and the doctors say he has a few months left but we’re not gonna go by what the doctors say we’re going by what the good lord says! At this time I was 12 so it didn’t really know how serious I should of been taking it. I remember I felt like crying but I didn’t want my mom to know I was scared, so I tried to hold back my tears. The thing is when he was battling with this I never really thought about the fact that he would die, I just thought he would get better and everything would be fine.

February twenty-third 2010 was just a regular ordinary day. I was on my way to class on this cold February afternoon, when my phone rung. It was my cousin on the other end telling me to call my mom. I could not figure out what was wrong, so I quickly said okay and I hung up and called my mom. When my mom answered the phone I told her the message but I said I do not know what is wrong. My mom was at work and could not call right away, so I took the effort to call my cousin back to see what was going on. She told me that our uncle was in the hospital and that it did not look good. Starting to tear up I pull over in a fast food restaurant parking lot to listen to more to what my cousin had to say. She then tells me to tell my mom to get to

It has been said that life can never be carried out and truly lived to its fullest unless there has been some sort of suffering and pain. Mistakes are to be learned from, and a hard past can only result in a stronger present. Though many might find themselves alone in their misery the truth is they are not, everyone has struggles. We all have our ups and downs, but it is how we react to them that truly matters. Life is life and no matter what, giving up on lifelong dreams and aspirations because of a few bumps in the road should never be an option.

It was a cool Sunday morning in the summer month of August. My brother was getting his senior pictures taken. My family and I were all laughing and having a great time together. Later in the day, I went to dance choreography while my dad and brothers went on a four wheeler ride with their friends down in the muddy and rugged creek near our house. Usually after dance choreography, my mom comes to take videos and pictures of our dance, but our session ended and she was not there. That is when I began to sense something was wrong as the normal became abnormal. My friend’s mom told me she was picking me up because my dad had been in an accident and was flown to the hospital in St. Louis. Immediately, I began to cry, but my caring dance teacher and loving friends comforted me as I left for the St. Louis hospital with my friend

Throughout my life, I have been through many difficult times in my life. At only eighteen, I never thought that I would fall in love with an addict, who opened my eyes and changed my life. I now firmly believe that facing difficult challenges in life brings you closer to those you love while learning about who you are as a person.

While walking to my new school with my backpack on a Wednesday, a year after my father’s death today was not a happy day. A year after my father past away in the most horrific event I have ever experienced. I saw him lying down in the streets outside by house as cold as hell with his guts spilled all over the street. The cause of his death was not explained and I have not been the same person since. No doubt losing my dad was as hard as losing my own guts. We got along well and having that string blown apart can really make a person go dark.