My Personal Experience : My Experience In My Life

We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors helped you to grow? (800)

At the age of four, my parents divorced and my life as I knew it changed forever. I moved to nine different schools before graduating high school and was raised by a single mother. The most brutal reminder, however, was our family dinner. I remember all too well the taste of stale bread and damaged foods purchased from consignment grocery stores. In a sense, I lived the stereotypical Appalachian life in Wise County Virginia, which lies directly on the border of Eastern Kentucky. The way I found to best cope with my situation as a child, was to respect what my mother could do to provide for her children. To this day, my mother and I have a very close relationship. We rely on the advice of each other for anything from emotional support to her business ventures. Through the times in which she struggled to provide for her children, our family learned together that cohesion and cooperation could pull us out of any circumstance. My grandfather was a mortician, community leader, and CEO of Norton Community Hospital for 40 years, which is a small hospital in Southwest Virginia. I spent most of my early childhood with my grandparents and without this upbringing may have never found my interests in medicine. Living in Appalachia, I witnessed a decline in the health of my family, friends, and neighbors at an unusually rapid pace. My upbringing gives me a perspective on the need for patient-centered and cost-effective healthcare. I learned to make the most out of every situation and

The last four years of my life were definitely some for the books. With ups and downs, I was learning no matter what. I was learning how to deal with myself personally, my peers, my family, my financial situation, and my academic situation. I also taught myself that it was better to be alone than to be with the wrong group of friends. That being said, it is not always bad to be hanging out with the “wrong” people.

A crisp, snowy night on the seventh of December, 2001. Slush crowded at the edge of roads. Cars trudged across the smothered streets. On this night, my mom gave birth to me. A quick learner, I walk and talk by the time I turn 10 months old. By the age of three, I ride bikes without training wheels. At only six years old, I attempted more advanced math while the rest of my class worked through addition and subtraction exercises. Throughout all of my early accomplishments and disappointments, I always took pride in the effort I applied to important events and even everyday assignments. This past year, I played two varsity sports, played for a club soccer team and the state soccer team, and maintained a 4.0 gpa through it all. Even when I was swamped with homework and practices, I still found time to push my mind and fitness an extra mile. I aspire to lead, not follow people. I always want to be the first person to soccer practice, the first person to finish a race, and the person who others go to with questions in class. The hashtag that epitomizes my life is #firstneverfollows.

After raising three children and twenty-five years of marriage, I found myself single and alone. Though I have always worked full time and maintained a home, navigating the single life was like a foreign language to me, and I struggled to find my comfort zone. I tried relaxing with friends, but found many of them were on a hunt of their own. Frequenting places that gave the appearance of a social function chalked full of fun, only to find late nights filled with alcohol and shallow connections. Over time, I realized I had lost my inner self. I didn’t know who I was or what brought me joy. I had been a wife and mother for so long, I didn’t know how to entertain myself. At times, I found myself unhappy with the life I created and pondered ways that I could change it. I knew I was different, I knew I needed more than social connections or late nights away from my home. I needed something for myself; to be needed, to have someone to care for, or better yet, a goal.

My life, in my opinion, is not boring or dull, but rather quite exciting. It has always been crazy and it still is now. When I was 4 years old, I had both my tonsils removed, resulting in me only being able to eat soft foods for 1 week. When I was 6 years old, I was diagnosed with ADHD. That made me have to take ADHD medications. Every time the medication would seem to be working, it would become ineffective, making me have to switch medications. I’ve heard the names of the medications so many times, they are burned into my mind. Dextroamphetamine. Clonidine. Methylphenidate. Guanfacine. Amoxatine. Lisdexamfetamine. The doctor kept on switching my medications for about 2 years until we finally found something that worked. But another problem had to crop up. At the age of 10, I broke my right collarbone and had to get a sling. Of course, it had to be my dominant arm, instead of my left, but as luck would have it, it was my right. Now I am 13 years old, and I live in Green Bay, Wisconsin with my mom, dad, and my sister Zoe.

One wonders where to start? It happened so long ago the memories are all forgotten but a couple tiny, minute fragments; Shattered pieces, I can only see small picture like memories of. The one I remember most is a story of teaching, of enlightenment. When I learned a lesson that I will keep for a lifetime. To treasure life and all things given for you do not know when they can be taken from you.

This whole summer was the worst summer I have ever encountered. I learned many different lessons and the whole experience taught me a lot. It all started in the beginning of May 2016, when I first ever talked to Raf, the new foreign exchange student, over Facebook. We talked and Facetimed several times throughout the summer. Most of the time I could not understand what he said because his English sounded truly horrendous. His bad English and his accent would be difficult to adjust to.

I would say that during my elementary years, I had a pretty good childhood. One of my highlights of this time was spending a lot of my time with my childhood best friend. My mind fills with memories about of all the times I spent with her when I recollect. In particular, one of these memories made me learn an important life lesson. If this time in my life never happened, I could definitely say my life would be very different now.

Have you ever felt like life is difficult? Or not to your expectations? Chances are that we all have to deal with some difficult situations at times. When I was in Middle School I struggled to fit in with my classmates. I have always been quiet and just listened to their conversations. They always had so much to talk about and plans to see movies and other plans such as going to parties and other social gatherings. But I was never included or invited. I remember one day I came home and went straight to my room, laid down on my bed and cried. My mom came into my room and asked what was wrong. I told her what happened that made me feel very sad and cry. A girl in my group passed out invitations for her birthday party to everyone but me. My mother told me that if I had received the invitation for the birthday party I would probably be ignored and they would act like as if I wasn’t there. And she also said “this is a life lesson that I want you to remember, when you invite someone make sure you include the whole group or invite privately. Then she told her story about not having time to be with friends.

Throughout my life I have always put an extensive effort into always trying my best in everything that I do. This applies throughout my school, work, at home, and sporting lives. Doing so is one of the things I am most proud of. Throughout my life I have suffered and have overcome extreme circumstances and adversities. These setbacks have come from four major concussions to a shoulder surgery that has failed. Constantly, I have been right there to bounce back and to do even better, whether the indicated subject is school, work, sports, volunteering, or even extra-curricular Math and Science contests, I have always persevered.

Everybody has a diverse environment in which they grew up in, and it is unique to the individual, never to be replicated. I have experienced this sense of variance first hand. Growing up with a father birthed in Syria and a mother from the coast of Long Beach, California, my childhood was, to say the least, interesting. However, everything that happened from my birth until now, all made me who I am today, someone I am very proud to have become after these seventeen years.

I remember when I was younger, looking in the mirror and daydreaming. My reflection showed a young girl with a big ambition, one so big that it would wow the world. She was wearing the colours of her favourite football team with her thick, worn through socks pulled up high thinking that nothing could stop her. I would put on my dad’s frayed and oversized football guernsey reminiscing about the special and inspirational moments it had been worn through, thinking of ways I could recreate them for myself. Thinking one day this will be me creating endless possibilities and unforgettable memories for myself and the football world. Hoping one day I will get the opportunity like the rest of my family to play this great game. However, I was soon to discover this were not to be the case.

After reviewing my life, I have decided my life has had a defining moment which will be when I moved away from family in the middle of my senior year of High School back to my hometown with my auntie.Moving is usually a dreadful thing, but for me it was a blessing.The fact that I can have a chance to get to relive my life and do and become what I want to be. I’ll finally get a chance to start over fresh and be able to become the person that my family would be proud of .

I remember my own engagement session back in 2010. At the time, I was even sure that we needed one given that we had our wedding just a few weeks away. I didn't know many other people who had experienced one either so wondered why our photographers had offered us the opportunity to have one. Boy, am I glad we did.