Personal Experience

I closed the door, and I held that piece of jewelry in my hand for twenty-six hours, all the way down to my new home in Florida. I remember stepping out of the truck into the warm, stifling air. I inhaled deeply and thought to myself, this is it, this is where my new life begins. This is where I show my family that I am strong, I’ll show them that nothing can break me down now. I was alone in the beginning part of my new life. It taught me strength I didn’t know I had. People just need to hope and believe that old relationships can kindle back together, which they did when we were able to move back home to CT. Having to change everything so quickly at such a young age made me realize that everything really does happen for a reason and life will fall back into place when you just have a little hope and understanding. I grew up to be the woman I am today because of learning what reality can be, having to mature at such a young age, and in being one structure that helped to hold my family together through this difficult time. The hard times were a learning point that created the beautiful and meaningful things I have in my life today and I would not go back and change anything that has

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)

One of my personal experiences that I had was when my family decided to move from New Jersey to Florida. I never planned on moving with them but my mother basically forced me into moving with them. It wasn’t really all that moving stuff because the new house was actually pretty nice, it was just I had all my friends there and I was doing well in school. Nothing I said convinced my mother so after a week of packing we was off to Florida. The first week being there was a horrible week. Nothing was going right for me, I missed the school bus for a whole week, dropped my milk on my new shoes, and tripped over nothing in lunch. It was just trying to move back but parents always have this life lesson speech about trying to make new friends and try to get used to being here until we move again. It’s been about a month since we moved to Florida and I met about zero friends but I got used to living here since I’ve found something that interested me as an after school hobby and that was fishing. There’s barley any lakes or ponds in New Jersey so fishing wasn’t really something you do as a time waster. I usually fished right after I got home but on that day it was rainy and it wasn’t really a good time to fish so I just decided to practice my free shots until it started raining hard. I think I was outside for about 20minutes and suddenly a couple kids from my new school asked if they can shoot

I remember when my water bag broke; it was August 12, 1992, and the time was 12:15am.I was very excited that I would see my new baby on her due date. I did what the child birthing book recommended. I woke my husband up and told him to call the hospital. In the meantime I decided to take a shower. I was pretty calm because I didn't have any contractions. I wore my best maternity outfit and was spruced up compared to my husband. I even put on some perfume. You see, we had just gone to bed at 11:30 that night. My husband looked a little worse for wear. We got to the hospital and then were led into the maternity room. The room looked a little dingy with its yellow light and peeling paint. The hospital bed was small and narrow. I got scared,

On March 30, as of three thirty in the morning, my life has officially changed. The labor pains had set in and it was time to have a baby. I had never felt a pain so excruciating in my life, and I thought that cramps were terrible, labor pains do not even compare. I climbed the stairs to my aunts room to let her know that it was time to go to the hospital. After watching her run around the room frantically she finally was able to rush me to the hospital. She zoomed through street lights rushing for fear that I may have the baby in the car and she would pass out. Had

On January 3rd, 2008 a very cold winter day my water bag broke as I grab my bags and get ready to head to the hospital with so many mixed emotions happy,scared, sad and overwhelmed as we arrive at Cypress hospital in Houston,Tx at 9:30 am they quickly give us a room in the labor and delivery as we wait for our son to enter the world hours pass by and still nothing no baby almost 10 hours of waiting for our son his heart rate was dropping Dr.Castillo came in to inform us that I was needing an emergency c-section to get the baby out as soon as possible as we prepare to go into surgery a nurse walk in to give me anaesthesia and procedures that will happen during surgery I'm filled with so much nerves of the unknown praying my son comes out fine

Contractions had begun timing in at three minutes apart. The pain was getting worse and worse, so I hopped in the shower looking for some relief. I stood there leaning on the side of the tub crying, praying for it to be baby time finally, after 40 long weeks of waiting. "You okay?" my mom yelled. "No, i'm not. I think it's time to go the hospital." I hopped out of the shower, threw on clothes, brushed my hair and teeth, and went to find shoes and my packed bags.

My husband and I were terribly excited, but didn’t know what to do next there weren’t any contractions, and I wasn’t uncomfortable at all. So, we continued watching television for approximating 15 minutes. I finally said “Maybe we should call the phone a nurse service. The OB on call (who was NOT my regular OB) called back in about 10 minutes and told me to go to the ER-NOW. So, I laughed, packed my bag, and went to the hospital about 30 minutes away. I had one strong contraction while filling in the paperwork, but was still not really uncomfortable. I went straight to the hospital and was told the baby was going to come that night. The nurses had me hooked up to the monitors and would say, “You’re having a contraction.” And I’d say, “I am?” because I really didn’t feel anything. Then I took a deep breath and pushed down my baby with own power while I followed my body. Before my breath finished, my baby came sliding out of me. While I exhaled, I quietly said that he is born. They put my son into my arms even before cutting his

A Braxton Hicks contraction had hit and before you knew it I went off on company and my dogs did too because he was picking at me physically. Little did I Know that the uproar had started the laboring process. I remember telling my mom that I was in pain before we went to bed and she said, “ time them until they're closer together.” I stayed awake, tossed and turned all night; Even wrote down the times a contraction hit. I wasn’t so much panicking, more overjoyed it was finally signaling the end. Prepared, No wasn’t ready for what was to come.

Between 6 AM to noon, I attempted taking a nap, but kept waking up from stronger "cramps". Since taking a nap seemed impossible, I decided to call my mother to tell her everything that was leading me to think I was in early labor. She assured me I was, and told me I would have our baby very soon! Thanks to my mom, I finally came to accept that I was indeed experiencing contractions and was in early labor. Especially since they were happening every 5 mins! After hanging up with my mom, I called Chris and told him he needed to come home right away because we were going to have our baby very soon. He was so happy and left work immediately to meet me at our house. In the meantime, I paced back and forth in my house and bounced on my exercise ball

     When I awakened the following morning, I knew that my day was just getting started. In what seemed like no time at all, my contractions were once again very keen. Around nine that morning the nurse checked me and I had only dilated four centimeters. I was enduring excruciating pain. Never in my life could I have imagined that labor pains could hurt this much. My contractions were now in the hardest stage of labor and they continued to remain this way over the next several hours. The pain was glut. I could barely stand myself. No one in the room could tolerate my clamor anymore. I wanted to

I will never forget the moment my labor began, the moment that marked that step in my journey into motherhood. I can remember everything about it so clearly. My mom, fiancé, and I woke up early Friday morning to make our way to Western Missouri Medical Center. I stood in front of the mirror looking at my belly knowing it would be my last time standing in that bathroom with my baby inside of me still. It was a bittersweet moment that I cherished as long as I possibly could. I was set to be induced that morning and very excited, yet a little bit nervous. I had no idea what to expect. I’d been waiting a very long 37 weeks to finally meet this precious human that had been growing inside me. I had ideas of what he might look like, and what the experience might be like, however nothing could have prepared me for what was in store over the next few days.

Mother: I have a case of moderate arthritis from playing tennis and gardening, so my doctors were concerned about my body's ability to carry the pregnancy to full term and handle the full ordeal of the delivery. The birth of our child took a long time. I was in labor for nearly four days. We hired a lovely midwife who has specialized knowledge in handling special births, but after the second day, we decided to load me up in the car and head for the hospital. It was frightening, I suppose, but I also felt a clarity of purpose. I really wanted this baby and I knew that the baby's best chance and my best chance for survival was for me to stay calm and coherent as possible, for the sake of my family.

It was an unpleasantly early morning in the hospital waiting room. Nurses buzzed around, busy attending to their patients while a faint beeping sound could be heard in the background. I was starting my second shift of the day at the hospital, just finishing working a shift in the dark, grimy morgue. Groggy, I sat down at my desk to begin another four hours of labor. My position was to assure that the paper work was properly completed and that all patients were attended too. While being a supervising nurse was a great responsibility, it left time to day dream.

When I think of my own personal past experiences, I think of the most significant events and most likely think that those are the times that have shaped you as who you are today and who you are in the future. When my grandpa had passed away there were major effects that my family and I had faced. Difficulties like not being able to sleep at night and having lost someone who meant something special to everyone. When I think about the smaller challenges I have faced in the past and throughout my life, I can start to put together that even the most insignificant events that have happened in the past could make a significant impact on the person I am in my near or far future. Occurrences like going through broken bones, losing friends, or even a gym teacher might have a greater force than I may have expected.