Pivotal Moment In My Life

It was a night resembling every other preceding it, though within it was a pivotal moment directing me on a path to a world of medicine. As the rays of light began to recede and the sounds of the crickets chirping resonated louder with each passing minute, there I sat upon the curb watching my younger family members race back and forth across the gravel in pursuit of earning their team a goal. The parents stood idly by conversing with one another, failing to notice when a particular young boy tripped on one knee with great force. Slowly he stood as the other players on the field continued playing without a glance towards their injured teammate. Turning in the opposite direction he walked to a secluded area, slumped down, and bowed his head while cupping his knee. Approaching him, I noticed there was the faint sound of sniffling. Bending down I asked if he was hurt and at last he raised his head, still holding on to his knee. Putting on a brave face he responded with a resolute no.

1. What are some defining moments in your childhood that changed you , shaped you into who you are today, or helped you mature or grow?

I jumped out of bed, it was time I thought the time I had been waiting for so long, I ran over and to my nightstand and grabbed the socks and jumped all the stairs, I felt like I could fly, until I hit the ground and rolled. Then I hurried over to the front door and grabbed my shoes, Come on! My dad said from the car outside, and right as I left I could hear my brothers yelling at me,”go back to bed!”, no I yelled from the door and ran outside still feeling pleased with myself, and my dad drove off.

My third week at Elon has been completed and I can only think of the adjustments I’ve had to make. It was August 19th, the morning i was leaving to head to Elon for move in day on the 21st. My family and I woke up at 5:30 in the morning so that we could be New York City traffic. I couldn’t sleep the night before that. Because I was nervous and unsure of what would happen, my stomach was very unsettled. We pulled out of my driveway and headed up the street. I looked back and saw my house that I wouldn’t see again until October. In a sense, I was leaving the loading station of a rollercoaster: dazed, confused, and uncertain. I was not sure how difficult this new chapter of my life would be. Is it going to be easy, hard, or a roller coaster?

Everyone discovers the pain of losing someone they love eventually. In my opinion, my turn to experience that pain came much too early. But, that loss also forced me to grow up. It forced to me accept the things that I can’t change, to start taking responsibility for my actions, and it showed me that the world most definitely doesn’t revolve around me. There has been no experience, relationship, challenge, or obstacle that has influenced me more than saying goodbye to my grandpa.

Pressure builds all around me, my head swimming in emotions and the loud thumping from my blood flow. My heart rate is out of control, but this is becoming a normal routine for me. The clock on the wall reads 4:32am; so I pull on some pants, grab a pack of cigarettes and my earphones.

It was a casual sunny mall day on a Tuesday afternoon. It was the kind of day where you get front row parking and never stand in line to check-out. It was just my toddler son and I needlessly getting out of the house to enjoy a bit of cool mall air. Our first stop is always the playground but I had to grab a few Auntie Ann’s soft pretzels to munch on while I watched him at play. Being pregnant, I simply could not resist the buttery-baked aroma circulating the air. After contemplating cinnamon sugar, I ordered the biggest cup of salted pretzel bites and a refreshing strawberry-lemonade to drink. Although I have had Auntie Anne’s pretzels numerous of times, I was not prepared for what was about to happen next.

On January 18th, the class was given the assignment to try not to use media all day. I however, did not succeed due to certain, stressing matters that came up.

As a child I have always been known to my family as a quiet person. My parents would always tell me to be more open, to speak loudly, to get out of my shell. I really couldn’t find a way to express myself to get out what I was feeling inside to the my parents and to the world. As I started getting older I found ways to express myself through writing, and painting. Although I didn’t speak much I wrote my thoughts down in my little journals at home, though it being positive or negative, it became like therapy for my soul. I would write about moments that impacted my life and would then use them as lyrics that I would record myself signing to. These songs would serve as motivation to keep me moving forward. As an introvert I used creativity

"Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get." (Forrest Gump). Experiences received throughout life are random at best and not knowing which delectable treats are sweet, I brace myself for what may turn out to be life-changing. From these bitter and sweet occurrences, my life constantly reshapes the way I interpret and react to similar situations that arise. Life altering events change my behavior due to the outcome of decisions made, opportunities missed and phone calls received.

We all have times or moments in our lives where we learn something. We learn our life lessons through trial and tribulation, and through happy times alike. I have had several moments like this, when you learn something through an experience of yours. Some of these moments were happy moments, others were sad. These incidences are sort of like tests, and an opportunity to learn from our mistakes, or to learn from others’ mistakes along the way. One time in my life when I learned one of these lessons was when I was in second grade. I had just moved to Oklahoma from Texas, but I was not nervous about going to a new school. I had always had no trouble making friends wherever I went. I did not expect to be met with challenges that no second grader should ever have to encounter; racism and being told that my friends could not play with me because I was a girl.

Everybody will go through moments in their life which will teach them lessons, some that are more important than others, and personally there is one event that still sticks in my mind to this day. It was the time that I started my dad’s car and accidently crashed into my neighbour’s garage door. Today, I know that I should never go against my parent’s words, and I know for sure that the day I crashed my parent’s car is when I taught myself this life lesson.

I was always been told as child that I would have that moment. The moment in which you would know instantly that you were created for something better than yourself- the moment a ‘light bulb’ per se would go off in your head. Growing up, I have struggled trying to find this moment. My parents taught me the value of hard work, and no matter what my moment would be I would need to work for it. Between being a full time high school and part time college student, holding leadership positions in many extracurricular activities, playing a varsity sport, volunteering with many organizations, and working part time, I learned time management and graduated in the top ten of my high school graduating class with distinction and honors. The study skills and organization methods I learned soon carried over to my college experience when my school and work load equally doubled creating a hectic atmosphere. Many people have asked me why I add unneeded stress into my life by becoming apart of my college by representing organizations on different ends of the spectrum, and why I sometimes pull a thirty hour work week to compensate someone else needing time off.

There are many moments in my life that I consider important. While some of those moments are great, others still haunt me to this day. I have had some bizarre encounters in my life, but none as daunting as the night that I was stabbed.

My tragedy started when I was about really young about 10 years old but I didn't know it then. My real father has always been in and out of my life which I now know had a big effect on me then but not so much now because my mindset has changed so much for the better since everything happened. When I was about 5 years old my mom had meet this guy and his name was Daniel and little did I know then that Daniel was going to have the one of the biggest impacts on my life. At the time i had a 3 year old sister, me and my sister always grew up super close but we did have different dads which means nothing because I still love her but it’ll be relevant later. Growing up Daniel always made things happen for our family we always did new, fun and exciting things that I will forever be so grateful for, he was Always and I do mean always there for my family when we needed him. He is a mechanic and a really good one he makes a lot of money because of it but a lot of that money went to alcohol.