Smooth Seas: A Short Story

Playing sports was the highlight of my childhood (BE12). My friends and I played pretty much every sport there was to play. All the seasons flowed together. The day after football was over, we were all shooting hoops and playing basketball. As we all grew up, some of us are still busy with sports in every season of the year. Others of us chose to stick with one or two sports. Football and basketball, until this year, were the two sports that I chose to stick with (SC11). However, these two sports are very different from one another.

Late middle school my grandfather suffered from a minor shortly followed by a major stroke that left him unable to use the left half of his body. From March 25, 2008 to May 25, 2011 my grandfather constantly needed the attention of another. Witnessing my grandfather’s health slowly deteriorate has caused me to be more sympathetic towards other. Seeing how my grandfather’s passing others showed me that regardless of how strong physically and mentally an individual may be, losing a loved one is a dreadful experience. While volunteering at Sutter Memorial I always remembered how my family was affected and this helped me help them through frightful feelings of seeing a loved one in a grim

My favorite sport is football. I’m quite good at it if I do say so myself. Football is a sport that is very physical and I can really get hurt. When I play football I feel like my life’s in danger because there’s always a 50-50 chance I’ll never be the same again. I feel like god put me on this earth to play football because I’m so talented. I know this is my only way out of my “drought season”.

Sports have been a huge part of my life ever since I was about five years old. It has impacted my life so much. The biggest challenge that I faced was with my injuries during basketball and soccer season. I recently had to quit soccer and basketball, which was difficult for me.

On May 11th 2013, my grandma passed away due to pancreatic cancer. A little later that year on September 25th, my mom received a call from my aunt in Guam that my dad had passed away in his sleep. Then on May 14th 2014, my grandpa passed from complications of an allergic reaction to a medication. So within a year, I was left to deal with three immediate family deaths, one right after another. Losing such important figures in one’s life could leave someone depressed and unmotivated to move on with their own life and to rise above those challenges is difficult, yet possible. During this time of hardship, I grew discouraged and saddened, but over time I became motivated to set aside these struggles and make a change.

I have always loved sports ever since I was a little kid. Some of my earliest memories are of playing soccer with my friends on a wet, cold spring day or hitting a ball off of a tee and feeling like it went a mile, when in reality it only went about fifty feet. Even to this day I still can never get enough of sports. I get about four weeks off out of the entire year where I’m not technically in a sport, but I’m still always practicing and trying to get better because that’s the only way I know. I love everything about sports: the friendships, the competition, the passion, the atmosphere, the unity. Sports are one of my true loves and they consume my life. It is this strong desire that I have for sports that has driven me to want to pursue a

My parent’s struggles taught me to never accept defeat because there are endless possibilities for those who don’t give up. Their perseverance for a better life sparked a sense of determination in me that ignited a fuel for prosperity, and an optimism for bigger and better opportunities not only for me, but for my

Although, I felt that quitting baseball was not the finish to my journey. This was the start of high school, with new opportunities staring at my face. Still passionate about sports, I anticipated finding another that intrigued me. At lunch one day, I told my friend about quitting baseball and how I wanted to try something new. I profoundly reminisce him saying, “If you want a challenge, come run track with me.” My knowlege of track wasn’t immense, but I knew that running was something I craved to do more of. Therefore, I needed execute this challenge for myself. After all of the years of playing baseball because of the expectations I thought were on me, I stepped out of my comfort

My own loss sparked a desire to help others through tough times. I therefore began volunteering at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, where I consoled people going through those times, and let them disclose their feelings with tears and words the way I needed to when I was in their shoes. Unfortunately, I also met people who were dying and had no visitors to support them through their death. For instance, I visited a woman on several occasions and shared a few laughs and stories with her. She ultimately died from C. difficile over a period of three weeks in the hospital. At those moments, I was glad patients like her had someone with them, even if I was a stranger to them. Still, there were much happier occasions where families learned their sons and daughters and parents were alive, recovering, or asking for their company. Through all this, I recognized the fear and pain they felt, and helped them move forward. Care, compassion, and empathy are all

My whole family and I were devastated by the sudden death of my uncle Ryan. He had been sick with what we had thought was the flu, but later realized that it was pneumonia. I believe that we learned so much from this experience and were able to come closer as a family. As a result of my uncle’s death, my whole family decided to take a get-a-way trip to the Dominican Republic during his birthday and Christmas. While I was there I learned a very important lesson; I am blessed to live in the United States.

I received the news, that my mother had no chance to live and one doctor, placed his hand on my shoulder and sighed loudly with discomfort. He said,” she is not a candidate for any treatment.” I stormed into the ICU room, and held my mother’s hand; she glared at me, unconsciously. I couldn't help but hold back my emotions, so I could be strong for our family. As my eyes were helplessly filling up with tears, I couldn't help but to look around at the doctors and nurses working diligently, and doing the best they could for my mother. At the moment, I remembered the sacrifices that were made to help my mother and how saving lives was my calling from God. Thankfully, my mother survives but only at a twenty percent ejection

I couldn't help but to start crying because that is my hero. My father is the best man on this planet and by far the best father so I kept thinking why my daddy? He's completely healthy he takes care of himself it just doesn't make any sense. A day after being in the hospital he had a stroke and almost died. I went to see him and he had forgotten who I was on that day, but thankfully he regained his memory. I also remember feeling worthless, because out of everything he has done for me, I couldn't help him get better or figure out why this happened so unexpectedly and unplanned. For me, seeing my hero, my father almost die in a hospital inspired me to take my hobbies of helping people to another level. I want to use my heart and skills in the medical field and one day travel around the world to help kids who do not have medicine, surgeons or good healthcare. I want to enroll in the BSN program to actually be able to help people medically, have absolute knowledge about the human body and to try to prevent certain situations from happening. My fathers accident made my drive and dedication to helping people so strong to the point that now, I know I belong in the medical

It was May 2006, my grandfather lay in his hospice bed, tired and weary, dying of pancreatic cancer. There was nothing I, or any one in my family could do for him. My grandfather was one of the biggest influences I had on my life, and here I was siting helpless as he was dying. However, there was one woman who was able to aid my grandfather in his midnight hour, nurse Judy. Nurse Judy would stay up all night and comfort my grandfather, and she acted quickly when he was in vital need of something. Nurse Judy was not only there for my grandfather but for the rest of my family as well. She would comfort my mother and grandmother, and explain various medical terminology to my brothers and I. It was during this tremendously difficult time in my life that I made the decision to become a nurse. I saw all of the good I can do for the patients, as well as their families just by being there for them during difficult times.

Sports were never one of my strongest points. I could barely make it above average in physical education class so I was perplexed when my housemistress selected me as one of the athletes to represent my house in the annual inter-house competition. Apparently the house was running low on athletes and no one was willing to volunteer for the javelin throw. I grudgingly went ahead with it since there was no way out of the situation: then began the most stressful weeks I had ever experienced. Since my experience in the sport was non-existent, I had to invest double the effort put in by the other athletes. Every morning, I woke up at four o'clock to meet the coach while my fellow mates enjoyed the comfort of their beds. Majority of my time was spent on the school field. After weeks of seemingly endless training sessions and aching joints, the day assigned for the event was finally here. The competition was very keen since most of the athletes were adept in the sport. I watched on as each athlete took her turn and I could not help but envy the speed with which they ran toward the sector and the finesse they put in their posture as they threw the javelin. Each time an athlete made the mark, my self-confidence dropped a notch. The previous quietude inside me was suddenly gone. In its place was an overwhelming feeling of apprehension. I felt a strong urge to back out and it did not help that there was a little pesky voice in my head that kept on

Everything in life happens for a reason and nothing happens by happenstance, chance or luck. I