The Day That Changed My Life Forever

I asked my mom “what’s wrong,” she replied with a sorrowful “your Aunt Lisa is in trouble, we must leave now.” The worst part of all of this was my Aunt Lisa’s son was with us, Matthew. He did not know what to think or believe. No one knew the world would slowly start shattering beneath all of us that morning. We drove to her house, we saw ambulances and police cars driving by, that did not help our nerves at all. We finally arrived at her apartment, we never thought all of those emergency vehicles would be going there. My brother and I stay in the car since I was only eight and he was only eleven. My mom and cousin run into the apartment hoping to only find my Aunt had fallen and is unconscious, or she is passed out drunk, just let it be something that is not permanent. What they come to find is that my Aunt is laying on the floor, unconscious, but cold as ice. It was not from someone killing her, or us getting there too late. She had died twenty-four minutes before that phone

That day when I returned home from school, my mom’s boyfriend called me asking to speak to my grandmother. Typically, Gus would call my grandmother himself if he wanted to speak with her, which was rare. I found out about my mom going to the hospital from my grandmother after that phone call. The doctor told my family that a stroke afflicted her in the middle of the day. My mom confused the date with her birthday, had trouble getting words out and remembering our family member’s names. The nurse had to take her for walks periodically and exercise her legs and arms because they were weak. Seeing my mother in this condition made me appreciate my mother and everything she does for me tremendously. However, I was terrified for my mother’s health.

I went to my living room to ask my mom a question, to see she wasn’t there. I asked my brother “where’s mom?” and he replied with “shes at the hospital, grandpa got burnt.” I would never have expected “grandpa got burnt” to be as severe as it was. I remember my mom coming home around two in the morning. I got up and out of bed to ask some questions. She said “I don’t wanna talk about it right now. Pack some stuff up, we’re going to Waterloo tomorrow.” So I listened and packed up a bag.

It was a cold, rainy winter morning in Liverpool. I had gone about my morning no different than any other working day. By 6:30AM I was showered, dressed, and full from my huge bowl of cereal. This gave me fifteen minutes to watch the latest news before I left to arrive at work for 7AM. It was 9.15AM when my cell phone began to ring; it was a call from my mother. I could tell by the quick, anxious, but bold and loud tone her voice that this was not going to be a

Five days had passed this time since anyone had heard from my mother. I remember praying to God to protect her from harm and for me to find her. The next day she showed up, but not in the way we had hoped. One morning as I was getting ready for school my sophomore year in high school, my phone rang to the voice of my stepfather. My stepfather had told me he heard a call come over the dispatch scanner at his work and my mother’s name was mentioned. The sheriff had informed my stepfather that my mother had been involved in an accident. My stepfather asked me to go to the emergency room and see what condition my mother was in because he lived a half hour away from the hospital. When I arrived at the hospital I found my mother cut out of her clothes, covered in her own urine, massive amounts of blood all over her body, and lying lifeless on life support on the table. At this point, no one knew whether my mother would be okay. My mother had bleeding on the brain as well as a tear in her shoulder, a shattered face, and a chest tube draining fluid from her lung which had collapsed. All I could do was pray! My mother’s life was in God’s hands now. Three days later she woke

I was in shock of the word that came out of my mom's mouth. I went back into my room and ate my ramen noodles. Slowly, just staring at the wall. It was 5:00 in the afternoon. Our house was a complete mess. Clothes everywhere, food, And just everything around the house. To be honest I don't even know how all these stuff get in here. For the past few days my mom was just in her room sobbing, having my dad's clothes on her bed smelling them. I was scared to walk in the room because I know she would yell at me and scream these horrible things that I know she don't mean. I took a deep breath. *opens the creaky door, while

How could this have happened? This day was so normal. He was so normal. The night that changed mine and so many others lives beyond repair all began with a movie and supper.

It was May 17th, 2011, it was a normal school day when my brother and I were told that my mom called to say that she was picking us up early. I was anxious, wondering why we were going home early and breaking our usual routine. When my mom came to get us, the first thing that I noticed was that she didn’t greet us with her usual smile. I was 9 years old, very observant, but not able to sense what was to come. We got into the car, when I asked my mom where we were going hoping

The morning was normal, my dad greeted me with a hug and kiss then a bowl of cereal, but I could not shake the feeling that something was lost or missing. Throughout the day I had just sat on my couch wrapped in blankets and the warm embrace of my dad’s arms while we just sat there watching Chowder laughing so hard that we snort, but his laugh was quieter. His phone then starts to ring and he gets up to leave the room so I do not here what he has to say, but I heard him say, “Yeah, Karen’s mom, Ruth, died this morning. By this point my heart dropped and I started shaking. One of the biggest influences in my life gone and I did not want to believe it so i squinted my eyes and shut off my ears to the world. “This isn’t real AJ. I promise you this isn’t real,” I kept telling myself knowing the truth however. The day, however, would only get worse.

“You should never regret anything in life. If it's good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad it’s experience” by Olivia Holt. In that being said I try to live my life day by day not letting other people or other things stop me from being who I want to be. Sometimes I forget that quote and let things get in the way of my happiness or get in the way of what I want. I have to remind myself and move on from the bad things that have happened. I chose to believe that bad things that take place in my life is teaching me and shaping me to become a better person. I like to believe that some people are blessings and others are lessons and that no matter what happens life goes on.

The people you care most about in life could be taken away in a second so we have to spend our time wisely with them because you never know what could happen. I experienced that not to long ago and it made me appreciate who I have in my life. You don’t really think about all the important people in your life until you almost lose them.

That Monday I found my dream! It was an unforgettable day during my internship when I realized that Public Health was not just my interest, but my calling. Before that Monday, I had some vague idea of a career in health promotion. Then I met Lal, a Bhutanese refugee who had spent almost 20 years in the refugee camps of Nepal. That Monday, the vague idea blossomed into a firm desire to advocate for vulnerable populations such as refugees, displaced persons, victims of human trafficking, and more. Individuals such as Lal should not get lost in the chaos of conflict, or stymied by systemic barriers everywhere, including their place of safety.

When I sat down with Lal in my cubicle chair in the darkest corner of the office, little did I know that it was going to be one of my very first emotionally intense and empowering conversations of my career. Lal was my first refugee client at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a humanitarian aid organization that resettles refugees, where I had started my internship in Public Health. My role as a Public Health Intern was to support and assist refugees to navigate the intricacies of healthcare and other social services system as they walked their road to self-sufficiency and assimilation into a new culture. It was Monday, and the Health Team had walk-in hours for individuals who needed assistance. I introduced myself to Lal with my biggest smile and greeting in Nepali: "Namaste."

That Monday I had found my dream! It was during my internship when I realized that Public Health was not just my interest, but my calling. I want to advocate for vulnerable populations such as refugees, displaced individuals, victims of human trafficking, and more, so that individuals such as Lal do not get lost in the chaos of conflict, or systematic barriers.

Living a life where there is something that will always haunt me. Leaving me horrified every time I look down a road or if I see people on bikes. A day that is so real to me, leaving me terrified. A day that took my soul away leaving me with no light to spare looking for a way to get out. A day that made my life different from what it is today, which happened nine years ago. It happened on an evening in June, just as the sun was setting. Outside on top of the hill just right down the road from my house. It was me and my bike, I was very dare devilish when I was young; I did anything that was impossible and made it possible, but this day killed my every will to want, have, especially to do devilish things again. A day that changed my life