The Obstacle I Overcame: Food Allergies

The most significant challenge I have faced was when I was growing up was reading. Reading is one of the most important things it was hard for me to say some words that I thought I was never gonna learn to read ever even if they were just small words or big words I struggle so much while growing up. When I was

Please describe any socio-economic, educational, familial, cultural, or physical hardships or challenges you have overcome. You may attach a separate sheet if you need additional space.

The first obstacle had to face are my parent divorce. When this obstacle happened I was depressed and not do that good in school. My aunt had to take to with her friend that was an therapist I only went for one day, when it finish the therapy I realized that my life is not over just for a dilema. I was more relief and more ambitious to do all my work and pass all of my classes. The second obstacle is that I would struggle at school is turning in my work late when it was due the next day. Then, I had to overcome it by, making an agenda to keep my work on track and test to study for the agenda really helped me alot. My last dilemma is that I would work during school because me and my family depend on my dad sending money when sometime he wouldn't send us money. Me and my bigger sister would always try to find a job to help my mom to pay bills etc. Another obstacle is trying my best to have good grade and study in a correct way. I try to keep up my grade but sometimes it's hard. I sometimes

Everyone goes through a challenge at some point in their life. I went through a challenge last year at the beginning of my freshman year attending Foothills Christian High School. Last year, my freshman year I did not know anybody starting the school year. This made me super nervous to start high school. I was also concerned about the three days a week at school and two days homeschool. One of my challenges was going to school and parts of that challenge was not knowing anybody starting school, having to go to school on three days a week instead of five, and not knowing the campus well.

I think the biggest challenge I have faced and still face today, is being adopted from Russia. Based on the situation I was in, the chances of me being where I am today were definitely not in my favor. I was a 3 1/2 year old boy with no mother or father. As I got older the odds of me finding a forever home were getting slimmer and slimmer by the day. I was never supposed to be where I am today. God blessed me with two loving parents that adopted me, and brought me home to the United States. Although, I had a great life here in the U.S, I still faced the challenge of fitting in and being different from everyone else. I didn’t grow up in this culture or know these kids since birth. I was the different kid. The Russian boy, not the normal American

To be honest, I feel pretty lucky that I’ve never had to deal with what I would consider a major obstacle or problem. So I hesitate to call this a hardship or obstacle because in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t so bad. I do have asthma, it was pretty severe when I was younger, but it’s much improved now and I will probably grow out of it completely.

Facing obstacles, it is an everyday challenge for some people. Mine was a baseball to my face, during my sophomore year of high school. It happened during class at the end of the day. Some kids were practicing for baseball tryouts outside the gym, which is where I had my class. The ball caught on with the wind causing it to change course, making the ball fly straight into my face, specifically my left eye. Two months later I was diagnosed legally blind. I was thrown so far off track that I lost myself.

As a teenage there are not many obstacles that have faced, but there are a few. One obstacles that I have overcame in my life was the death of my aunt. During my junior year in october one of my aunt's passed away during her mother's birthday dinner. One minute we were eating and then the next we were at the hospital. It was so unexpected to say the least. This was the first death in our family in 18 years and none of us new how to cope with this sudden loss. I had never felt this grief or loss for someone ever in my life. I had to learn how to grieve and continue on. A similar thing happened when my uncle died last year. I had to be able to grieve and move on because I had so much to do with my everyday life and school.

What was the obstacle I overcame during my educational journey? Well, it all started out when I was merely six years old when my mother and I discovered pink and white, flaky patches appearing on my elbows and knees. They were painful, itching, and would bleed whenever I couldn’t fight the urge to not itch them anymore or they became too dry and would crack. My mother decided to schedule a Dermatologist appointment for me to finally answer the question we both had, which was: “What is this?” From the day my mother and I noticed the patches on my skin, it had spread from my scalp to the bottoms of my feet, resulting in my whole body being covered with whatever this was – even my eyelids. The day of the appointment, we received our answer and I was diagnosed with serve Psoriasis – the worst case my Dermatologist had seen in a child or adult in all his years of practice – and it wasn’t just one type. I had both Plaque Psoriasis – which affects most of your body – and Guttate Psoriasis – which affects the scalp, neck, upper arms, and thighs. From that day on I was given multiple topical creams, ointments,

Life always has its ups and downs but the way that you deal with them makes a person who they are. Some challenges I have had in my life include my weight, my stress, and my ADHD. While all these challenges are tough I have learned to beat them. The way I learned how to do this includes: talking with friends, family, and counselors.

One of the biggest obstacles I have had to overcome is the mental disorders I have. When I was 7 years old, I was diagnosed with ADHD. I struggled to keep up with my peers in school at times it caused negative effects on my grades. I had trouble with comprehending some topics and sometimes caused disruptions due to my lack of focus. My ADHD caused me to learn how to work harder to accomplish my goals and succeed in school. I was able overcome the obstacle my ADHD created and was able to go from a struggling C-Average student to graduating High School with honors.

My most difficult situation was when we found out about my eyes when I was in the third grade. It all started when I was having trouble seeing the text books, the stuff on the boards, and my grades started to go down because of me losing my vision. When you are in the third grade and you are eight or nine years old, it’s hard to accept the fact you won’t be the same as your friends and that you can’t do the things you want.

The greatest obstacle I have ever faced in my life has been, and will always be: language barriers. When I was approximately six years old, my family decided it was time for me to attend an afternoon English school in addition to my morning education in Spanish. At the time I was still in Bolivia and the process for my family's documentation had just started. I did my best to learn the content that I could memorize, however, I never put the same effort in the spoken part of the course. My lack of effort in the spoken field affected me greatly six years later when our paperwork had been approved and my siblings and I moved to the U.S. As much as I bragged about being bilingual to my family, I realized shortly after my arrival to the United States that it wasn't true; I understood what people said, but it was in vain if I couldn't respond and express myself to those around me.

Living with food allergies is a full-time job as it is. Between reading ingredients, calling food companies, worrying about the cross contamination of what others are eating near you, to the what ifs, it can be rather over-whelming at times. Should it not be easier, since food allergies are readily growing? It should be mandatory for school workers, all teachers, nurses, and caregivers to notice signs of anaphylaxis and when to give ephedrine.

One barrier that I have overcome is social anxiety. This was more than just shyness and self-consciousness but an impediment to social interaction on a daily basis. The simplest tasks such as making a phone call to order pizza or introducing myself to new people provoked an excessive form of fear that I tried to avoid for the longest time. Because social anxiety and other mental illnesses are so stigmatized and misunderstood by society, I felt uncomfortable to open up with anyone about it. My parents were unable to assist me in overcoming this daily challenge because they were uneducated about the subject and simply dismissed as just as early age awkwardness.