jmazz
Oct 18, 2012
Undergraduate / All you need is some "guts", and you can overcome anything. [5]
As the college application season approached, I could not help but feel slightly envious of my friends as they began to construct their essays. Their topic came so easy to them. They all planned to write about adversity they had experienced in their lives and how they overcame it. Whether it was ADD, a death in the family or their parents' divorce, they all seem to have had at least one life altering experience to share. I, however, did not. Little did I know that was all about to change because like a gift falling from the sky, the topic practically landed in my lap, or more precisely, my GI tract. After fulfilling a lifelong desire to get a colonoscopy, the doctor uttered the words I desperately needed- Crohn's Disease, a gastrointestinal disease with no known cause and no known cure- a chronic condition I will likely endure for the rest of my life. This news could not have come at a better time. Perfect.
Of course this was all happening during one of the most stressful years of high school. Facing a period of information sessions and campus visits, prep classes and admissions tests, this was just the additional stress I needed. Though I was initially shocked by the diagnosis I received only a few days before the SATs, it wasn't long before I realized the adversity I now had to face. Would the pain ever go away? Would the disease prevent me from living the life of an average teenager? Would it prevent me from attending a college I want to in order to stay close to my gastroenterologist? The list of unsettling questions was endless. However, I decided that this disease would not get the best of me, regardless of the pain, regardless of the fear, regardless of the utter frustration.
Though the illness affected me psychologically and physically, I used its own weapons against itself. Instead of letting the pain and the frustration negatively impact my life, I used them to improve myself. Ironically, the disease strengthened every aspect of me, instead of weakening me. This illness further fueled my fire to succeed. My performance in school did not suffer, despite having to take time off for testing and treatments. Pure tenacity enabled me to defeat this ailment and allowed me to achieve all the things I set out to accomplish. The urge to overcome this disease did not end in the classroom. It further caused me to push limits I had never before tested. I completed an extensive scuba diving certification course and hiked a grueling 7 hours to the top of a 5,000 foot mountain in New Hampshire. I also applied for and was accepted into a peer leadership program which will allow me to teach health issues to other students in school and beyond. I became more committed, more persistent in my studies and my endeavors. I believe this will serve me well in college.
Through this experience, I learned to deal with hardships in a positive way rather than a negative one. A challenge or unexpected twist in life can easily become a rewarding experience. All you need is some "guts", and you can overcome anything.
As the college application season approached, I could not help but feel slightly envious of my friends as they began to construct their essays. Their topic came so easy to them. They all planned to write about adversity they had experienced in their lives and how they overcame it. Whether it was ADD, a death in the family or their parents' divorce, they all seem to have had at least one life altering experience to share. I, however, did not. Little did I know that was all about to change because like a gift falling from the sky, the topic practically landed in my lap, or more precisely, my GI tract. After fulfilling a lifelong desire to get a colonoscopy, the doctor uttered the words I desperately needed- Crohn's Disease, a gastrointestinal disease with no known cause and no known cure- a chronic condition I will likely endure for the rest of my life. This news could not have come at a better time. Perfect.
Of course this was all happening during one of the most stressful years of high school. Facing a period of information sessions and campus visits, prep classes and admissions tests, this was just the additional stress I needed. Though I was initially shocked by the diagnosis I received only a few days before the SATs, it wasn't long before I realized the adversity I now had to face. Would the pain ever go away? Would the disease prevent me from living the life of an average teenager? Would it prevent me from attending a college I want to in order to stay close to my gastroenterologist? The list of unsettling questions was endless. However, I decided that this disease would not get the best of me, regardless of the pain, regardless of the fear, regardless of the utter frustration.
Though the illness affected me psychologically and physically, I used its own weapons against itself. Instead of letting the pain and the frustration negatively impact my life, I used them to improve myself. Ironically, the disease strengthened every aspect of me, instead of weakening me. This illness further fueled my fire to succeed. My performance in school did not suffer, despite having to take time off for testing and treatments. Pure tenacity enabled me to defeat this ailment and allowed me to achieve all the things I set out to accomplish. The urge to overcome this disease did not end in the classroom. It further caused me to push limits I had never before tested. I completed an extensive scuba diving certification course and hiked a grueling 7 hours to the top of a 5,000 foot mountain in New Hampshire. I also applied for and was accepted into a peer leadership program which will allow me to teach health issues to other students in school and beyond. I became more committed, more persistent in my studies and my endeavors. I believe this will serve me well in college.
Through this experience, I learned to deal with hardships in a positive way rather than a negative one. A challenge or unexpected twist in life can easily become a rewarding experience. All you need is some "guts", and you can overcome anything.