calliope777
Dec 9, 2014
Undergraduate / I used to live my life in a bubble. International Student First Topic of Common Application [3]
I used to live my life in a bubble.
I was diagnosed with severe asthma when I was just two years old. When I should have been in kindergarten playing hide-and-seek with other kids, I was actually sitting on a sickbed with a transfusion needle buried under my skin, with doctors coming and going. Growing up with very caring, but overprotective grandparents, the schedules set up by them lead me to become a timid child. According to my grandparents, when I was four, I could not even cross a 3-inch-wide tile joint without hesitating.
After entering primary school, I was no longer under close watch anymore; however I was still that kid who was once in the ICU, meaning I could not participate in any sports. Every semester I handed in a little piece of paper from my parents to the teacher, applying to be exempt from P.E. classes. My teacher would give me a look full of pity and let me sit on the rostrum in the gym or just have a walk around the playground by myself. I never thought living a "sports-free" life would be a problem, until 7th grade.
On the first P.E. class of junior high school, my new teacher informed us that we all had to take a P.E test in order to get into high school. I was stunned - what about my asthma? Was the privilege on the rostrum gone forever? And most importantly - how was I going to make it? I was caught up worrying about everything while my teacher was already leading us to the track to begin the class. Not wanting to be a weird new kid, I stepped on the track nervously imitating others' behaviors. Breathing was hard at first. Yet somehow I got used to it real soon. Then after a brief warm-up, I felt like suddenly the bubble which had been covering me for years and dragging me away from a bunch of things I yearned for, had broken. During the whole class, I was just like everyone else, sweating and breaking limits.
Sometimes you have the chance to open a door towards a new life with a key found by accident. My key was that class. I felt like I had received my own super power. To catch up with others, I trained half an hour every day after school. Every day the burning inside my lungs decreased; my confidence increased. Not long after, I was the top runner in my class in the 800 meter race. While I enjoyed the sound of wind blowing by my ears during running, my life was changing - the shy girl who stayed on her seat during every break just to avoid meeting strangers was gone forever. I discovered a different self. As I was standing on the stage hosting a gala and speaking out the lines I had written, with a graceful smile on my face, I could feel the surprise from the old me; when I was running around founding an animation club, I could see the old me frowning. However, I finally could look the old me in the eye and tell her: "I have begun to live my life."
I used to live my life in a bubble.
I was diagnosed with severe asthma when I was just two years old. When I should have been in kindergarten playing hide-and-seek with other kids, I was actually sitting on a sickbed with a transfusion needle buried under my skin, with doctors coming and going. Growing up with very caring, but overprotective grandparents, the schedules set up by them lead me to become a timid child. According to my grandparents, when I was four, I could not even cross a 3-inch-wide tile joint without hesitating.
After entering primary school, I was no longer under close watch anymore; however I was still that kid who was once in the ICU, meaning I could not participate in any sports. Every semester I handed in a little piece of paper from my parents to the teacher, applying to be exempt from P.E. classes. My teacher would give me a look full of pity and let me sit on the rostrum in the gym or just have a walk around the playground by myself. I never thought living a "sports-free" life would be a problem, until 7th grade.
On the first P.E. class of junior high school, my new teacher informed us that we all had to take a P.E test in order to get into high school. I was stunned - what about my asthma? Was the privilege on the rostrum gone forever? And most importantly - how was I going to make it? I was caught up worrying about everything while my teacher was already leading us to the track to begin the class. Not wanting to be a weird new kid, I stepped on the track nervously imitating others' behaviors. Breathing was hard at first. Yet somehow I got used to it real soon. Then after a brief warm-up, I felt like suddenly the bubble which had been covering me for years and dragging me away from a bunch of things I yearned for, had broken. During the whole class, I was just like everyone else, sweating and breaking limits.
Sometimes you have the chance to open a door towards a new life with a key found by accident. My key was that class. I felt like I had received my own super power. To catch up with others, I trained half an hour every day after school. Every day the burning inside my lungs decreased; my confidence increased. Not long after, I was the top runner in my class in the 800 meter race. While I enjoyed the sound of wind blowing by my ears during running, my life was changing - the shy girl who stayed on her seat during every break just to avoid meeting strangers was gone forever. I discovered a different self. As I was standing on the stage hosting a gala and speaking out the lines I had written, with a graceful smile on my face, I could feel the surprise from the old me; when I was running around founding an animation club, I could see the old me frowning. However, I finally could look the old me in the eye and tell her: "I have begun to live my life."