Undergraduate / College Essay - "A Battle Fought Together" [3]

Kayla Stovall
Topic A : Write an essay in which you tell us about someone who has made an impact on your life and explains how and why this person is important to you.

A Battle Fought Together
Mental strength is an essential human trait that illuminates brightly through few individuals. In my case it came from the impact of responsibility that most people my age do not have. My mother has a condition that affects the spine, crippling her lower limbs called, cerebral palsy. She has gone from ankle braces to walking with crippled limbs her entire life. This affects activities of daily living more than one might think. It became my responsibility as the elder of my mother's two children, to become the rock of the family, especially as I got older. Studies have shown as she gets older the condition gets worse. As a single parent with a disability, my mother constantly exemplifies living proof to breakthrough these studies, and does anything possible to provide the best for my sister and I. Disabilities do not limit an individuals potential but rather give them a greater strive to conquer adversity. Even though, this was not an easy battle for my mother and I go up against.

Winter nights were the worst, when the cerebral palsy condition would intertwine with her acing arthritis. I really had to step in when she would stay in bed for weeks at a time by; cleaning the house , cooking meals, helping my little sister with homework, aiding my mother with daily living , all this added to my own life. Of course at times, especially as teenager, patience would grow short as new activities clamored for time in my life. I was exhausted and used to think that it was not fair, why didn't I have a normal mother? She used to constantly ask, "Are you embarrassed of me? "That question shot me down like an arrow, because internally I knew it was wrong .I got this painful sensation inside me that cast a shadow over my soul as I looked deeply ashamed at the floor. I guess that feeling came from all the things that she has done for me to get to where I am now and the everyday battles we would go through as a family. This made me develop thought of having a "normal mother" would result in a much easier lifestyle.

As I grew order, my perception of life changed. Then I realized that my mother didn't ask to have this disability, it was given to her, and she was given to me, as a phenomenal mother. Despite the little things she asks me to do, I have learned how to do things for others out of love and not think of it as any hardship, just as she does with me. She has done more than some mothers without disabilities, and that is why I proudly look up to her and strive to carry that same extreme drive she had with my own life. I can definitely say that I wouldn't be the person I am today without her. She has taught me the value of conditionally caring out of love, and not to shorten the expectations of those with disabilities. This endearment has shaped me to aim for a career in the medical field, specifically studying human disorders. When others see me I want them to see that robust mind-set that I have built thanks to my mother.