UC PROMPT
Question 5: Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
A cousin coming to visit from miles away is usually a happy time, but for me in 2015 it was a time of worrying and prayer. During my freshman year of high school my 3 year old cousin was diagnosed with cancer on Christmas Eve. A time that would be filled with love and cheer had me questioning God’s existence as my grades began to crumble. I remember praying out loud asking why the youngest member of the family that may be too small, too young to fight was diagnosed into a lifetime worth of battle. Hours in class shifted from being a talkative, positive person to saying thank yous when someone felt sorry for me and my family. I didn’t want anyone’s pity on my family, or excuse how I act with “Her little cousin might die.” And I definatly didn’t want to be excused from any |
homework or classwork for my lack of focus. I pushed myself to still aim for the grades I knew the I could accomplish. Some days when my family was going to visit my cousin I would make up assignments to stop the pain that I’d get from seeing her suffering from Chemo. She would barely talk 3 months in. A house that once was filled with her laughing and small voice was now silent. Signs of her improving brought the whole family relief. I continued to focus on my school work while her recovery went in multiple ups and downs. All I knew that I could do was hope and pray that she would beat cancer and then go on to live a healthy life. Although my grades did stumble for a bit, I still managed to get them to as high as they could be. I now understand that life may through any type of obstacle in my way of achieving my academic goals. I need to learn how to work though those obstacles and also maintaining my grades and staying on the road to success.