Untitled--Ashtin

At the age of twelve, my dad had a stroke while we were moving from one house to another. Up until age fourteen, my dad had been in and out of the hospital due to many necessary surgeries. By the age of fifteen, my dad was getting better but not quite the dad I remembered. I remember the day my dad went to the hospital like it was yesterday, it was February 28th, 2017. We had just moved into our new house which we were all excited about because it was a lot nicer than our previous one. That night after dinner I went to my new room to unpack and get all my things in order when then I suddenly watched as my new bedroom door flung open. It was my older brother telling me to not come out of my room until he said. Confused, I did as I was told but then I heard sirens coming from down the street so I looked out my window and saw they were coming towards my house, and shortly after I watched as they stopped right outside my door. The next thing I know I watch as my dad is being pushed out on a gurney as my mom follows him into the ambulance. Over the next couple of months, I spent consistently at the hospital with my family while my dad underwent surgeries and the overall process of getting better before he was allowed to be discharged. After about 2 years of a constant routine of him being in and out of the hospital, my father began to get better and better so he was able to finally completely come home permanently, which was nice to finally feel slightly normal again but along with the stroke, he was also paralyzed on his left side which caused him often needing help with everything imaginable. Through these times, helping out with my dad became a full-time job which didn’t leave much room for me to have a complete childhood. During these hard times in my life, I found myself indulging in school to get away from the everyday stresses, because if I was working on anything from homework to studying, I was occupied, which was all that mattered. The habit of using school as a distraction truly pushed me to create a beneficial pattern which has improved my motivation to work. On the other hand, while focusing solely on school my mental health began to deteriorate because I would suppress any emotions and pretend they did not exist. It took me a while but after I was able to achieve the proper way of dealing with my feelings, my mental health was able to take a shift towards a positive direction. I finally understood the importance of making my mental health a priority and being able to balance both my school work and my emotions. Finally, now that my life is taking a turn for the best I have been able to take the time to learn who I am as a person because of my past. The knowledge I have learned because of my past has transformed me into the person I am today. If I ever had the opportunity to change my life from the start I wouldn’t since without the life challenges I have had I would have never learned the things I know now. I have been able to understand the idea of turning towards the positive portion of every situation which has allowed me to get through many obstacles of my life, I have learned many lessons such as the past doesn’t define you, always to preserve and to never compare myself to others because it changes the way I view who I am. Along with the lessons, I have learned I found a love for helping others which came from the situation I was placed in while growing up. My fascination with the medical field had also had come about due to my father having a brain aneurysm along with other medical issues which caused me to practically grow up within the hospital from our constant visits and I can remember all the nurses, which were constantly coming in and out of my father's hospital room, and how friendly they were. Their kindness is what inspired me to want to become a nurse when I get older because I want to be that smiling nurse that gave me such comfort during the hardest parts of my young childhood.