The day is like any other day on this Monday night, November 13, 2023. My usual schedule consists of waking up, going to school, coming home, starting homework, going to taekwondo, going back home, and finishing homework. The night drive from taekwondo is usually one of my favorite parts of the day. It’s peaceful, the moon is out with a cool breeze, I just got a good workout in, and it's one of the only times I take a break during the day when my mind is completely clear. This small moment was taken away from me and was replaced by something horrid. I couldn’t even make it to taekwondo in the first place. Taking it back, it was agreed that my grandma would take me that day when usually my mom would take me. So we leave the house on time and drive to taekwondo, it is now nighttime. We reached the bright headlight where I would usually turn to go to school, Victoria Street, but it was green so we kept driving forward until a bright light came to the car at a high speed and hit us on the side, the light was the only thing I saw until it went dark. The car was flipping before I could process what was happening and we landed upside down with every part of the car broken or shattered. While we were still in shock, my grandma and I found a way to get out of the car with the help of construction workers and security guards nearby. It was dark and cold, it was not like the peaceful view I was used to seeing at this time, the sky looked bleak. There was blood all over me and tiny pieces of glass on the black rocky street as well as in my hair. I realized that I had no shoes on and I lost them in the car and realized I could not stand on the dirt side of the road so I just stood there asking my grandma if she was okay. There were multiple people around me, none of them with familiar faces except my grandma who was freaking out and I had to calm down. All of a sudden I see blue and red lights everywhere accompanied by deafening sirens around me. I immediately called my parents telling them what happened to pick me up. While I was on the phone I also had to talk to the cops, as well as the paramedics on behalf of my grandma and me, since she is unable to speak English and kept jumbling her words. I sent her to the paramedic's car for a checkup and was answering the cop's questions until I saw my dad from far away. The second I saw him I melted, I had never felt so much relief and thankfulness seeing him. He brought me my shoes and although still shocked I felt calmer and even started joking with the cops. Once we wrapped everything up at the scene I finally went home while my grandma was taken to the hospital for a check-up. On the way back home I was processing what just happened and am currently still processing what happened (it's still not fully processed). I saw the rest of my family and hugged them as tight as I could. The rest of the night consisted of worrying about my grandma until I received news that she was okay later that night.
The next day I realized that both my grandma and I could’ve died considering how bad the crash was, but instead, we came out with no serious injuries. Everything that I had been working towards and consumed my time with would have been for nothing. Some of that time could have been spent with my family and loved ones, or at least something more enjoyable than constantly studying or doing my homework to get ahead in class. Time wasn’t the only thing that I misused and took for granted, I also took my body for granted. We all do daily tasks quickly without even thinking about it. After the accident my whole body hurts and tasks such as putting on my backpack have become strenuous. It’s even difficult to look down or move my neck and head. I soon realized how lucky I was to have a healthy body that makes doing things easy.
Looking back on my high school years, I already have so much regret. I wish I prioritized more people over my work. I wish I had gone to more parties instead of turning them down to study and get ahead. I wish I had more fun and had more experiences. I wish I had done more things to make me happy. I wish I put myself first. And I wish more people would realize this before high school ends, or at least at some point in their lives. But instead of thinking about “should haves” I decided to take it as a lesson and attempt to change my future actions, as well as my mindset. I intend to spend more quality time with my friends and family and do more things I enjoy. Although this may be the effect of the accident, I feel an overwhelming amount of gratitude for everything around me whether it is people, actions, objects, words, and myself. I hope this overall feeling does not go away. We all have at least one good thing in our lives and instead of focusing and spending time with the things that truly matter many individuals, not all, immerse their time in the darker side of their life until it fills their mind. If not that they busy and distract themselves with other things such as excessive amounts of work whether it is with school or things outside of school. Realize what is truly important and in front of you, continue to work hard but make sure it does not take away from the parts of your life that matter and genuinely makes you happy. Although the event that occurred was terrible it made me realize multiple things that I believe are better to realize sooner than later. Life can change in a second, you never know what will happen in the next second, minute, hours, days, or years and it is important to cherish the now. But it is also due to the unfortunate events in our lives that help us mature and appreciate life itself.
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