Over-Coming My Accident by Breanna

Over-Coming My Accident by Breanna - June 2016 Scholarship Essay

During the winter break of my senior year in high school, my mother and I were heading towards a diner for an early lunch when I suddenly blacked out. One minute we were on the road, the next I was in an ambulance on my way to the hospital. We had been in a horrific accident, and I was in very bad shape.
I woke up in the ICU of Sparrow Hospital, my arm in a sling and only able to see out of my left eye. My vision was distorted and I was confused. According to the doctors and my parents, my mother and I were hit on the passenger side of our vehicle, the side I was sitting on. My injuries were worse than my mothers, but I was okay and I would survive. I escaped the accident with a broken collarbone, a few fractured ribs, a fractured cheekbone, a swollen right eye, a crushed nose, and a severe concussion. The doctors informed me that if the air bag hadn’t been where it were, I would’ve died on impact.
Throughout the next couple days I had doctor after doctor come into my room and check on my condition and my head. After a few tests’ they told me that I had a case of short term memory loss, and a very severe concussion, that would last for about a month. I was to stay home from school and focus on my healing and to not do any school work, otherwise my concussion could get worse. Normally, I would’ve been all for the decision, however my school gives a last senior project to seniors. The senior project is to create a huge model of an event from the holocaust, make a speech about it, and turn in a six page paper about the event and what you learned from it. If I didn’t do the project, then I was not allowed to graduate and would have to repeat my senior year. That was absolutely unacceptable in my eyes. My accident took my strength, took most of my bowling games away from me (I was varsity captain at the time), and I had to live with the fact that I had short term memory loss. I would not let it take away the rest of my senior year and my right to graduate with my friends.
From that moment on, I worked very hard to create my model and write my paper. I had many people helping me with materials needed for the project. I worked continuously for about a month on the project, at the time I was still not allowed to go back to school due to my concussion. I was almost done with the project when I realized I had to record my speech and send it to my teacher along with my paper and project. The terms for recording the speech were similar to giving the speech in front of the class. You’re not to look down, fidget, and to speak loud and clear. I wrote down everything I wanted to report in my speech and dressed the part of an average high school student, except with a sling on my right arm. I was prepared and confident, yet I stuttered, and it was very easy for me to forget the words that I worked hard to prepare. I was frustrated, aggravated, and just wanted to cry. My short term memory and concussion finally made an appearance in my academic quest to complete this very important project, and I was not feeling good about it. I was feeling scared, and embarrassed. How could I go back to school if I can’t remember a short speech? A speech I worked on for an hour about a project I worked on for a month? After taking a minute to calm down, I finally decided to forget about the speech I wrote and just report what I had learned. What important facts did I choose to remember when it had seemed that I’d forgotten everything else? I used my knowledge as my inspiration, rather than my memory. And it worked; I created a speech off the top of my mind and finished the project.
A month after my accident, I was permitted to go back to school. I then turned my project in, along with everyone else. Now all I had to do was wait for my scores and find out if I was graduating along with my class. When I had received my scores back I was completely astonished. Not only did I pass all components of my project, but I got an overall A on the assignment. I was able to graduate with my friends and I couldn’t have been more proud of myself.
The time I overcame an academic obstacle was the time I had been involved in a car accident. With a month long concussion and other countless injuries, I had to find a way to complete a project that would determine my graduation status. When I completed such a task, I learned that it’s not only knowledge and recognition that makes a person want to achieve but hard work and determination. I learned that if I put my mind to something, I know that I have the power to get it done and nothing can stand in my way of achieving such a goal.