Growing up Fast by Joshua

Growing up Fast by Joshua - April 2020 Scholarship Essay

“911, what’s your emergency?”
“My father is seizing in bed, I need an ambulance fast.”
“Keep pillows around his head so he doesn’t hit it on anything.”
“Joshua, go wait outside for the ambulance. Jedrek get me the glucose tablets.”
“Sir, he is up stairs to the left.”
“Get me the epi pen. Administering epi.”
“Get him on the stretcher. Would you like to go to Bridgeport or Griffin Hospital, ma’am?”
“Bridgeport.”
“OK. Get him in the ambulance. Let’s go.”
Mornings like these are all too familiar in my household. I have grown quite accustomed to seizures, ambulances, and hospitals with my father being a type 1 diabetic. When I was younger I remember going to the hospital quite often, more than I would care to admit. In the beginning when I would have to go with my parents to the hospital, it would be quite scary seeing all of the doctors around my father, putting in needles everywhere; now I have grown accustomed to the whole process of a diabetic seizure. It was almost like a routine: he seizes, I cushion the area with what I have around me, I feed him glucose, and I call 911.
These seizure episodes continued during middle school, and I was becoming quite good at handling the situations. I wouldn’t freeze or misstep, I researched and figured out that the faster I acted, the less my father would endure serious brain trauma. I thought everything was under control, but once I became a freshman in high school, I started to understand another aspect of my father’s disease that went beyond just the health of him.
Most of the time when the EMS came to my house, my father would yell at them that he didn’t need to go to the hospital, but he has to by law, and my mother would always get frustrated a few days after. I finally put two and two together: if my father takes the ambulance to the hospital it costs close to $10,000 on top of the cost for a bed in a hospital. Sadly, the price point for the emergency medical help is outrageous. My father has to work ten hour days and my mother works two jobs to pay for my father’s medical expenses. The frustrating irony is with the hours of work my parents put in, they still cannot afford the best medical products. Also, now with my brother in college and me nearly there, my father and mother have been more stressed than ever figuring out how they are going to pay for everything.
In response to the stress of my parents, I have decided to give up playing travel baseball this year. It was too time consuming and a waste of money if I am not going to play in college. After I stopped traveling for baseball, I started doing landscaping so I can help with the family expenses. I have a friend who started a dump run and transport business, so I was able to get a second job as well. With the two jobs, I took it upon myself to make the payments for my car and contribute to the family any way I can.
I no longer make decisions just concerning myself, I have to think about my family first. This added pressure may be thought of as a burden, but it has only brought us closer together. I am proud that I am governing my own life and taking care of my father because my family is what drives me to accomplish my goals. I have noticed life becomes so much more rewarding when you are living to help others and not just yourself.