Overcoming Great Hardships by Selah

Overcoming Great Hardships by Selah - May 2022 Scholarship Essay

I grew up in a middle-class family, the middle child, book-ended by two brothers. We’ve had a rough six to seven years, though. When I was in sixth grade, my father unexpectedly had some chest pains. He needed a quadruple bypass immediately. They gave us less than 24 hours’ notice before they rolled him into surgery. Within six weeks of the heart surgery, my father went back to the doctor to check out an infection that he thought he had, and he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had to have surgery and radiation. It took a while for him to recover and be able to return to work.
Then in April of 2020, my mother was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Because the pandemic had started one month prior, she was able to get through all of the testing and imaging quickly, and she started chemotherapy two weeks later. She lost her hair and started a meme drop on chemo days to get her friends to rally around her with laughter. December brought her surgery, and then in January of 2021, she started 25 days of radiation with an incredible team. She then had to continue with chemotherapy until October of 2021. She has a great prognosis and appears to be totally cancer-free right now.
My father, unfortunately, lost his job last September right before she finished treatment. Because of all the medical bills, eating out that comes with the treatments, and inflation, my parents’ savings was wiped out, and we are in a place where we don’t have any money allocated for mine or any of my siblings’ college funds. I’ve been seeking everywhere, trying to get enough money to cover my tuition, room and board. I know that, in order to meet my goals, I can’t go into a lot of debt dealing with school loans.
I have learned through all these experiences not to take life for granted. Everyone in my family has learned to appreciate each other and make sure that they know you love them. My household is full of plenty of, “I love yous.” We realized that when my father left the house that fateful Monday morning, he might never have come home again. We are not promised tomorrow.
Even with this reminder of our mortality, we do not live each day in fear or gloom and doom. I am an optimistic person by birth, but it has been reinforced by the tenacity my parents have shown to me and my siblings. Six years of illnesses could make even a saint give up, but they have pressed on with my mom’s sunny disposition and my dad’s endless supply of dad jokes.
Through all the difficulties, I have learned to look at the bigger picture. My parents have taught me to continually look to my past and see how we've gotten through difficult situations. Remembering those moments empowers me every time things appear difficult. I know that we will get to the other side and be stronger because I've seen it time after time. The bigger picture is that every difficult moment is just a blip in our life- a moment in time when we can choose to make good decisions, or we can get frustrated and lash out and make bad decisions. My parents have a saying. It’s TTSP. It means, “This too shall pass.” It’s a reminder that everything lasts for only a season. Then we move on. While the circumstances were difficult at the time, I know that they helped shape me into the person I am today.
I will be attending Houston Baptist University in the fall and majoring in Business. When I graduate, I will develop a business plan, identify investors, and I will take all of my positive energy and open up my own boutique where I will provide affordable fashion for all body types. Because of money struggles in our household, from an early age, I have learned to repurpose clothes to achieve a unique and fun fashion identity and can't wait to provide this for many others. Thank you for being a part of my journey to making my dreams come true.
Winston Churchill may have said it best, “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” We all should continually look for ways to give ourselves to others. Our experiences are a part of what makes us strong and relevant to others.