A short lesson for a short life by Sergio

A short lesson for a short life by Sergio - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

As somebody with an interest in the biological sciences, I have read articles in the field of oncology, specifically, the field of cancer. What I have read describes cancer as a never-ending pain that breaks both the victim and victim's loved ones. However, out of all the journals and studies I've read, none have managed to capture the authenticity of that pain, the pain I saw a family go through. They were friends of my parents, from long ago. I didn't know much about them at the time, other than one day their lives were normal, and the next, the wife of my parent's friend was diagnosed with cancer. She endured the pain for about a year. In that year, the emotional pain for them was greater than the physical pain. With the very little details I knew, considering that they weren't as social as they used to be, in that small scope of time they were totally drained of everything.

Every day, I think of them, the ones that were left behind. I think of how they cope in their new lives, and their name lives. I pray for them as much as possible. Then I think to myself, that they taught me a valuable lesson. That life has many roads, but they are all short. One day you might be living the time of your life, the next, you might be on your deathbed.

Within just a year, so many things can happen to you. And when you don't expect it, boom, just like that, it's over, all that time gone by.

I learned that now is the time to take action, because life is short. We create our own lives day after day with the choices and the decisions we make. We have to ask ourselves at the beginning of each day how we can move forward to live our lives to the fullest, what can we learn, what we can do now to make our future better. If you don't put any effort into your future now, your future is going to be coming right at you, without any warning, and you won't be prepared.

With this lesson learned, I always think to myself, how much can I accomplish before my time is up. I can only shape my future, not predict it.

Life is slow when you think about, but short when you don't think about it. I don't think about it all the time because I am busy thinking about my academics and my chances at having a professional career. But I have learned that I must do so many things before my time is up, because, as a rule of life, it can be anywhere, anytime, and because of anything.