As individuals of society we’re pressured to make life decisions, decisions that can be overbearing at the age of 16. This is the kind of pressure that always came to me with an anxious feeling, the anxious feeling every young adult gets when someone asks “What do you want to do when you grow up?”. Whenever this question was asked, my response was always the one goal I had. The one goal I promised myself to keep.

 

Being involved with special needs people has been a huge part of my life for as long as I could remember. Not only does special needs run in the family, but we have created an opportunity to make a new family of friends through these programs. At the age of twelve, if you asked me what my occupation was going to be, I would respond with “Special Education Teacher”.  For years and years, my mind was set and that was it. I had been so confident in my decision, that is until the Summer of 2016.

 

In the summer of 2016 my family was fortunate enough to travel to Wyoming for a family reunion. We met family that I honestly never knew even existed. There was one family member that stuck out in particular, he had been sitting in a lawn chair across the yard. He had a charismatic smile that you would’ve thought no one could break. The smile gave me this feeling of happiness and in that moment I knew I had to introduce myself to this man who seemingly was my uncle. Finally my father saw me staring and said let’s go say hi to Jamey. When we approached him I waited for him to stand to shake my hand, this never happened. Seconds later it became obvious my uncle was paralyzed on his entire left side. Knowing my curious self, questions were loaded in my brain waiting to burst out. After introducing myself I said something extremely insensitive that I would never say to anyone if they were not my family. “How did you become paralyzed” blurted out immediately and the second after that came regret. He giggled and explained to me how he had a massive tumor on one side of his brain and they had to operate right away and the only way he would live is if they got the tumor out. Of course just like any other surgery there were risks. One major one, paralysis.

 

We were standing by the water at Grand Teton National Park. It was cold and frigid but the sun was still out shining among all of us when I found myself lost with one accomplice. Jamey was to my left, we were caught in awkward silence in the moments leading up to the moment that changed my mind. We ran into a little girl who seemed to be terminally ill, she had all sorts of tubes running in and out of her, she was extremely pale and didn’t make any sudden movement. You could tell it took an immense amount of energy for her to speak let alone move. Jamey had a belt wrapped around his leg so that his leg wouldn’t hang off of his wheelchair. This girl who seemed to be four or five was sitting in her wheelchair when we passed her she asked her mother “Why does he look like that?”, she was obviously referring to his slight slant, wheelchair, and belt. The mother had replied with one of the most kind hearted responses I have ever heard. “Honey only strong people get to look like that, kind of like superheros. That man is a real life superhero”. The little girl then had the widest smile from ear to ear and said “I can’t wait to be like him when I grow up”.

 

In that exact moment it was clear to me I had changed my mind. From that moment on it was about making a difference. Within the thirty seconds of conversation we overheard it became clear to me that I was going to be a part of the medical field. It would mean the world to me if I could just make the children's day a little easier on them. My new goal now is to become a Pediatrics Nurse. I now  promise myself to help give children hope, it is awful how some sick children just don’t want to put up with another day and want to give up. I want to show them that there is always something to look forward to everyday and to just help give them the life every child deserves. I want to make a difference with one small act of kindness at a time. Ever since I changed my mind, I found purpose and I am determined to make a difference.

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