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My Ability to Survive

 

            My talents, I have learned, are at the core of who I am - my nature to endure, survive and surpass the seemingly impossible situation. In my short life I have probably dealt with a wide variety of experiences that most have not. Two experiences that have both tested and strengthened my endurance in life, will to survive, and triumph in surpassing them are ovarian cancer and a sexual assault.
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             In the last few months of my senior year of High School I was diagnosed with stage two ovarian cancer. One day after school I felt a pain that I could have never imagined before. I was taken to a hospital where I was misdiagnosed and treated for an ovarian cyst. The hospital informed me that they had made a mistake in the way they treated me and that I would have to undergo cancer treatment. That was the last time I stepped foot into that hospital; and with the help of my parents I petitioned and fought whenever possible to never return there again. I struggled with my health insurance until they acknowledged their hospital's wrong doing. .
             A month after my first surgery, I began treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of the world's best cancer centers. The doctor said I was lucky because pain for ovarian cancer patients typically manifests when it is too late. I endured and survived the pain not only of the cancer but of the hospital's mistake so that I may be well again. I was determined to be well again so that I may start college in the fall. I began my freshmen year at Gustavus Adolphus College like I wanted, in the fall.
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             The week before the start of my sophomore year at college I was sexually assaulted. The impact of this experience has had a lasting effect not only in my personality but in my academics for the years to follow. I was strong when it first happened because I spoke out and I reported him. I did not press charges with the police but I notified the college and attempted to continue with my life.


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