Getting the news that I have a life-threatening illness is not easy to deal with. The diagnosis of childhood cancer is not a punishment but a blessing since it helped me grow as a person for a better future. In this essay, I will talk about my journey with cancer, from the moment told I had the illness, to the recovery and learning. Firstly; the diagnosis was a long process for me, I had no clue I had it until one day I decided to go to the hospital. At the ER; nurses found something abnormal within my body because of the constant, non-stopping headaches. The doctor ordered an X-ray and then an MRI for a higher resolution. After hours of waiting in the ER hospital room; I was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in my brain called medulloblastoma, which is common at the age of fourteen. The moment I was told the cause of my non-stopping headaches, my mother burst into tears along with my younger sister; I was then admitted for In-Patient care at NOVA. In addition; The circumstances surrounding me made me terrified since my younger self’s capability of understanding lacked much information about what’s going on but my mother calmed me down. Hours pass by, and the doctor comes through the door and we are told I need emergency surgery overnight. My tumor is the size of a golf ball. It is 6 am; I am woken up and changed into a surgical gown. After changing, I am taken for anesthesia. Hoping this is the beginning of the end; my mother tries to comfort me while going under anesthesia for this life-threatening brain surgery. I don’t remember dreaming, all I remember was a black image; The ones you see in horror movies, or the predictions of death. I open my eyes and see nothing but blurriness, then gaining my sight back slowly, I see I had just gotten out of surgery. I see a nurse taking care of me and as I try to talk to her, I throw up. Going back to my hospital room, I see my mom waiting to comfort me and say how glad she is that I'm okay. A few hours pass by, the doctor comes in to check my incision. He tells us the need for my second surgery as the whole tumor wasn’t removed. But this time, I will be transported to St.Jude’s Children’s Hospital. The quality of my malignant tumor meets the requirements for the surgery at this amazing hospital. Though the surgeries were painful and had me on painkillers, I was now tumor free. This amazing miracle filled our hearts with joy. The next step was treatment, I received chemotherapy plus extras like occupational and physical therapy. As a result of my recuperating from these painful experiences, I was in bed for almost a month and was handicapped by the lack of muscle movement and effects of the surgeries. Every day, the medical professionals would motivate me by doing physical therapy including fun activities that encouraged me to be stronger. I was able to walk with a walker before my fifteenth birthday. After eight months of treatment, my doctor ordered an MRI as I had completed treatment. The results showed I was cancer free! My heart was filled with much happiness as I thought of going back home to my family. From this awful experience, I learned to enjoy every aspect of my life and cherish every living moment I’m healthy because tomorrow isn't promised and it’s never known when life will hit you with challenging obstacles.

Seeing everyone else getting more opportunities than I did as a kid was difficult. Growing up as an immigrant and child of immigrants, let me see through the lenses of my parent’s hard work and dedication to a better future destined for my sibling and me. I adapted my mother’s determination to be successful at a young age through her timely consuming speeches given by her to me. I never understood many things when I was younger, such as why I couldn’t travel outside the country and visit my family, or why we couldn’t own a big house. This led me to think differently and develop a humble personality similar to my parents. Everything we own comes with hard work, dedication, and time. I was always appreciative of everything and still am, that is of my parent's courage to move to the United States in hopes to be someone important with set goals and ambitions in life. Thus, learning a new language was a difficult obstacle and a long time process for me since my elementary school was located in a low-income area. This made me backtrack a little but throughout the years I learned to strive for myself for a bigger and better future consisting of helping my parents, sibling, and me accomplish our dreams. Even though in the long run I got sick, I still always had the motivation to strive for my family. During my senior year, I accomplished a lot. From having the senior privilege to working at an internship every day after school for weeks and gaining knowledge of the workplace. My hope for the future is to get my mother and father far in life and be able to afford college for my other sibling. Nothing can stop you in this life from getting your education and being an immigrant is one less factor that should not even be questioned in terms of getting a degree. Many immigrants are discouraged to do so because not all of us have the opportunities to go to college and provide for our families. Being a first-generation student is such an honor for my family since I serve as a role model for my younger sister, who is going to follow in my steps in the future. I want to become an advocate for helping immigrants and undocumented students to become motivated and be able to afford college through my knowledge of computer science and my status.