Cancer has been a sick, twisted waiting game, returning for more when least expected. On July 5th, 2016, my mother went in for a biopsy for an abnormal mass in her breast. On the following Monday, July 11th, the news she received would change everything for her, and me. About a week afterward, my parents sat my brother and I down in the living room and explained the situation. I was filled with extreme fear, sadness, and worry for my mother. My mother has been everything to me since the day I was born. She has been my biggest advocate, protector, best friend, and emotional support, and our bond is even stronger today. Seeing her struggle through countless, and seemingly endless, surgeries was the most difficult experience for me emotionally. Thankfully, with our first round of breast cancer, the doctors caught it early in stage one. That didn't make it any easier though. Her first surgery was a lumpectomy, which removes the tumor and surrounding tissue. Unfortunately, the abnormal cancerous cells had spread beyond the space they were previously thought to be contained. After a long healing process, she had to return for a complete mastectomy, which is the removal of the entire breast. This surgery had given us some hope, and it helped for a little while. After these two surgeries, my mother faced extensive reconstruction surgeries. We found out that the cancer was being fed hormonally, and she then had a hysterectomy. This seemed to be the end of it. Just recently, about a couple of years ago, the abnormal cells returned. This time, thankfully, they were caught much earlier but were unable to be determined if they were cancerous yet. She once again was put through multiple surgeries to clear the area out and reconstruct it. My mother strongly finished and beat her second round of cancer in the summer of 2024. Though I didn't feel my mother's physical pain, I felt her weight emotionally. Throughout her battles, I became the rock of the household. This included taking care of everyone's needs, making dinner, and tending to my mother with everything she needed. This also included late nights spent with my mother so she wouldn't be alone and in pain, nights of crying out of fear, and nights and days praying that my mother would make a safe recovery, and that cancer would stop tormenting her. This experience has impacted me heavily by showing me that anything can happen to my loved ones, especially things out of my control. I am much more compassionate and conscious of the way I treat loved ones and strangers alike. I never take my time with people for granted because you never know if that could be the last time you have an experience like that current moment with them. It is crucial to show love and patience to everyone because you might not always know what's going on at home or what news has troubled them. I hold my mother close every day because her experience has made life and death much more real. I am so grateful to have her by my side today, cancer-free.

Math has always been a puzzle for me. Throughout my life, it has grasped my attention and taught me determination. I love it because it is something new and exhilarating, with every problem waiting to be solved. I strive for the challenge and deep thinking that it offers. It is inescapable, found everywhere around me, and forces me to think beyond what I already know. Math is an escape and a victory for me. I spend hours indulging in problems that are so satisfying to solve, and in the moment, nothing else matters. When I sit down to decipher these extraordinary equations, I feel delighted with myself and fulfilled. I have always been praised for my determination and intelligence regarding math. Pattern recognition for new methods of solving problems comes simply to me, and if it ducks and dodges my understanding, it instills a new tenacity in me. Though on the simplest of levels, I use math daily at my job. My part-time career as a cashier at the local family-owned grocery store involves using math very often. It is the very, very, basic levels of math, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, that are used most frequently. However, by excelling in math and having a passion for problem-solving, I can gather change and calculate discounts quickly and confidently on the clock. I frequently hear my peers vocalize that they will never use any of these methods in real life, and I suppose that may be true if you try to get away from it. I love math because it is everywhere and seemingly endless. It is only overwhelming if you look at it that way. It forces me to critically think and break a big thing down to understand its smaller pieces. I can foresee a lot of math in my future, and I'm glad I was born loving it.