Having a stroke at 15 served as a catalyst in teaching me how to face any hardship in life with resilience. It wasn’t until the night of Thanksgiving, 2020 that my life took an adverse turn; I had a headache that I just could not shake, leading up to my incident. It bothered me day and night and often prevented me from participating in the simplest of tasks. I had gone to bed after celebrating with my family, feeling generally well with the help of ibuprofen. My headache quickly returned as I turned in for the night, and unbeknownst to me, I would begin the most harrowing chapter of my life only hours later. I awoke in a state of delirium, not being able to even read the time on the clock. The only thought in my mind was the unshakable feeling of a knife being forced through my brain. I blacked out soon after, only waking to the sound of the propeller on a plane. I was on a flight for life to the Children's Hospital in Colorado Springs. Being unable to speak or understand a language I was fluent in just hours before left me trapped within the confines of my mind, although I had yet to surrender my hope. The road to recovery seemed to never end, spending weeks relearning the fundamentals of speech and basic motor function. After hearing the doctors tell my family and me that I would likely never fully recover and would likely have a stutter, I feel like I have achieved the impossible, as I have since been cleared of any long-term effects. Life was still very different after my stroke. Having to gradually relearn much of what I had known before has left me with a lifetime value that would not just help me recover, but further my life as a whole. Resilience. Resilience has since changed my life physically, mentally, and academically. I have since dropped from 210 pounds to 165 pounds. The mentality has always been something I struggled with due to hardships within my family. I was living with a single, immigrant mother from Russia providing for my sister and me. The stroke put much more value on life for me and has helped my family and me have a more positive outlook and approach to life. I began putting much more emphasis on my studies and have gone from a mediocre 2.8 GPA to a 4.25 GPA my senior year. My stroke is something that will stick with me throughout my life. I have made the best of my hardships through a positive outlook and resilience. These newfound traits will continue to benefit me in my endeavors and help me grow into a person that not only my parents will be proud of, but more importantly a person I will be proud of. My dreams are ambitious, but my resilience and determination are paramount.