Viktor Frankl, a survivor of the Holocaust and renowned philosopher, said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Frankl suffered the worst humanity had to offer and still felt that there was something to live for. I believe that my grandfather’s attitude towards life in the U.S. reflected Frankl’s ideology. He used to say, “Ni el presidente come como nosotros,” which he meant as, “Not even the president eats as well as we do.” Even when my mother was a child and my family could only afford beans and tortillas most days, my grandpa still claimed that they had something over those exploiting their labor. This is the legacy he left behind, a subtle way of preserving dignity and pride in our culture. I think of it whenever I help my grandma cook. Perhaps I would have felt embarrassed every time my grandmother made caldo, rice, tamales, chiles relleños, entomatadas, gorditas, or frijoles, had fewer children in my school come from the same background and my grandfather’s words not resonated so deeply with me.

When I was seven, I was diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation of the brain, or AVM for short. That means that there is a mass of tangled blood vessels in the right side of my brain that hinders the circulation of blood to the entire left side of my body. When I have an episode, the left side of my body goes numb. My tongue starts to feel swollen. My chest tightens, and it takes considerably more effort to breathe than it normally does. I can’t move my extremities; if I do, my bones ache and I can feel a thousand ants crawling over my skin. Over the years, my left side has steadily grown weaker and weaker. I have also developed partial epilepsy. The revelation that I am less physically capable than my peers took getting used to. I loved to play baseball when I was younger, and I had dreams of becoming a carpenter. The day my first neurosurgeon consulted with my mother, he explained that intensive physical and/or emotional stress could be detrimental to my health. I kept calm and told her I would be okay, but I remember feeling emotionally numb. All of my dreams had involved vigorous physical activity, something that I could no longer be allowed to partake in. Despite my condition, I was the most able-bodied individual in my household. After my grandfather’s death that same year of my diagnosis, I became my grandmother’s caregiver during the hours that her healthcare provider wasn’t present. I took her vital signs, took care of the housework, occasionally cooked, and lent a listening ear whenever she needed it. My grandmother, who is rather closed off, has been willing to trust me. That realization made me reevaluate my interactions with other people, and I’ve now noticed that despite my propensity for surrounding myself with secretive individuals, I have been made privy to a lot of personal matters. Because of my intimate experience with mental agony, both my own and that of my close friends and family, I am perceptive when it comes to reading emotions. I know what it’s like to live in silent distress. I know people who would prefer to live that way rather than seek help because this world says that help is for the weak. I may be physically impaired, but I am not weak. It’s been my goal since receiving my diagnosis to help others be strong by helping themselves. For this reason, I plan to earn a Bachelor’s degree in social work and become a counselor. Specifically, I’d like to work with the elderly because, in my experience, they are the ones most conditioned to refuse much needed assistance. The years spent with my grandmother have been physically and emotionally taxing but enjoyable nonetheless. It might be in part due to my ability to empathize with the loss of physical capability, independence, and dreams that often accompanies old age. It is for this reason that I have elected to focus my career towards offering support to the elderly. Moreover, I can also relate to the families of elder individuals because of my time taking care of my grandmother. I know it will come just as naturally to me as working with their older loved ones.