My world was flipped upside down during my junior year. I had just gotten back into the flow of things after missing 9 weeks of school with a lung infection called Histoplasmosis. My swim career was practically over after that, and I had double the school work to do in half the amount of time. Not even a full month of being back in school, I learned my father had been diagnosed with gastroesophageal cancer, stage four. This was out of nowhere and took a huge toll on my family since it was caught very late and the doctors said there wasn’t much they could do, but they would try their best. A month into my father’s treatment, my family was hit with even more devastating news. My mother was diagnosed with Breast cancer, stage two. Although hers was caught early, both my mother and my father have now both been diagnosed with cancer. It was now up to me to mature early and become an adult. It was time for me to start helping out. Both my parents had very similar schedules for their treatments, so I was put in charge of a lot. I was now driving my brother everywhere, having to manage schedules on my own, and still be available in case either of my parents needed my assistance. This was a very hard time as I was managing swim practice and studying for school at the same time, and by the time summer rolled around, I was just as busy as before with college applications and interviews for Congressional Nominations, Service Academies, and ROTC scholarships. Things took a turn for the worst when we found out that my father's cancer was not only incurable but also spreading. The doctors gave a gut-wrenching time frame of six to twelve months left for him to live. Now not only am I going to college in a few months, but now my mother, who, on the bright side, has finished her treatment and is off chemotherapy, will have to feel the absence of her oldest son and her husband. As of now, we have tried everything to make this situation easier for all of us. My father, unfortunately, has had to file for disability and will soon be relieved of his job at Asurion. We have had plenty of families help us out, and we are beyond grateful to all of them and all they do to help us try to keep a positive outlook for the future. I will be attending Texas A&M University in their College of Engineering and will be a part of the Corps of Cadets which will lead to a future career in the Air Force/Space Force. My brother will be homeschooled next year so that he can keep my mom company while still obtaining a high school education. Although this has been a very difficult and challenging time in our lives, we have in many ways learned from this experience and have not only become closer as a family but as a whole with our local community.