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Aislinn Boyce

Mrs. Crowther

Career Development

February 21, 2020

Assessment Essay

The moment in my life that has affected me the most takes place when I was about five

years old. I had terrible migraines all of my childhood. My parents took me to the hospital where

I had an MRI on my brain. When the results came back the doctors told us that my brain was fine

but I had a mass in my throat. They told me to come back in for more testing. When I got there,

they said the mass was too enlarged for the breathing tube, so they had to do a CT scan instead.

Due to the fact that I had swollen lymph nodes in my armpits and groin, spots in my lungs and

the mass in my throat, the doctors diagnosed me with Lymphoma, a type of cancer in the lymph

nodes. Of course, my parents were shocked. They did not understand how something like this

could happen to anyone. Since I was so young, I did not quite understand what was going on. For

me, it was almost like a vacation. I was in a new place, I was surrounded by some new people.

When the rest of my family found out, they came to the hospital in record time. They had

balloons, bears, toys, candy, and just about anything I could ever want. That showed me how

loved I was. Though it did not make sense to me why I was there, my family being there meant a

lot.

Once everyone got settled in and I was all hooked up to my IV, my uncle had an idea.

Not the best idea might I add. He wanted to distract me from everything. My Uncle Michael
stuck me in a hospital wagon and told me to hold on to my IV pole. He looked all around him to

make sure no one was there. When the path was clear he grabbed on the handle and started

running. We zoomed and zipped through the hallway until we saw a nurse or any hospital

worker, then he would

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stop as quickly as he could. He would walk around like nothing happened until the worker was

out of sight and then he started again.

That moment from my childhood has affected me deeply. It is a memory that I will never

forget. It showed me how to be optimistic and cheerful even during stressful and heartbreaking

times. Just thinking back to it makes me smile. Later, I found out that the cancer was gone. They

took a biopsy of my tonsil and the cancer had disappeared. The doctors assumed they had

misdiagnosed me, but you will get different answers depending on who you ask. Definitely do

not ask my grandma unless you have time for a story about being visited by angels.

Being surrounded by so many great people in my life has genuinely inspired me to be a

better person. I could name a tremendous amount of people who have made deep impacts on me.

I am exceptionally lucky to be blessed with the family I have been given. Now when I think back

to that time in my life, I do not vividly remember anything traumatic, I only remember the good

things. I remember how loved I felt, how happy I was to get all these new toys, how cool it was

to have a mass dedicated to me, how funny it was when my uncle got in trouble by one of the

nurses and how much I meant to everyone.

 Knowing how quickly your whole life can change has motivated me to always be

optimistic and never let a bad moment affect how I see the world. I strive to live every day as if it

were my last because you never know when it will be.