The Story of My Isolation in Junior Year and My Understanding of Perseverance
My junior year started off like every other year: I spent my spare time playing volleyball,
enjoying my friend’s company, and keeping my grades up. However, my world flipped upside down in the middle of September. After catching a bad case of strep throat, my body decided to shut down. My doctors conveyed that I had a severe case of Mononucleosis on top of my strep throat. This news devastated me and challenged me in every aspect of my life.
Weeks passed rapidly and my health got much worse. By the month of October, I had already missed five weeks of school. By this point, I had started to feel defeated and alone. Similar to Boo Radley in To Kill a Mocking Bird, my isolation led to people’s thinking I started to live a life full of recluse. I felt like I would never catch up on all of the work I had yet to do. I figured I would never recover. My life began to revolve around my sickness. I spent hours each day either waiting in the doctor’s office or sleeping. My parents spent the day working, leaving me alone for most of the day.
On one of my weekly doctor visits, my doctor told me that when she had walked into the room she could sense that I felt depressed. She then diagnosed me with depression; however, since she already had me on heavy medicine for the pain, she could not prescribe anymore to me. I never told my parents because I feared they would treat me differently. The last thing I wanted was to have pity thrust on me from my family or friends.
Although I did not enjoy my sickness, I learned many applicable lessons that helped me grow to become a strong young lady. I finally understood what it meant to persevere. Although I felt like giving up many times, I pushed through and learned to lean on my family.