Benefiting the lives of others

On April 15th of 2000, I was definitely not expected. To my parents, it was a surprise since I wasn’t supposed to be born until July. My mom always told me, “ You just couldn’t wait. You were bossy and stubborn that day just like you are now!”. Since I am obviously unable to remember the day I was born, I rely on my family to tell me what happened.

Before I came, my mom was already in the hospital due to contractions. That day, my father was participating in a parade for work and he told me, “ When I got the call, I raced to my car and through the streets! That call was completely unexpected, but I was so excited to see you!”. Luckily, with my mom already in the hospital, my grandparents had taken the responsibility of taking care of my then two-year-old brother, Dawson. Once they had heard that my mom was going into labor, they also immediately came to the hospital. So even before I was born, I had a family who loved me with all their hearts. Unfortunately, since I was so premature, my mom had to have a cesarean-section, which would bring multiple complications. Hearing about the day I was born, made me make a life-changing decision that I wanted to major in social work.

My mom started the story by telling me, “ Since you were only 2 lbs. 12 oz. , you had to be delivered by C-section. As the doctor was pulling you out, he put too much pressure on your liver and that caused your liver to develop a tear. After they realized what had happened, they took you away for surgery. ” What was supposed to be a joyous and happy occasion turned out to be live or death. The doctors had given me a 1% chance at survival. Hearing this news turned the day from happiness to sadness, “ We just kept praying and praying that our little girl was going to be okay. ” After all the surgeries, I was transferred back to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for closer observation.

I was in the NICU for three months. In those three months, I was in an incubator due to my size. When I heard that I was in the hospital for that long and that my parents were there every day, I felt bad for my brother who was just two-years-old. My brother, who was at the age where he needed his parents, had to deal with the fact that he had a little sister who was recovering in the hospital and his parents couldn’t be bothered. After the memories my parents have told me about that day, the event I remember my mother telling me the most is the day my aunt went and bought my funeral dress, “ I remember going to the mall and purchasing a premature dress for you to be buried in. You can’t imagine how hard that was for all of us. ” Hearing this from my aunt made me feel heartbroken because I knew they thought I wasn’t going to live.

I know my family went through a lot when I was born and hearing about it made me what to help others. First, I thought of becoming a nurse so that I could also help babies with complications to return home, but then I realized I didn’t like science and I didn’t get it either. Over the years, I wanted to find a major that meant helping others – and I quickly found it. Majoring in social work, I thought, was perfect for me because I could do so much with a Master’s in Social Work. Since I only knew that I wanted to help people and not where, I had many options in the social work field. For example, with a Master’s degree in Social Work, I could be a therapist, hospital worker, marriage counselor or even an adoption consultant.

When I told my parents that I wanted to major in social work, they were ecstatic to hear that I wanted to help others for the rest of my life. Due to my surgeries, I have a scar that goes across my stomach. The scar, today, symbolizes my life and the staff and doctors that fought tirelessly to keep me alive.

Even though I am not able to remember this day, I feel like I can with the help of my family relaying those memories to me. I am so grateful that I had an amazing staff that helped me and my family along the way. When I find my right career with my major, I hope to feel rewarded every day helping others and knowing that I have made a difference in their lives, just like the doctors and staff did when I was born.