My Heroic Journey

This year I learned growing up is hard. Now, I wish I could stop. The lyrics from “Walk On” by U2 represent my year because they express now through overcoming difficulty I learned and matured. Through my grandma's diagnosis, my surgery, and, I have gained the strength to handle adversity and through it learned valuable life lessons.

One hardship I endured was my grandma being diagnosed with breast cancer. This was heartbreaking to me because of how close we were. Every summer I would spend a week with her and my grandpa on their farm, helping with chores. I always found it so exciting. Some of my best memories are from feeding the cattle and riding in the tractor. She is a very strong, rural women and seeing how radiation affected
Two years ago I tore my meniscus and had surgery, but it didn't heal properly. This year I tore it again. It was extremely frustrating because I had to miss my last travel basketball season before heading to high school. I felt so alone, no one else had problems like me. The lyrics, “And I know it aches… walk on” correlate very well with this predicament. The whole recovery process was painful, both physically and emotionally. My recovery was agonizing because there were some complications that made my recovery longer and more difficult than usual. It was also emotionally miserable having to watch every game and being unable to sub in. The lyrics also include the phrase “walk on” which is ironic because walking was one of the first parts of my recovery. Nevertheless, these lyrics show that carrying on will eventually lead to improvements, just as I was able to get back to basketball. Because of my knee I had to take a minibus for three months. Minibuses get a bad reputation, so I was not very enthusiastic about this change in bussing. My first day on, I met two other people who also rode my bus. They became my first friends who have down syndrome. They were always so energetic and put me in a good mood, helping me get through this rough time. They helped me “walk on” and taught me that Down Syndrome isn't scary, just makes you
It caused me a lot of anxiety. I thought that if people saw me wearing it, they would think I'm some kind of freak. I spent so much time worrying about what other people thought and trying to cover it up instead of focusing on those who actually cared for me. But, as the year continued, I learned to not focus on those who judged me, and put effort into those cared about me. The lyrics recommend, “Wherever the hurt is… leave it behind” and that's what I learned to do. I learned that my brace didn't bother me, it bothered some people around me. That's what caused me worry. I learned to get rid of those negative people who made me feel bad about something I didn't have control over. No one is worth making me feel bad about