Personal Essay: Pursuing A Career In Colleg College

Before cancer, I was a stellar student who, with little effort, excelled in academic arenas. Since cancer, assimilating and disseminating information has been more difficult. Chemotherapy caused extensive damage to the regions of my brain that process memory. Nevertheless, I have persevered. With each new day, I move forward with my academic career. There have been roadblocks and setbacks, but it doesn’t matter, I crave learning and do so with fortitude.
As a 1st semester Junior in college, 6 months ahead of the game I might add, I thought I’d know with absolute certainty where I’d be heading in life. Cancer is a totally game changer in many cases, mine being one of them. The career I dreamed of is simply not attainable. I flounder about somedays waiting for something to speak to me. There is ambiguity surrounding a career for my particular skill set: avid reader with memory loss, history buff with knowledge stuck in his head, and gatherer of political and war tactical data. So, needless to say a military career is out of the question, I’m “4-F,” Which means I’m “disabled.” I do not think of myself that way and perhaps it is part of my resilience.
College has been challenging but to quit is not an option.
I’m just starting my 4th semester majoring in Political Science with a minor in History. My grades are decent and studying is difficult. Last semester, I went to campus each day with a Sherpa. Because I broke the femur that houses my internal prosthetic leg last summer I could not drive for almost 6 months. I couldn’t even carry a simply backpack. So, my Sherpa was my mother. Due to finances it was more prudent for her to quit work and Sherpa me around. You’d think it would be awkward having your Mom go to college with you, but it wasn’t. It was rather interesting to spend 6 hours a day with her on a college campus. I wanted to go to school and there was no other
way.
There may not be a clear career path stretching out before me, but the path to obtaining a college education unfolds before me each day. I’m only in my 3rd day of the semester as I write this essay. It feels like I’m crawling towards a future. But I think I’d rather crawl that sit still and watch the world go by. So just for today, I will crawl. I will learn to the best of my ability and I will pay attention to what speaks to my heart about my place in the world.