Personal Narrative: The Four Years Of High School

The four years of high school were four of the most difficult years of my life to date. In those years, while most other students faced struggles were based in such situations as, fitting in with the right clicks, looking their best to impress their crush, or getting that perfect GPA for college applications, I considered it a great accomplishment to make it out of my bed and to school each morning. In those four years, I faced more loss than most people my age could imagen, much less see for themselves. My freshman year my grandfather passed away of hairy cell leukemia after a yearlong battle. My sophomore year, my best friend took her own life, my great aunt was taken by lung cancer, and my cousin’s life was cut short by SIDS at only seven days old. The summer between my junior and senior years, my other grandfather lost his battle with brain cancer; I was there when he passed on. Shortly thereafter, and right before graduation, my family pet of nearly 15 years fell ill and died with thyroid cancer. I was starting to feel alone, my mind drifted to dark
It is doing something you have to do, that you don’t want to do; something you feel you can’t do, because it’s your only choice in the matter. Perseverance is when you want to quit every day, because it would be easier that way. You don’t quit, because you can’t quit. For me perseverance was not optional, it was the only way to have a life worth living. It was hard to find motivation at first. I thought just being alive was good enough. It took a great deal of support from family, peers, mentors, and even therapists to encourage me to keep pushing forward. Eventually getting out of bed each morning took a little less force, getting ready for the day wasn’t so hard, seeing my friends actually made me happy. By pushing myself further each and every day, I was able to overcome my sadness, my dark thoughts, my sorrows, and live life just as my grandpa had