Personal Narrative: The Words That Changed My Life

As I sit at my computer reading a predetermined list of phrases and words that include things such as “Northwest is best” to simply, “squirrels,” I think about how each word or phrase has meant something to me at one point or another, throughout my life. After much thought, there are three finalists that resonate with me the most; “grit,” “vocation,” and “persistence.” These three words could easily sum up my life in the shortest way possible. The word “grit” brings to mind the idea of a person who “sticks to their guns.” It has an underlying tone of toughness and resiliency, and has been a large part of who I am and who I have always been. As a child, I overcame adversity that took place in abusive, unstructured, and unsafe environments with multiple parents in various homes. Surviving these adversities
For me, vocation is the achievement of a lifelong dream, working in a career that you were born to do. As a child I knew I wanted to be in the medical field. I would sit with my mom, watching TV shows such as Emergency! and other programs that revolved around medicine, dreaming about having the chance to save lives. As I grew older, I loved any excuse to go to the hospital in hopes of getting a peek at any action that I might be missing out on. My dream vocation is nursing, and I would be honored if PLU was a part of one of the most important goals I have had. Persistence is the last word that holds a dear meaning to me, and I suppose slightly ties in with good old grit. Throughout my life I have faced adversity and accomplished seemingly impossible goals with persistence. Today, persistence means that I will never give up on my dream to graduate from one of America’s most prestigious Nursing schools with honors, I will never give up on my dream to be the first in my family to earn a Bachelor’s degree and I will never give up on being the best student, mother and wife that I can