Ending the fall semester only completing two out of my original five classes is not what I hoped for. There were several factors, out of my power, which caused this to happen. My mother was diagnosed with stage three Chronic Lyme Disease. She was misdiagnosed for about eight years. The length her disease went untreated caused it to have very severe effects on her health. She has suffered from kidney damage, memory loss, depression, fatigue and complete strength and energy loss, as well as many other symptoms. The doctors put her on a strong I.V. medication, used in the treatment for cancer patients, for months at a time. This has been going on for about three years now.
I am the oldest of four children. My sister is in Miami, and my two younger brothers are in their freshman and sophomore year of high school. My father has not been in the picture, which has made me the father figure to my brothers as well as a caregiver and provider. My mother hasn’t been able to work and my father has been out of work and hasn’t made child support payments. I worked two jobs to support my family. I did not miss any classes because of my jobs. I worked early mornings and late nights. My mother had many emergencies due to the disease, which is what caused me to miss classes. There were many times I had to rush her to the hospital due to kidney infections or problems with her I.V. I was in the hospital many times a week with her. We could not afford a stay at home nurse.
I am not on an athletic scholarship. I am a walk-on on the football team. This season I started six games at Tight End and made a big contribution to the team. I have been told for the past two years I am “so close” to a scholarship and to keep working hard. I’ve felt as if my former coaches were yanking on my chain at times. A full scholarship would take a huge load off of us as a family financially. I am meeting with our new Athletic Director this week about the possibility of being given a scholarship. He has made it known that I deserve it and hopefully the meeting goes well.
Since the end of the semester things have gotten dramatically better for my family and I. My father has made some changes for the better and is back in my brother’s lives. He is also back to work and began paying child support again. The doctors realized my mother’s gall bladder was very polluted and removed it in surgery. The surgery went extremely well and my mother is getting back to her old self. Her overall health has improved dramatically; she has energy and can take care of herself through most things. She is even back to work. The doctors believe she will be 100% with another six weeks of I.V. antibiotics.
My family has and will always be my first priority. I believe that is the way it should be. Through supporting my family with no help from anybody else my education suffered this semester. With my mother and father both back to work there is no need for me to be working full time. With my mother back to nearly 100% there will be no more emergencies pulling me out of class. I know that because of this I will have the ability to work hard and get myself back into good standing academically. I have made a plan with my advisor to take and pass all five classes this semester and take and pass two classes this summer, which will bring me back into good standing. I know I will be capable of this because of the improvement in my life at home and because of the work ethic I believe I’ve shown. Most importantly I know I can do this because I care to do so and it is now my first priority.