Persevere. Inspire.
& Never Give Up.
I’m the type of person that creates a plan and sticks to
it. Whenever I stray from my original
intentions, I panic. I believe in
committing to whatever I chose to pursue.
I like to wholeheartedly engage myself in all the things I partake.
Ever since I started high school four years ago, I was
always the one that was known for going above the standards. I would set unrealistic expectations for
myself and I would always demand perfection.
Apart from the cloud of stress that always seemed to be lingering above
my head, this strategy worked quite well for me. Throughout my high school career, I received
many awards for my school involvement and my academic achievements.
While I was well on my way to be named the Senior Class
Valedictorian (an honor received for having the highest grades from 9th
through 12th grade), my plan was abruptly challenged. As I have blogged about before, I was in a
car accident in the middle of my senior year which left me with a serve
concussion.
The concussion heavily affected my school work. I had to drop classes and cut my time at
school to a maximum of three hours. I
was always feeling weak, tired, and worn.
The hardest part about my concussion though, was the fact that many
people were unaware that anything was wrong with me. People still expected me to excel in my
school work and were clueless about the inner-battle I was facing. I was still trying to act like everything was
normal. I still tried to continue on
with my school work like nothing was wrong.
I was in denial that I needed help.
My concussion was mentally draining. My school work has always been extremely
important to me. I cannot begin to count
how many times I would miss outings with friends because I was that devoted to
my school work. My concussion affected
my school performance and I wasn’t receiving my usual A+. Now, my tests and assignments were showing me
grades I had never seen before. After
four years of having school work come easily to me, I was now having an extremely
difficult concreting and grasping new concepts.
To best illustrate how I felt, my head was like a blank piece of
paper and I had lost the pen. I couldn’t
create mental images – it was a blank sheet in my head and I nearly had to physically write everything down. I had the hardest time learning new concepts –
it was like I studying from a blank sheet of paper because I had lost my pen during class and couldn't take notes to save for later. To say the least, it was
a difficult time for me.
On Saturday, May 25, 2013, I graduated from Portersville Christian
School as the Senior Class Valedictorian.
My previous years of hard work and dedication dominated the mere semester
with my concussion. My grades were high enough
that I was still ranked number one within my class. Looking back, I realized that I worried about
such a little thing. I worried about my
school work when I should have been worrying about my health. Presently I am still dealing with my
concussion. When I should have been resting,
I was worrying. Perhaps if I had looked
at the larger picture and placed the importance on my health, my concussion
might have been gone by now.
So here’s the moral of the story: Hard work, but don’t overwork yourself.
Until later,
Cassidy Baker
2012/2013 PA 4-H State Council President
“Success is
to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by
the obstacles which he has overcome”
Booker T.
Washington
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