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| Boy Studying Source |
I woke up to a gentle shook as the sun welcomed me. "It's the first day of high school, Tom. You need to get ready", my mom said. Inside me was this nervous excitement to begin high school. "This is when you become a cool kid, right?", I thought to myself. After getting ready, it was time for breakfast which I ate with my mom each morning. That might be a bit corny but, she is my world and all I have. Ever since she and my dad divorced, I don't see him often. He lives in on the west coast.
Leaving to school, I bounded towards my bus stop extra early to make sure I didn't miss it.
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Fast forwarding a couple months.
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My classes had been a lot easier than I expected. I particularly liked my science courses especially biology. After the bell would ring for lunch, I would always go over to my teacher and ask difficult questions. She would teach me and feed me knowledge. In particular, I was fascinated with the heart. My grandfather had passed way of a heart disease rare heart defect. I wanted to learn more about the heart and how it worked. Ms. Kimberk had a resource and answer to match every question and inquiry I had.
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My classes had been a lot easier than I expected. I particularly liked my science courses especially biology. After the bell would ring for lunch, I would always go over to my teacher and ask difficult questions. She would teach me and feed me knowledge. In particular, I was fascinated with the heart. My grandfather had passed way of a heart disease rare heart defect. I wanted to learn more about the heart and how it worked. Ms. Kimberk had a resource and answer to match every question and inquiry I had.
Every evening, I would eat dinner with my mom and then run up to my room to read. There were some nights I read later than I should of with a flashlight under my covers. It was worth it. Most of my friends didn't understand my passion for learning about the heart. They were taking biology while I was enrolling in courses on coursera in Bioinformatics, and other intense sounding sciences. I was devouring information like it was candy.
After a while, I start emailing professors at the local colleges to see if I could learn from them. Most were astounded my knowledge. However after I disclosed my age with them, they weren't as interested in having a 16 year old in there lab. There was one professor Dr. Alice who agreed to meet with me! This lead to an amazing friendship. She had been working on a cure for the rare disease that my grandfather had passed from. I was so excited to begin working.
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By now, I was coming up to my final weeks of junior year. Dr. Alice and I had been working together for a little over two years. We had made tremendous progress. Three days before my test in AP Chemistry I received an email from Dr. Alice that asked me if I would be able present with her at a conference where they were featuring a paper. I asked my chemistry teacher if I could go and skip my test. He said I could but I would have to give the presentation to the class when I got back. I eagerly agreed to his offer.
Now, it is the morning of the heart conference downtown. My mom told me that she would be able to make it but she would be driving from work. I headed downtown and arrived at the conference hall. Dr. Alice and I met up and encouraged each other as we walked out on stage. As soon as I stepped out, I searched for my mom and found her in front row. Our presentation was a huge success. The rest of the day was a dream! I met science heroes of mine I had read about. They congratulated me on my accomplishments. Many were astounded by my age.
However, everything would come to a screeching halt. As I received a call, that my mother had collapsed at work and was on her way to the hospital. Texting Dr. Alice I had to go, I ran out to my car and made off towards the hospital. Once I arrived, I went up to see her. Thank goodness, she was stable. Yet, the doctor came in to talk to us and told my mom and I that she had the same disease my grandfather had.
Normally, this would have been an insurmountable obstacle as this disease had little known about it a and a high mortality rate. Yet, I had reached far and pushed myself instead of learning for the test. Dr. Alice and I were going to start a clinical trial the next week for this very disease. My research and passion had saved my whole world, my mom. She started the next week and eventually was cured!
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Author's Note:
I chose to tell the story of a boy whose passion for learning about science saves his mom. The reason behind that is from the line in Hanuman's Leap, "when he was still a child he had thought the sun to be a fruit growing in the sky, and sprang easily three thousand leagues toward it". Hanuman's jumping ability allows him to cross the ocean to search for Sita. This idea of seeing something like the sun as simply on obtainable fruit could a viewpoint we could take on. We could see insane challenges and goals as something reachable and attainable.
The story is also inspired by Jack Andraka. "He is known for his work in developing a new, rapid, inexpensive, and patent pending[1] method to detect an increase of a protein that indicates the presence of pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer during their early stages." - wikipedia.
You never know who you might impact if you reach relentlessly towards your crazy dreams. Everyone of us has the chance to become passionate about something but sometimes we need to relentless run after a goal. We could be powered by family members as some are or by friends affect. Sometimes passions come to us and we just know that is what we want to do. However, many times the difference between those who are successful is that they simply jumped. It's scary to do that especially it can be risky. For Hanuman, he might have second guessed himself in his mind if he would make it across. We need to take risks to push forward. Start by taking small ones and then move up in scale. But, try to do something that takes you out on a limb and see if it works out. If it doesn't then learn from that.
The picture is from what I love to do and that is immerse myself in a topic. Devouring a book can be a good place to begin learning. I know I have read many times that Elon Musk read through rocket science textbooks to learn what he needed for SpaceX.
The story is also inspired by Jack Andraka. "He is known for his work in developing a new, rapid, inexpensive, and patent pending[1] method to detect an increase of a protein that indicates the presence of pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer during their early stages." - wikipedia.
You never know who you might impact if you reach relentlessly towards your crazy dreams. Everyone of us has the chance to become passionate about something but sometimes we need to relentless run after a goal. We could be powered by family members as some are or by friends affect. Sometimes passions come to us and we just know that is what we want to do. However, many times the difference between those who are successful is that they simply jumped. It's scary to do that especially it can be risky. For Hanuman, he might have second guessed himself in his mind if he would make it across. We need to take risks to push forward. Start by taking small ones and then move up in scale. But, try to do something that takes you out on a limb and see if it works out. If it doesn't then learn from that.
The picture is from what I love to do and that is immerse myself in a topic. Devouring a book can be a good place to begin learning. I know I have read many times that Elon Musk read through rocket science textbooks to learn what he needed for SpaceX.
Josh, let me just say WOW! I'm not joking when I say that this is by far my favorite storytelling post that I have read. Maybe I'm a bit biased because I'm on a pre-med path, hoping to study cardiology. Heart disease runs in my family which is why I want to become a cardiovascular surgeon. In other words, I could relate to your story! It was inspiring how you crafted this entire short story just by that one line in Hanuman's leap. You really delivered a strong message which I believe is a key feature in a great story. For my feedback, I just want to suggest to develop the ending a bit more. I'd like to know how his mother was cured or at least his thoughts during that time. You wrote a lot about his journey, maybe it'd be nice to have some insight on his accomplishment. Other than that, I absolutely loved the story. You really took creativity on a whole new level! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteJosh, You are one of the better writers in the class! Seriously! I can see the creative thought processes behind every word in the story. The fact that you could invent such a wonderful story as this from one small phrase in “Hanuman’s Leap” is awe inspiring. I cannot wait to read other things that you will write for this class!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I must say that this truly was my favorite story that I have read so far. I am a senior biomedical engineering major so I can relate to this story and appreciate it on so many different levels. I too am incredibly interested in medicine and coming up with new cures for diseases that are as of now, unable to be treated. My grandfather has a rare form of a non-malignant brain tumor that causes him lots of problems and this too, was what started my passion for medicine at an early age. I also really appreciate the main theme of the story here, seeing an impossible task as just another obstacle to get over and setting your mind up for the challenge to accomplish getting over that obstacle. That is the driving force behind everything I do in my life so this story just really hit home for me. I really loved the line in the story "I was devouring information like it was candy", it reminds me of reading through encyclopedias and textbooks on outer space as a little kid, just starving to learn as much as I possibly could about anything and everything. Good job with this story, you turned it into a very good message that we can all take something from.
ReplyDeleteHello, what a fun unique story. It is also incredibly relatable. I love the message behind your story. Very good job. You really are a wonderful writer and this story is by far one of your best. The grammar was great and also the formatting was fun and easy to read. I also liked the littler video at the end and the picture in the beginning. Good job!
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