I woke up on the floor that morning. It was Labor Day of 2014 and I was in the worst pain of my life. I stared up at my bed six feet above me. My roommate heard me hit the floor and she began asking if I was okay. I could not answer. I struggled to get air into my lungs as I grabbed the heat register in an attempt to stand up, but I couldn't. "My back" was all I managed to say after a few minutes. She ran to get our RA who then called campus security. Once campus security arrived, they called the fire department medics who told me "It's just the muscles in your back reacting to the fall. You'll feel better soon." Once everyone left, I crawled back into my lofted bed and fell asleep.
At about 10am I woke up and could barely sit up from the pain. I managed to climb down from my bed and get dressed. I knew I had to go to the hospital as the pain had doubled in intensity. I called my parents who found a hospital nearby, however, I did not have a car and the buses were not running that day. I decided that I would walk the two miles to the ER. Before I could get out the door, I received a phone call from one of my rowing teammates who offered to drive me to the ER.
We sat in the ER for nearly five hours until the doctor came in and told me that I had fractured my spine. I was transferred to another hospital nearby and was admitted to the trauma unit. I spent the next day mostly alone, save for my rowing coaches and the doctors and nurses. I was released from the hospital the next afternoon with heavy-duty pain meds and a large clamshell brace.
The next few weeks were surreal. I was only a freshman, yet I had gained the reputation as "the girl with the brace." It was like people only saw the brace and not the girl in it. However, when something like this happens, there are two ways one can go about life; you can keep hiding behind your misfortune and be pessimistic or you can carry yourself in a cheerful confident way.
Life does not always go according to plan, especially in college. I dreamed of starting off my freshman year off strong, even with a broken back. The brace and pain meds made it harder to do just about anything, but because of that, everything was made worthwhile. I was glad to not be paralyzed and was thankful every day for my slow, awkward walks to class. I even had fun with my brace from time to time when I would sport a flower crown to copy Regina George's Spring Fling look in the film Mean Girls.
Two years later, my back is all healed and I am looking forward to a new semester at a new school. I look back at this experience as a lesson in positivity. Unfortunate events happen, but we can't let them keep us down forever or even for a day. We must learn to rise above our negativity and not let our setbacks define us.
