It was my freshman year of high school. I gained excessive weight and my confidence took a dive, and truth be told, I hated the school I attended.

I got rejected from Central High School in Philadelphia, hell, even the other schools I applied for didn't want me. So, my only option was a charter school, a new high school, and I was part of the first graduating class.

It sounds like a milestone, but freshman year felt like an extra year of middle school.

I survived the first half of the year, but once spring came along, things changed. My mother wasn't satisfied with how much weight I put on from stress eating, and she'd lecture me about my health and the risks, which I already knew about. But, the lectures really dawned on me.

One night, my mother and stepfather were at a casino a few miles away, and I was with my grandmother. For a few days, I felt a lot of unusual symptoms: chest pain, headaches, aching pains. I hate doctors, so I wanted to get a quick determination.

Once I typed in the symptoms I was having, the first thing that popped on my Google search results: Heart attack.

It was a scary thought because, at this point in the year, I was willing to lose the weight, but I wondered whether it would be too late. Suddenly, my chest tightened up and it was hard to breathe.

Labored breathing. Racing, palpitating heartbeats. Poor balance. Inability to speak. Trembling hands. Sweating. 30 minutes of anxiety that I wasn't even aware of.

It was a disaster.

My grandmother was sleeping in the guest bedroom, and as soon as I asked for her help, it was difficult for me to even say what the hell was wrong with me. I thought it was an actual heart attack.

My grandmother called my mother three times and she didn't respond. That's when I started crying and, well, she started crying too. From what I remember, she was telling me, "Please don't die, please don't die," and that honestly didn't make me feel less terrified.

My mother called back and called the ambulance just in time. My grandmother had to escort me downstairs, but it was hard for me to walk without my legs bending or shaking.

As soon as the ambulance came, they checked my blood pressure and realized it was at an all-time high. Just to be sure, I went to the hospital, got an EKG and the doctors confirmed it wasn't a heart attack and pushed it aside as anxiety. I wanted to feel relieved, but I was completely traumatized.

The panic attacks continued in the future and I got used to it, but this particular moment was the scariest of my life.

Personally, I think it's hard to describe what it's like to have a panic attack because many people suffer from them and handle them differently.