Even though I have already finished my first year of college, this next year will be my first time being in college away from home. So, basically I will be five hours away from all the things I know and have become used to. Don't get me wrong, when I say that I am so excited to start this next chapter of my life, because I am. I do have a little shame in saying that I started packing my things long before it was time to because I am so excited.
Going somewhere new means new people. Although, I do love to meet new people -- because we have all have been through different experiences -- sometimes I feel as though all I ever talk about is the time I got Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Then, I realized if people don’t like me when I talk about Guillain-Barre why should I be friends with them. Guillain-Barre was the worst and also the best thing to happen to me, and I will never be ashamed to talk about it.
If I am not ashamed, neither should anyone else. Even though there are things in our lives that we do that we may regret and maybe wish we could take back. But those things make us who we are now, and I would not change how I am now. I am not necessarily a believer in the fact that everything happens for a reason, but I do believe that we are put in certain situations because we are meant to deal with them whether we realize it or not. Guillain-Barre is my example of that, it was something I thought I would never get through. I thought that my life would never be normal again. I was right, my life is not normal. It is a new normal, not the normal I was used to before.
My new normal includes talking about my experiences through Guillain-Barre, it includes making many regular trips to Children’s Hospital Colorado; it includes talking to other patients there to show them how hard work pays off. Why would anyone ever be ashamed of something that has now become something I am proud of. So, whether there is something you are proud of, or you wish you could change the past, never be ashamed. It is because of those experiences that we are who we are now and where we are now. Personally, I am thankful for that and I hope that one day you will be, too.
