Sunday, March 12th 2000, some would say it was just another day on this earth, but for me it was the beginning of an incredible journey. Full of excitement, tears, and determination. There were complications, one moment everything is just fine then sirens, the sounding alarm of the start of my life. They told momma and dad that I would never walk, and didn't know if I would ever talk. Determination. My parents had determination; they were determined to prove the doctors wrong, and little did I know that I was too. 

“Do anything you can to help Macy.” Momma would say countless times throughout my childhood.  Surgery, a challenger that rose up to challenge our degree of determination to prove the doctors wrong. Surgery went well, the shunt was placed in my brain and stopped the bleeding but there were also complications and the hemorrhaging cause a mild form of Cerebral Palsy. Another challenger rising up, CP which was also determined, but to stop me instead of help me succeed. But no, my parents wouldn’t stop. When I got old enough to understand what my life contained, the determination that my parents had carried for so long, was lit inside me, as they said,”Macy never give up, don't let anything stop you because with just one simple thing you can make it through life and do anything, and that simple thing is determination.” Sure, I was slower in developing than the other kids but, I learned to walk  ( maybe not perfectly but good enough to get me through life), and how to talk (something I think my parents wish I couldn’t do sometimes since I never stop.) I was slowly proving my doctors wrong. They would ask me when they saw me, “Macy how have you come this far?” My reply is one I remember clearly, no need to ask my parents on this one. I would say, “Momma and daddy said with determination I can do anything!” Momma and dad were so proud of where I  had gotten to in just a few years. Together we had proved the doctors wrong, or I should say we thought so. Those few years were pretty great, I had no room to complain, I was walking and talking and hanging with my fellow four year olds, I felt normal.  Fall 2005, kindergarten, it was time for school.  My doctors called my parents once again but expressing concern for a different issue, that I may not be able to do well in school, not excel as fast as others and I would probably struggle. Well hello challenger of determination, I thought you had given up, but no there it stood, right in my way. It was time to use that determination again. School didn’t start out so great, I could see the determination in my parents fade. The bills for all my surgeries that had come with time started to roll in. I was determined to help them out. I tried my hardest to do the best that could be done in school. I started to excel in school, I was getting the hang of it, even if it was a few years late.  When my parents would see my grades start to rise I would see a smile return to their faces, which gave me more determination to do even better. I wanted to show them that not giving up on me was the right choice, that determination could get you anywhere. Years went by one day at a time.  But of course, not without the occasional challenger showing up. high school, a day I am sure my parents didn’t think they would ever see. When I stepped foot in my current school, I told myself right then, “Determination has gotten you this far and it's going to get you through high school and college. You are not going to give up now.” Now as my sophomore year is rolling to a close, and I prepare for my Junior and Senior year rolled up into one last year of school, (because I wanted to challenge myself and graduate a year early), and as I prepare for my future, attending ETSU

in the fall of  2017 to obtain my BSN. As I look back on my life, and I ask myself the same question that the doctors asked me so many times, so many years ago,” Macy how have you come this far?” I smile and I mumble my parents words to myself, ” Macy never give up, don't let anything stop you because with just one simple thing you can make it through life and do anything, and that simple thing is determination.”  As I sit here and reflect on my life as I write this story for you there isn’t anything I can do but be consumed by gratefulness because my parents taught me the importance of determination.