I am a student at Missouri
Southern State College where I am currently studying math.
I was the president
of Student
Senate; a position I stepped up to after being a senator for two
years and vice-president for one year. When I first designed this, I was
the President, but Sandy (right of me, I'm in the middle)had to take my
place because I had emergency brain surgery! I am also a Freshman Orientation
leader, which means I teach an eight-week course about the school and various
issues that Freshman are often faced with.
I had emergency
brain surgery on Jan. 10, 1998 in Kansas City for a large brain tumor that
I didn't even know existed. The tumor was a Cerebellar
Astrocytoma, completely benign and one of the best tumors to have,
if you're going to have a tumor, but ruining my balance. The surgery
left me a complete baby, in which I couldn't even eat without someone feeding
me, etc. I was in a wheelchair for about 4 months, until I could
gradually walk on my own. I also had months & months of rehab, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, & Physical Therapy, in which I am still in PT. Also, because the tumor was in such a tricky
spot, some nerve damage was done and until the nerves regenerate, which
they are doing now, I have double vision and the left side of my face is
paralyzed, but it is definitely coming back:)! I am currently writing
a book about my situation called Talk About Hard.
I also have a permanent
shunt which
is a tube in which one end of the tube is inserted in my brain and the
other end is in my stomach. What it does is drain any excess fluid
I have in my brain to my stomach.
I went through 11+ months
of extensive Physical
Therapy, and because of this I want to do this as my career to help
people with brain injuries. So, I'm going to go to Graduate School,
in the south where it's warmer:), and major in PT.
I am originally from Jefferson
City, but my dad just moved up to Kansas City to teach at one of
the high schools, but I still have family in Jeff. City to visit and my
mom lived in Virginia, but moved up to Kansas City to be with me during
my long recovery.
I keep my life on schedule
with something I carry around with me everyday. It is a planner with a
picture ofWinnie
the Pooh on it. I can't live without it, you could say it acts as
my brain! After receiving the planner for my birthday a couple of years ago(October
12), I bought a Winnie the Pooh video, white terry cloth robe with the
old pooh and piglet characters on it, a pair of pooh earrings and many
more Pooh accessories. These help me get away from the monotony and stress
that my life throws at me.
I inherited a Honda
Passport, liked it for awhile and then traded it in for the car
I've always wanted...an Acura Integra.
I love this car, it's the first one I've had that I don't look at other
cars and want them. My license plates say INTGR-T or integrity, it's
a GS which means it has automatic everything, except for the transmission,
it's manual, it has a 10 disc CD changer in the trunk, remote keyless entry,
and a Viper Alarm.
Here are some colleges and universities outside of the United States
that you may find interesting: I did this for Operations Research
and decided to leave it on.
1. The
University of Hong Kong
2. Hiroshima
City University
3. University
of London