Nelson 1

Aaron Nelson
English 111 Section 8ZF
Prof. Heather Gemmen Wilson
June 9, 2016
Narrative Essay Draft
My Challenge
At 7:40 AM on a beautiful Monday I collapsed on the stairwell of Riley High. I
could not get up or move at all, I was trapped there on the ground and that is how some of
the students found me. They ran for the nurse and when she arrived she told me to go
home. She told me to not come back until they figured out what was wrong with me.
Once she decided it was time for me to leave, the officer accompanying her helped my
almost limp body off the ground and into his car.
The day was the first time it had ever happened to me. Weeks beforehand I would
get dizzy and not be able to talk or function. I would head to the nurse and she would
send me home, but I did not ever just collapse. I did not understand what was happening.
All I knew is it felt like my entire body was slowly coming to a stop. Every day I became
weaker and weaker. Once I was sent home for the final time the only responsibility I had
was to rest.
Every day I had a choice, either sit upstairs and watch TV or go downstairs and
play games. I couldnt do both, the walk up and down the stairs just took too much out of
me. This situation ensued for four months as the doctors examined me finding out what
ailed me. Doctor after doctor saw my case and most said I had heart problems. One took
an EKG and after the results was so scared for my health that he called an ambulance to

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rush me to a hospital. At the hospital they took another EKG and blood tests and
determined I was fine. Then one day a doctor, after lots of questions about how these
attacks happened, asked my mom to take me down to Indianapolis to the childrens
hospital to take a cardiac stress test.
When we arrived at the hospital getting to the office for me was a challenge. I
could barely walk and forget getting me to try to walk up a flight of stairs. We eventually
reached the office and I was honestly terrified on what the results would be. I went in
alone and found myself surrounded by three doctors. The test consisted of hooking me to
machines and have me run on a treadmill to cause stress to my body. The test ended and I
felt fine for a minute. Then the pain came, I was clutching my chest in agony while the
doctors rushed to find out what was wrong with me. Later, I learned the results of the test.
The test concluded that it was not heart problems. I was perfectly healthy but something
was wrong with me, something unfixable. It was anxiety.
My mother told me the news when we got home. She explained that I was
physically healthy and that I had anxiety. At first, I was sad and terrified but after a few
moments I decided I was not going to let it get the best of me. By learning what was
wrong with me it helped me understand how I could combat it. The only good news was
that it was something I could fight and control. I got better that day but it would take
another two years before I could finally call myself well. Over those two years I battled it
every day but I could barely focus on my work anymore. I had to drop my advanced
classes and stick to the basic ones because they were the only ones where I did not have
to try.

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The basic classes were good because I needed zero stress as I worked out how to
make myself better. I still failed a few classes and had to retake them every now and then.
Every day for me was a fight trying to learn to stop the shaking, loss of cognitive thought,
and the agonizing pain. Every time I tried to control it, I failed. I had an anxiety attack all
the time, so first I learned to ride out the pain that came with it. Now the pain that comes
with my anxiety attacks are not as bad as they were before, and the pain does not hit me
as often during the attack - once every 5 to 10 seconds. It used to be a constant pain that
did not end. The thing is even though the pain is less it still makes me want to cry every
single time. I just want it to be over.
About a year ago, I moved to South Bend and lived there for a while. There I
lived with my best friend Steven, had a job, and went to school. Things there were okay
but I still was having my anxiety attacks three times a week, which would be
unacceptable for my job as soon as I started. There was a man that lived nearby, he was a
friend of Stevens family and I have known him for a while, about five years, and he gave
me advice that changed my entire life. I was talking to him about my anxiety problems
and his advice to me was There is always a root to a problem like this and all you have
to do is find it, accept what happened and let it go.
After he told me that advice I thought about it and there was a root problem, so I
thought about my problem and decided it was time to accept it. I began. I decided to no
longer let it bother me and I was going to move on. Once I accepted it my life got
instantly better. I no longer had anxiety attacks all the time, I no longer was so hindered
in what I did and I could finally soar high again. I used my newfound relaxation to handle

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my job and school so I could stay in South Bend. I still suffer from it and must watch
myself everyday but I can mostly control it.
My anxiety has made what was supposed to be an easy journey in my life a pain
that hurt constantly. But through it all I came out stronger than I was before it started. In a
sense I am now an iron wall when it comes to pain, any type for me is basically nothing
and I can handle it. I am finally in control of my own life again. I may have suffered
greatly but it was not in vain. I can handle a lot now, I have been shaped to handle the
world I am about to join and I am ready.