Tears fill the eyes of a young child. Mom comes to the rescue and solves the problem by putting a bandage on the sore or simply giving the child a hug. 

    However, not all situations are like that.

    Clearisa Martinez, senior, has been diagnosed with a terminal illness since she has been born called spina bifida. “When I was born, my spine was outside my body,” Martinez said. This is something that neither her mother nor any doctor can fix.

    Martinez has gone through over 26 major surgeries from the time she has been born. And her doctor was almost sure that she would not live past the age of 3. However, when she did live past 3 the doctor then told her mother that she would be dead by the time she was 6. She is still alive.

    Having had many surgeries, she has especially remembered a few of them. When she was 3 years old she had a tube placed in her head to drain the fluid from her brain. At 12 years old she had a surgery on her bladder to make it bigger. And one surgery that she will never forget is when she had titanium rods placed into her spine. “I had an allergic reaction to one of the medicines and I flatlined on the table,” she said.  Because of this she is nervous every time she goes into surgery that something like that will happen again.

    Despite all the odds, she insists this illness does not hold her back from accomplishing the things she sets her mind to; it may take her some time, but she is determined to pursue her goals. For example, when she was younger she played baseball. She understands what she has, but just because it’s incurable doesn’t mean that she has to put a hold on her whole life.

    “I can do pretty much what everyone else does, just in a different way,” Martinez said.

    Although Martinez faces many struggles, she still feels thankful for every day that she has lived. “I get frustrated, and it makes me want to give up but I have to think that I’m lucky to have lived through all that,” Martinez said.

    Through all the obstacles of going into surgery, recovering from surgery, and having doctor appointments, Martinez is striving to graduate from high school. That goal requires her to have a mindset of “If I keep working I will get what I want,” she said. “I want my diploma and I want to go to college.” She also said that if she can do it then anyone can.

    If Martinez has a goal in mind that she is aspiring to reach, then so can I. She is determined and is definitely an example of following through on what you want in life.

    Through all the challenges she remains optimistic and she feels that to be successful in life she has to get an education.  With reaching this goal she knows that she can accomplish anything. “This is just getting set for life and I want to live life,” Martinez said.

    I understand facing down challenges in life, though they aren’t on the same level as Martinez’s. I am currently pursuing a position as a substance abuse peer educator, because I want to make a difference in kids’ lives, as well as my own. I want to make change in myself by knowing that I helped others understand the dangers of drug use because I’ve seen the destruction they can cause in my own family.

    They’ve caused difficulties in my mother’s life, and she has become a role model in my life, similar to the way Martinez has. I look to Martinez as an example of pushing through obstacles to achieve my goals, a lesson that everyone can learn.