My Moment of Complete Success

        When we got to the gym my stomach dropped at the sight of Scotty, the 7^th grade girls’ PE teacher, furiously doing compressions on a 12-year-old Rachel in the far corner of the dank and stuffy gym.  All the other girls were huddled in the opposite corner like a herd of traumatized sheep.  Mr. Dickerson, Brooke and I ran to the sick girl to find her chin bleeding profusely, lips turning blue, and no pulse.  We immediately took over on compressions and ventilations.  I was in charge of ventilations for a bit, while the first aid instructor did compressions, then we swapped and I took over compressions while he did ventilations.  I was surprised at the fact that my mind was focused and my vision clear as I used all my strength to compress her chest halfway down to her spine.  We soon realized that we would need to shock her with an AED to get her heart started, so Brooke and I ran to the nurse’s office.  I had never seen an Automated External Defibrillator before, so I started looking frantically for the machine.  I grabbed what I thought could be the right device, and as we ran back to the old gym I began to panic at the thought of Rachel dying because I grabbed the wrong piece of equipment.  I was washed over with a wave of relief when Mr. Dickerson said it was the right device.
         After cutting off her clothes we shocked her.  Her whole body convulsed as the electricity ran through her veins and nerves.  The shock still didn’t jump start her heart so we continued CPR.  After doing CPR for a moment we shocked her again, and this time we were able to find a weak pulse on her neck.  She then started agonally breathing.  At this time the paramedics burst through the side doors of the gym all at once and took over from there.  When the responsibility was no longer so heavy on me, I entered a strange world of daze and marvel.  I couldn’t believe what I had just done.     

          I was 14 years old, and a freshman going to American Fork Junior High. I was a member of the medical first responders’ team, and I helped take part in saving the life of a fellow student one day in September of 2010.
          This was a moment in my life when I experienced complete success.

More and more people are struggling these days with self worth. The media tells us that girls have to be skinny to be beautiful, and men have to be toned and muscular to be desirable. This is why so many people are struggling with their self-confidence. More people need to realize that they are beautiful because of what’s on the inside, not what’s on the outside. Once a person realizes this, they can begin to build their confidence to where it needs to be. In order to begin this process of building yourself up, rather than tearing yourself down, you must not let other people’s opinions govern your behavior. You must do what is right by your beliefs even if others mock or criticize you for it. 

I feel stuck.
I feel confused.
As I look into the Sky
When the Sun has set,
I feel that I too, have let
Childish, yet once important things set.

But in the back of my mind I know that new things will come
I can sense their presence, but cannot yet see them.
These unwritten adventures excite me,
While I still want to hold on to the past.
The excitement of the Night has not yet begun,
Neither the Sun nor the Stars are present to guide me.

Keokuk, Iowa on the Mississippi River