This eight word quote perfectly captions my first three months here at Baruch. Although Baruch has given me new friends, experiences, and environment to be in, it has brought a great deal of stress. My senior year of High School was a very laid back one where I probably had homework once a month. I barely had an quizzes and tests, and it was just a very easy year. This did not prepare me for college what so ever. Instead of having a class for an entire year, that one class is now shoved into one semester. Your midterms are now taken only 2 months into the semester. There is so much to learn in such a short amount of time. At first, the college work load didn’t seem too bad, and then out of nowhere, the workload exploded. Tests, essays, quizzes, presentations all on top of an endless amount of homework. My stress level went from 0 to 100 really quick. Trying to manage my time to figure out when I am going to do what, or study for what has become very difficult. These past two weeks have especially made me feel exactly like the picture above because the work has become never ending. Trying to get your work done and worrying about getting good grades while trying to maintain somewhat of a social life is what my life has come to. Everyday I push through the work and just try to focus on the big picture that it will all be worth it in the long run.

http://ed_wp-content_v2.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/tumblr_moytrs2AOf1s7sh61o1_500.gif

Nicholas DiMarco

Monologue

January 31st, 2012… a day my family and I will never forget. 11 a.m starts the surgery. 11:30 a.m comes and it’s over. Confusion. Why did they stop? Diagnosis… cancer. The one word no one wants to hear.

A procedure to remove a tumor reveals a cancerous growth that would change her life. Shock. Fear. Anger. All these emotions were running through my mind. Why her? Why cancer? What is going to happen?

I had never felt so scared, so upset. My aunt was like a second mother to me… my best friend. When the doctor told her she had three months to live, I couldn’t speak. My family got together and thought of the only thing we could do for her… help.

The next day she was sent to Sloan Kettering in NYC to be with the best doctors. Test after test to find possible treatments to help her. The following week she was allowed home and would have to go to the doctors for her treatments: chemotherapy, radiation, any treatment to try and save her. I had never seen her look so strong, as if she was not afraid.

July 2012, three months past her life expectancy. The cancer was starting to really affect her. She was now sent to Sloan again. She would spend the following month and a half there. I spent so many days at Sloan that it began to almost feel like my second home. My family and I spent hours by her bedside keeping her in good spirits.

Towards the middle of August, she was sent home. She was going strong and doing well until the end of November. I remember her always complaining about pain she was feeling. Once December hit, it was a downward spiral. We all knew what was inevitably going to come, but didn’t want to believe it just yet. I remember going to her house to in the beginning of December to help her set up Christmas decorations like we always did each year. I always treasured her decorations because they were so classy and elegant. “You know when I am gone, these are all going to be yours right” she said. Hearing her say those words made my heart stop. “Lets hope thats not for a long, long time.” I replied.

January 22nd, 2013… another date my family and I will never forget. This was the day my aunt lost her battle to Stage 4 Uterine Cancer. I will never forget my mom’s facial expression or the tone of her voice that morning when she woke me to tell me the news. A sense of relief rushed through my mind knowing that she was finally out of pain, followed by a sense of anger and sadness knowing she was gone and never coming back.I have learned to deal with this tremendous loss by reminiscing on the good times she and I shared rather than dwelling on the year of sickness.

I now look back at this experience as a life lesson to me. Her life expectancy taught me how precious life is and to always enjoy every second of it. It also showed me how quickly life can change at any given moment. Even though the last year of her life was full of sickness, it will be a year I will always hold close to my heart for all the time I got to spend with her before she passed. As I start the next chapter in my life here at Baruch, I know that she will be with me every step of the way.

To try and describe who you are in 8 slides or even no more than 500 words would be a challenge for anyone. In my 8 image slide show, I tried to give the viewer a glimpse of who I am. Throughout the slides, I show pictures of my family, friends, hobbies, and just stuff that is special to me. Through the images I selected, I feel I was able to represent and describe myself pretty well. The things I chose to put in my slideshow each hold their own special meaning to me. Each slide has a description of why I chose that topic to describe myself.

Link to slideshow:

http://prezi.com/dziixc-r4ttu/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share