Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you?

To forget about that warm autumn night of my sophomore year can be considered an insurmountable task. A night filled with pain, anguish, yet a glimpse of hope. To me, that night was the turning point of my life. It all began after I was dropped off on a main street in my town, not two hundred feet from a friends house. I dashed across the street as I had done countless times prior. In just one second the familiar sounds of Norwood were obscured by screeching brakes and an ominous thump. Denial immediately began to flow through my thoughts and veins as there no way that I had just been struck by a car.

My next coherent memory was that of being dropped off at the hospital by the driver of the automobile who promised to meet me inside. He never did.

At the emergency room, my brother and mother described me as a “bloody mess”. A long and arduous night lay ahead for me and my family. Numerous tests conducted. X-rays taken. Suturing of open wounds. A gentle cleansing of the crimson hue that covered my head and chest. Four hours later, the final physical toll upon my body was that of ten stitches to my head, serious abrasions to my back and a hobbled right leg. My mobility had become similar to that of an eighty year old man.


Although the accident created physical injuries, it was an epiphany, altering my view of life beyond my years. Instead of seeing death as an abstract idea, it became apparent to me that such an event, even to someone so young, could occur with just one misstep. Death had come too close to knocking on my door that night. Tears of happiness, love and glee were once again found after being lost through years of apathy. A newfound appreciation and love for my family and friends developed after realizing that the accident could have torn me away from them for an eternity. Their devotion and influence became the key factor into molding me into the man I am today. They became the most important part of my life as every moment spent with them was cherished. Without them by my side, depression and hopelessness could have resulted from the accident. Instead, my once strong pessimistic views were transformed to both realism and optimism. I no longer saw my mother in a condescending and hostile manner. My future evolved from short-term, teenage goals to a pursuit of gaining a true and deep appreciation of who I am and who I wish to become. My original cautious self was transformed into an open, articulate and dynamic individual.

Who am I? The one question that has fascinated each of us at some point in our lives. It is now with pure conviction, as a result of the accident; I may say I am one step closer to solving that worldwide perplexity. Ironically, a close to death experience can account for my rebirth into a more rounded, mature individual. Death allows one to live as they wish and not by other’s desires.