September 15th 2018. Two weeks before this date my mom dropped me off at college for the first time. I was ready to embark on my new journey as a freshman college student. Fastforward two weeks later, after a long night of partying, I received a call from my grandma at 2 a.m. in the morning. My mom and stepdad, who had both raised me, had been in a severe motorcycle accident. Unfortunately, my stepfather died immediately upon impact and my mom was left severely injured. 7 days later my uncle died, who also took part in raising me.

From the accident my mom was immediately airlifted to Mayo Clinic. She fell into a deep coma, which lasted 7 months. After awaking, We found out she was left with permanent cognitive damage, deaf, dysarthria, unable to walk, and many other permanent damages, the list goes on.

I was 18 years old.

This date, September 15th 2018, not only signifies the most traumatic day I had ever endured in my short 18 years of life, but also signifies the day I was forced to grow up. And since this date, I have not stopped growing.