Walt Disney once said, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” I believe I am one of such dreamers with the courage to seek out success in all aspects of life. When I was six years old, I lost my elder sister to sickle cell anemia. She was only eight years old. I was young and couldn’t understand what was happening, the crowd at my place wearing black clothes and my mother’s loud wailing were unnerving. All I wanted to do then was find my sister and tell her how agitated everyone seemed. But I couldn’t find her. For some reason, she was missing, people came in and out of our house bearing food and snacks and all I could think of was “Wow, Onyeka is missing out on all this flavored, oily food mother usually forbade us to eat”, but for some reason, she didn’t seem to care today.
It took me a whole year before it dawned on me that my sister was dead. Killed of the same disease I shared with her and I would never see her again, and an additional five years to fully understand sickle cell anemia and how it affected me. By this time, at 12 years, just an adolescent, I was popularly known in school as the “girl with alien eyes” because my eyes were always a startling combination of yellow and green. Also, I had lost the use of my left hip joint and limped around hopelessly due to avascular necrosis caused by sickle cell anemia. I was placed on restrictions and advised to cut out tons of stuff I liked, fried food, sugary stuff, pastries even white rice was unacceptable for me. I rebelled against this all. My Mum bought tons of supplements for me. Every time she heard of a new drug for people living with sickle cell, she jumped on the internet to place an order for me.
Notwithstanding the battles I faced with my health and my mother always infusing me drugs, I persevered. Ignoring the advice of my doctor, I went to high school as a boarder and progressed into the tedious path of the sciences. I was constantly told that walking the science path was too strenuous and I should have gone for something simpler like the Arts. But I had no passion for murals, or philosophy or the wondrous world of creativity, words and colors. I wanted science. I sighed and sulked through classes on Psychology and French in eager anticipation of the formulas and applications I would be learning later in the day. I believe there are many factors which attribute to my love for science, two being my fascination and persistence. The intellectual stimulation, coupled with a desire to discover more about life’s mysteries, like the mixing of cells and DNA gels, the abundance of carbon and nitrogen in the human body, the formation of a zygote, the erythrocytes, thrombocytes and the leukocytes that fight off infections in our body compels me to pursue a career in health sciences. I excelled in my classes, I became an A-student and thrived in school despite the stares and awkward questions from people as I limped past people with my lemon-green eyes.
This love for science stayed with me as I progressed into college and I took a major to eventually progress into medical school. My reason for wanting to be a doctor is simple, I want people to be able to make their career choices based on their love or passion for it and not because of some health limitation like I was advised to. After I watched the incredible video of Ben Carson performing the historic conjoined twin separation surgery 30 years ago on Sept. 6, 1987 and completing a 22-hour pioneering operation that separated 7-month-old West German Siamese twins, who were joined at the back of the head. Giving them a chance at life in becoming two different unique individuals who can make their respective choices without a biological limitation, I dreamed of becoming that person, I knew I wanted to be that person. To be that doctor that provided people with a new outlook in life and put excitement for the future and happiness back into them. I am determined to break the stereotype that an individual suffering from sickle cell anemia and severe avascular necrosis cannot thrive in the science path and become a health practitioner. When I volunteered at my local hospital my desire to help became even more emboldened by the people I met. I came across young children like me suffering from sickle cell anemia and AVN, it surprised me to see kids that young already experiencing avascular necrosis and the many trauma that came with it. I was glad to be able to interact with them and give them all the support I could ever give. I encourage people experiencing AVN to keep their head strong, be consistent with their prescribed medications and never give up. Because, they can accomplish whatever they set out to do, even while living with sickle cell anemia.
Dear Bella Soul’s 2020 Diversity Scholarship Team,
Thank you all so much! One of the best news I have received this September 2020 with all the gloominess of 2020. I shall be using this money to buy my remaining books for the semester. Thank you for assisting me in my academics. I am immensely grateful.
Warmest Regards,
Chinenye Jonathan