I slowly walk forward, my thundering footsteps the only disturbance in an otherwise quiet night. The stars are clearly visible, tiny jewels of light studded in the black quilt of the night sky. Millions of balls of gas, planets and even black holes exist up beyond the black veil of night.

I had read about space when i was in 2nd grade, spending many evenings sprawled on my bed, devouring books by isaac asimov on asteroids, comets, stars, planets and black holes. These heavenly objects represented the unknown and their enticingly mysterious names enceladus, andromeda, io called to me. As a high school student, i read stephen hawkings a brief history of time and watched a nova series on string theory on the internet to get a better idea of how our universe works. Up there, stars with so much gravity that not even light could escape twisted the fabric of the universe, quasars blew out large bursts of radio waves and dark energy stretched the universes boundaries. Scientists could explain neither how the universe began nor how the universe was going to end.

Up beyond the black veil of night, something remains out of reach of human knowledge, wafting a scent of mysteries unsolved. When i learned that we were going to cover space in school, i became thrilled at the prospect of discovering the universes secrets. I fervently hoped that the teacher would tell me about the big bang and black holes in detail. The teacher glossed over black holes, instead focusing on teaching the names of the planets and moon phases, in the order that they both occurred. The universe, with all its mysteries and complexity, was condensed to 16 easy to remember words. Class focused more on the sparse words inside the mcdougall little textbook than on the universe that lay outside, beckoning to us to view its wonders. The grim tramp of duties coming to drag me away from my galaxies and dark matter.

My heavy sigh tumbles into the night air many days could pass before i could escape their grasp to come out again. As the door clicks behind me, i return to the comfortable, mundane sounds of television soap operas and clanging spoons in the sink. 0 posted by dhyra at friday, december 10, 2010 i was a week into my second trimester of freshman year when my mom lost all feeling in her left side. She tried to blame it on a pinched nerve for days until we convinced her to see a doctor. The day of parent teacher conferences at my school i met her in front and could tell she had been crying. She assured me that everything was fine and we went in, but she could barely walk up the stairs and refused to tell me what the doctor had said.

Essay on Nature And Wildlife

As i sat on the foot of my parents bed watching my mom struggle to tell us what was going on, i heard the two words that would alter my whole 173 universe: multiple sclerosis. I was only 14 and hardly well versed in neurological disorders so, naturally, all i could do was burst into tears. She explained to us that multiple sclerosis ms is a chronic neurological disease that involves the central nervous system specifically the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves and that ms can affect muscle control and strength, vision, balance, and mental functions. The tone in my house was a mix of mourning and solitude in the weeks that followed. She was on steroid treatment to reduce the swelling in her brain, and was chronically fatigued and often confused.

I cooked dinner every night, did laundry, went to the supermarket, and even paid bills. It wasnt hard at first, but after a while my schoolwork started to catch up with me. If only you knew my mom: she was one of those super moms who found time to get everything done and was never crazed or disheveled but calm, collected, and great at everything! and then i lost all of that in what felt like the blink of an eye. I was excited to attend these meetings and ask the doctors all the questions the articles hadnt answered. When the speaker that night stood and introduced herself, i was surprised to hear she was a registered nurse who specialized in multiple sclerosis. I had never heard of a nurse having such a specific field, and as she spoke i discovered how much rita 173 understood about how this disease was affecting my family. I continued going to the support group, and over time i realized what ritas job really entailed.

I told her that i had been curious about a career in medicine but had 173 never felt as passionate about it as when i realized how much an illness can affect a whole family. I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders, because i knew that i had finally found something i could be passionate about for the rest of my life. The work my moms doctors and nurses have done with her has vastly improved the quality of her life. I think the best people to help others through hardships are those who have experienced them firsthand.