This is Shirley Cheng's Honorable Mention entry in the 3rd annual national writing contest, Be the Star You Are! founded by New York Times bestselling author, radio/TV personality Cynthia Brian. The essay is about Shirley overcoming blindness when she was seventeen years of age.
In Life, what makes you unstoppable? What propels you to prevail over winds and hails? For me, life itself is the power I live on, bringing me the strength and determination to conquer all the steep mountains I've had to climb and deep oceans I've had to cross. With every challenge I face, I gather up the power life breathes into me to win every battle that comes my way.
Thus, when a high mountain blocked my path at the age of seventeen, I knew I had the power to climb it, or at least, find another path to journey. Though it has temporarily veiled the windows of my eyes, I don't allow the mountain to hinder me from living the life I love, so I looked for another road to take.
During my vision deterioration in the tenth grade, I learned only by listening to my teachers as they taught math, chemistry, and French. When my eyesight completely forsook me, I had to stop attending school to my great dismay, but I faltered not a step along the way. I received home-tutoring, and completed all my schoolwork using strictly cassette tapes and tape recorders; I also successfully wrote and balanced long chemistry formulas and equations in my head without the aid of Braille.
As much as I had wanted to earn a diploma from my high school, I could not--I only accumulated eleven credits (from these credits, however, I earned an overall average of 97 [3.9 GPA])--so I received my high school equivalency diploma instead. I took the entire GED test, including mathematical calculations, graphs, and an essay, all in my head, and yet, I earned a special recognition award for receiving an exceptionally high score of nearly 3300. I was a student speaker at my graduation ceremony, and was the only one who received a thunderous standing ovation after speaking.
The new journey after my vision loss has brought me to wondrous places; with my heart as my guide, I've seen and experienced things I've never before tasted. I've seized any opportunity that has flown my way to fully delight in all that life has to offer. Thus, I embarked upon a new life project at age twenty: becoming an author of three books.
Holding plenty of passion and faith deep within me, I've overcome plenty of challenges being a blind writer. I wrote my books using a screen reader (computer software) that reads what's on the screen and tells me which keys I type. Because of my arthritis, I can only type with my two index fingers, but I manage it quite well, typing at the speed of about sixty words per minute. Not only have I written the books, but also have successfully completed every self-publishing task, including formatting my manuscripts, entirely on my own. I also design and maintain my own website.
My heart tells me there's a long, rugged road ahead of me, but I am unafraid to step on it and persist onward. Instead, my soul tingles with excitement for every minute into the future. I have much more to achieve, to experience, to know; I have much to give, to show, to express; and I hold the power to achieve all that I yearn to achieve.
No mountain is high enough to hold me back; no wind is strong enough to blow me down. There are stars I must reach; there are roads I must take. With power in hand, I will spread my wings wide to take the flight I am destined to take.
Author's bio:
Shirley Cheng (b. 1983), a blind and physically disabled motivational speaker, poet, author of five books, and contributing author of seven books, continues to see after her vision loss. Although wheelchair-bound, with severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since infancy, she has overcome overwhelming challenges and obstacles with a bright attitude. Owing to years of hospitalization, she received no education until age eleven. However, after only about 180 days of special education in elementary school, she mastered grade level in all areas, including a foreign language--English, and entered a regular sixth grade class in middle school. After a successful eye surgery, Shirley hopes to earn multiple science doctorates from Harvard University.
http://www.ShirleyCheng.com