Why I returned to School
In answering the question “why did I return to school” it is as important to explore my original departure from academic life as my return. Ultimately, the exit and return were greatly influenced by two life events – birth and death. At the end of the summer of 1988, as I was preparing to enter my junior year at Columbia University, while sleeping at home, a family friend woke me with the news that my mother, sleeping in the next bedroom, was not moving. Ironically, I rarely slept at home, even during the summer months, preferring an on-campus apartment at Columbia’s Morningside Heights. On this particularly unique occasion while enjoying my parents’ hospitality, I bore witness to my mother’s final moments. Shortly thereafter, my father suffered a stroke and following six months in the Intensive Care Unit at New York Hospital and a brief stay at a hospice, he too died from what the family agreed was a broken heart. Clearly loosing one’s parents is an event which all children must anticipate; however, there is little, if any, way to prepare yourself for the back-to-back loss of your parents. Death appears as another life requirement and the ways in which we adapt ultimately define the balance of our adulthood.
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
York Hospital, Andre Page, , Morningside Heights, Columbia University, Dominican University, little doubt, fortieth birthday, advanced degree,
Approximate Word count = 837
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
 |
