The news hit us like a ton of bricks while we were all sitting in the living room after dinner. That was the night my parents told us my mom was sick, and she wouldn’t get better. Having a parent with a terminal illness felt like something out of a sad movie, but it became my real life during my freshman year of high school.

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After my mom’s diagnosis, my life started falling apart. My grades got really bad, and teachers kept calling home about it. I lost all my friends and even skating, which I used to love, felt like something I had to do instead of wanted to do. I didn’t join any clubs because I felt like I didn’t belong around other kids who were so smart and hardworking. As a skater who used to do really well, I started failing my jumps, messing up at competitions, and not passing any tests. By the time my first semester of freshman year ended, I felt small and embarrassed when I thought about how much better everyone else was compared to me.

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Then the wake-up call came. I didn’t make the honor roll for the first time ever, and the school labeled me “normal.” I was so upset, sitting there feeling like a failure. I stared out the window and saw my mom struggling to get to the driveway and sit down. Before she got sick, she was super active and loved running. She couldn’t run anymore, but she still tried to do her best. Watching her that day made me realize I needed to try harder too. Even though she was sick, she kept going, and it hit me that I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself and start improving.

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When the second semester started, I decided to care about school for the first time ever. I pushed myself to study hard because I wanted to prove I could do better. I stayed after class and studied at home until I actually understood the material. Eventually, I figured out that I learn best when I use colorful notes and diagrams, so I made study guides that worked for me. By the end of the year, my grades were all As, and I was doing way better in school than I ever had before.

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The second semester wasn’t just about grades, though. I started joining clubs I used to think I wasn’t good enough for. I even became a leader in some of them, which wasn’t easy because I wasn’t confident. But being a leader helped me see that I had something to offer, even if it was different from others. Over time, I started feeling like I belonged, and I wasn’t as scared to put myself out there.

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The biggest change, though, was getting back into skating. Skating was really important to me because it was something my mom loved when she was younger too. It felt good to escape my stress by skating again, and it gave me motivation to push myself. I started practicing more—before and after school—and I got better. I passed my platinum ISI test, and now I’m close to becoming a double gold USFS skater, which I hope to achieve by senior year. It felt good knowing my mom could enjoy my success through me, even if she couldn’t skate herself anymore.

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What started out as the hardest thing in my life ended up shaping me into the person I am today. My mom’s illness is still a big deal in my life, but it also inspires me to keep working hard. Now, I don’t just let life happen to me—I take charge of it. As I get ready for college, I’m excited to keep skating, keep challenging myself, and make my mom proud by showing the same strength she does every day.