What Challenges
Have You Overcome?
MARCH 5, 2014 5:06 AM March 5, 2014 5:06 am
Kayla
Montgomery (4) has become a top runner for Mount Tabor High School despite
having multiple sclerosis. Related ArticleCredit Jeremy
M. Lange for The New York Times
The
Times is full of articles every week about people who have overcome challenges
of all kinds and have learned from failure.
What
challenges have you overcome? Maybe they haven’t been as outwardly dramatic as
that of this teenager, who runs track even though
her multiple sclerosis causes her to collapse after every race, but perhaps
they have felt dramatic and difficult to you.
In “For Runner With M.S., No Pain While Racing, No Feeling at the Finish,” Lindsay Crouse writes:
• When a pack of whip-thin
girls zipped across the finish of the 1,600-meter race at a recent track meet
here, the smallest runner’s legs wobbled like rubber, and she flopped into her waiting
coach’s arms. She collapses every time she races.
Kayla Montgomery, 18, was
found to have multiple sclerosis three years ago. Defying most logic, she has
gone on to become one of the fastest young distance runners in the country —
one who cannot stay on her feet after crossing the finish line.
Because M.S. blocks nerve
signals from Montgomery’s legs to her brain, particularly as her body
temperature increases, she can move at steady speeds that cause other runners
pain she cannot sense, creating the peculiar circumstance in which the symptoms
of a disease might confer an athletic advantage.
But intense exercise can
also trigger weakness and instability; as Montgomery goes numb in races, she
can continue moving forward as if on autopilot, but any disruption, like
stopping, makes her lose control.
“When I finish, it feels
like there’s nothing underneath me,” Montgomery said. “I start out feeling
normal and then my legs gradually go numb. I’ve trained myself to think about
other things while I race, to get through. But when I break the motion, I can’t
control them and I fall.”
At the finish of every
race, she staggers and crumples. Before momentum sends her flying to the
ground, her coach braces to catch her, carrying her aside as her competitors
finish and her parents swoop in to ice her legs. Minutes later, sensation
returns and she rises, ready for another chance at forestalling a disease that
one day may force her to trade the track for a wheelchair. M.S. has no cure.
Students: Read the entire article, then tell us …
— What
do you think about Kayla Montgomery’s determination to run, even if she
collapses after every race?
— Whom
else do you admire who has confronted a challenge and overcome it?
— When
have you ever faced a challenge of some kind Consider not just physical
challenges, but emotional, academic, interpersonal or artistic challenges as
well. What did you do? What happened in the end?
— If
you’ll be applying to college sometime soon, you may be interested to know that
one Common Application prompt reads, “Recount
an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and
what lessons did you learn?” You might consider answering those questions here,
too, perhaps as practice for your college essay.
I think Kayla is very determined to run even though she collapses after she hits the finish line. It tells and shows us how much she loves the sport and nothing can stop her. This can relate to something in my life with my aunt. My aunt had to go through many strokes and almost died from them. But she fought and showed us that she is brave enough to do it. It was something so scary for all of us we thought she wasn’t going to make it. But she proved us wrong and we are so grateful. She is still with us but it's not the same. She can't talk and she can’t move the left side of her body. It’s sad to see her like that but even though she can’t talk she still has that crazy personality. School was always a challenge for me. But this year my junior year I overcame it and i’m doing the best i have ever done. I stopped hanging around the wrong people and put my head into the books. Also i moved to the right direction and went into vocs to be a dental assistant and I love it so much. I didn’t think in a million years i would be where i am today. It’s good to make my family happen and it’s nice to show the friends i do have that i can do it. I have such a good support group and that’s why i am here today. It makes me so excited to graduate and start my career. My failures affected my friends and my family and also myself. It’s sad to look back and see the things i could have changed but this is why we are where we are today. I believe that everything happens for a reason and it did. I know now not to put myself through bad things and to walk away. No one is perfect and you can change what you did for your future. Many people change and many people think there is no hope and continue to fail. That’s the wrong way to look at things and you’ll have a long hard life if you look at it like that. Everyone has a chance to change so why not do it.
ReplyDeletei'm so sorry to hear about your aunt but i'm happy she is still with you and proving everyone wrong and not giving up. I'm also happy that you are doing so much better in school and put more effort in and being in vocs and finding something you love to do.
DeleteI think Kayla is amazing and she doesn't let anything stand in her way of running even her disorder. I admire my Nan and Pop because they had 8 kids and after their kids grew up and my dad had me and my sister and brother and my mom and dad couldn't take care of us, so my Nan and Pop took us in and raised us and Then my Pop died from cancer so now my Nan is raising me and my sister and brother still to this day and she has health problems and she is 87 years old and is still fighting to be with us and care for us and make sure we get everything we need to live and have a great life. I myself have been facing a big challenge and that is my depression. I got diagnosed with depression when i was 13 and i was hospitalized then and now i’m 16 and last year in 2016 i was hospitalized 2 more times and now my doctors have diagnosed me with clinical depression and it is a battle everyday but i’m pushing my hardest to get through it and also my other struggle has been school but last marking period i got High Honor Roll for the first time ever. Im proud of myself and so is my family and friends. I have changed myself for the better and i stopped talking to people who brought me down and i started to hang out with people who make me happy and care about me and how i feel.
ReplyDeleteI am proud of you to even though I don't know you.but to hear a little bit about your family makes me proud of you. For staying strong and doing well in school . you are strong and determine just like Kayla.you keep doing well in school and staying strong for your Nan.
DeleteI am so proud of Kayla. She is so strong for continuing to race and strive to the finish line knowing pain is on its way. But she still does it. A person I admire the most that has confronted a challenge and overcome it is my Mom. My mom has four of us a lot of work that needs to be done around the house. A lot of responsibilities of being a mother of 4. She got into a accident and had broke both of her wrists. It was so crazy how it happened to it was so scary I felt so bad. She still did her everyday mom routine. But me and my sister had to help her with a lot. She was going through so much pain and suffering. But after a couple of months she was healed and back to do her mom work. The doctors were surprised on how fast she had healed. I went through an emotional challenge. The hard thing to me is letting go of people. As in friends or love ones. I had to go through many stages of acceptance. Realizing that letting go will make me feel better. I overcame this by letting all of feelings out and saying goodbye. After I did that I tried for ten minutes straight. I felt like I made mistake but the next couple of days I felt better. I talked to my friends and my sister and many family members about it. They said I made the right decision a month later I felt it all of it was gone. I was happy and I wasn't sad. I faced failure when I failed math in 8th grade. I got my phone tooken away and I had to stay after school for I can pass the following marking period. I learned that math will always be my enemy. I had to study for hours when I had test ask my teacher questions so I won't get lost. I didn't hate myself for failing I just looked at it as a wake up call. I have to stay on top of it and not fall down but it's ok to fall only if your prepared for the long way back up.
ReplyDeleteI like how you explained everything it was perfect. Im happy to hear that your mom healed fast and ready to work again. It's hard to do everything you're lucky to have her. Im happy to hear that you overcame your challenges as well!
DeleteI am very proud of your mother. It's crazy that she managed to heal fast and get right back to work. With four kids things can get stressful. Im happy to hear that you and your mother are strong and strived through your obstacles
DeleteKayla Montgomery has the endurance to run despite the fact that she collapses after every race.This shows true integrity and spirit. If anything pure love for what she does. In the moment she is only focusing on running as fast as she can and the fact that she faints afterwards does not stop her from wanting to feel her heart pump and the sweat on her forehead during each race. She has proven herself and her condition to only benefit her with her love for running. She has been named the fastest 18 year old in the country. When her legs go numb she goes on autopilot trying to think about something while running.Her endurance physically and mentally is only training and shows the determinations of not giving up no matter what obstacles you may encounter. To turn a negative into a positive if you will.
ReplyDeleteA person in my life that overcame an obstacle is my brother,David. David was 18 freshly graduated from Central Regional, started to sell drugs on the street. His mother kicking him in and out of her house and calling the police. He continued to flip and buy and use. Eventually becoming like most in the neighbourhood a drug addict as well as a supplier. He eventually was caught and had to relapse in jail then spend several years in prison. Once he got out he changed his life. He starting to work on his passion,which is Auto Mechanics.He started to become more independent making a good life for himself and family.
I said the same exact thing on Kayla Montgomery she shows great examples to us. That we can do what we want but it is time and effort to show it. I see your brother has become a better person which he has always been but took the wrong way at one point but over came it. I can agree with you on this topic.
Deletei think that kayla montgomery is very determined and dedicated to running. I also think she is an inspiration to many people. I think this because even though she collapses after making the finish line, she still finishes the race and doesnt give up. A person that i admire that overcame one of the greatest challenges in the world is my Cousin Kevin and the challenge he overcame was Cancer. A challenge that i faced that was emotional was my cousin having cancer. i was very young so i really dont remember as much but what i did remember was that i was always at my aunts house and i also always went with him to many different hospital pretty much his whole middle school years. I always remembered my aunt was praying everyday and was very sad which made me sad because i knew that i had a chance of losing my cousin. But thank god that he somehow managed to get cured and survive cancer.
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ReplyDeleteKayla Montgomery’s determination to run, even if she collapses after every race is that she has a great passion for it. She wants to run because that is what she loves to do and even if she has M.S nothing stops her. The ones who i admire are the kids who have autism still manage to live a regular life because they are not different from us. They go through a lot that many of us do not see but regardless they have fun and live life just like any other person. I admire that so much because they may not do some things that is normal to us but we are all human they live an amazing life just like us but also have some down moments. The biggest challenge that i had face was speaking in public because that for me was so hard. When i was younger i would hate to talk in front of everyone when presenting a project because it made me really nervous. It is the fact that many people stare at you which made me feel so nervous because i would not want to mess up. But over the couple of year i have manage it a lot better then i would have when i was 11 years old. I improve on speaking that i do not feel so nervous yes i do a little but then i get comfortable. That is what makes me not so nervous anymore which is a good thing for me. Yes senior year next i will have to apply to a college soon because i want to continue my education and hopefully become what I have dream of a successful person without anyone saying I depend on them. During this process I am aware that some of the colleges I may apply to won't accept me but that it fine. I should accept it and move on to another but making sure what I want. That it is fine to have failures in your life because it shows you can go through it and make it to something even way better.But that is the what I think of it because you never know it can always become better. The most people have learn in there life is not that things come to us easy and we have to work and try hard to get what we want. Not in all cases we are the ones to win which is fine because it makes us want to do better. This is just a part of life that many people have to go through just as myself as well we are all the same.
Kayla Montgomery's dedication, perseverance, courage, and absolute bad assery shows that she has the will of one-thousand lions, and the heart of one-thousand tigers. Her Multiple sclerosis, causes her to fall over every time she runs. I can some what relate to her because I have had an injury where it stopped me temporarily from playing the sport I love but I will never be as brave as she was. Multiple sclerosis, is something serious and possibly can paralyze and kill you. Kayla is someone special. Someone I admire is my mother... My mother is a Breast Cancer survivor who still emotionally suffers till this day. When we found out about her condition it was to much for me to handle I was in so much shock I didn't even cry until twenty minutes later, My mother had the most painful recovery because she always was sad she couldn't be there for her children. The day after her surgery my sister's best friend was killed crossing a road. My mother knew before it even happened. As soon as my sister found out she did not even react yet and my mother was siting there waiting for her to break down. I guess it is just that motherly instinct that is why I admire my mother. A challenge I faced recently was breaking my growth plate playing too much baseball. I was faced with being out of baseball for a full season including summer and fall. The move to North Carolina helped me fix it because I got the best help I could possibly get. Even though I still hurt and ache sometimes I have never felt better, my experiences with being away from something I love makes me want to keep playing harder. A lesson I learn from this passage is to never back down cause I am different or I might not be as good as someone always do something with a purpose even though it can kill you.
ReplyDeleteeveryone experiences obstacles, it's not the obstacles that make life hard it's the way you deal with them. yeah there's always the choice to back down and let yourself be destroyed. but you also can chose to fight the obstacles. whether its M.S. or a broken leg. most people give up once told bad news, but the people that are truly great are the ones that don't they just get back up and keep on moving, keep on working hard and they just don't stop. I tend to make my own obstacles all the time I build my own barriers. I don't do it on purpose why would anyone. my mind is fried and i keep doing it to myself. i need to get past the barriers i build but their hard and i did it to myself so only i can help myself.
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