An Extreme Change

I am mother of four children and my life was normal until one day I had to face a reality that changed all my life. It was March 2008, I was doing my chores when suddenly I sneezed and I felt pain in my right upper thigh. I did not pay attention, but the pain continued, so I sat and took a rest. After taking a rest, I did not feel any pain. I went outside because I wanted to take a walk around, but as I started to walk, the pain came back. This time I went home and took a pain killer, and it stopped the pain. During two more days the pain came back, but then, nothing reduced the discomfort. I decided to go to the doctor, and they did a lot of testing. Finally, I had the results of the test, but I did not like the results. I had tumors in my uterus and my ovaries, and they had to be removed as soon as possible because they could be malign. I had to get surgery. Before the surgery, the doctor told me that after the surgery my life would change because I was young for that kind of surgery, but in my case I had no option. I did not understand too much about that, but I wished that the surgery went well because I needed to recover soon in order to take care of my children. Everything was fine because I was still on time.

After the surgery my life changed completely because I started to experience many physical and psychological changes that come with an induced menopause. Sometimes I was in bad mood, and I shouted at my husband and children. I also was depressed, and I did not want to talk to anyone or go anywhere. Sometimes I did not want to do anything at home; I did my chores, but I felt tired as if I was working all day. I thought that nobody understood me, and I felt alone. I also started to gain weight, and it was something that killed me because I always took care of my body, exercised, and was active, but even though I continued my life normally, I gained more and more weight. One time I went to the doctor and asked him why I felt the way that I did and why I was gaining weight so fast. He told me that my hormones were altered due to the surgery because my body did not produce anymore estrogen without my uterus and ovaries. Then he said that he could not do anything for me because if he gave me medicine, it could affect me worse because the hormonal replacement treatment had secondary effects that could cause cancer. I did not like to accept my fate, but I could not do anything, so I decided to deal with it and change my life.

I decided that I had to change because my children needed me, and they needed a strong mother that was available to them. They did not need a sick person that was always sad or depressed. My husband needed a happy and active wife that shared with him and walked this life together. I learned that my worth comes from the person that I am, not what my body looks like. I decided to study because I always wanted to be a nurse, but I did not study because I was always taking care of my children or because I did not know this language very well, but I set a goal in my life, and I wanted to accomplish it. I had to have time for me because my children were no longer babies that needed me to stay with them all the time and I needed to do something for me because it is never too late to follow my dreams. Now, I am a strong person, and I have accomplished some of my goals, but I am not going to stop until I get all of them. I know that I have to walk a long way, and it is not easy, but I think that I can do it because I have taken the decision to one day become a nurse.

Nobody imagines that in one day your life could change totally, but it happens very often. The most important is to find the best of the worst because a bad experience could help to build a better person, a person that you never imagine that exists. 

Research Discoveries

I am going to write about effects of losing the night due to high pollution. I also want people to adopt or do the necessary to change their mind about nature and preserve the night sky and its beauty. The society has to react and see the beauty of night that we had before the society created all those kind of lights that we have now and which are affecting our planet along with its inhabitants.

When I watched the movie, I notice the reality that I am actually living because as the participant as The City Dark stated, I was living in a bubble where only my life, my children, and my family members were taken into consideration as important. After I watched the movie, I took conscience of a problem that is affecting our night sky, and nobody seems to notice. We as the inhabitants of the planet should try to solve this issue because it is our responsibility to take care of the place where we live and share it with other living things.

I am going to appeal to people’s emotions (pathos) because I think it is the best way to persuade people to take actions. We can have a lot of information from different sources that sometimes we do not pay attention or do not understand, but, if I present them in my paper, the same issues in simpler terms and with examples of actions that we can adopt in our everyday life, I am sure that the readers will see how easy and the different ways that we can help individually to stop this problem.

I am interested in persuading through moral credibility (ethos) by interviewing a catechist because I think that she could give me a religious perspective of light pollution and a major credibility to my essay because a catechist is a person that has been studying to teach the Catholic faith in children. They have good moral character and they are spiritual leaders for many people as well.

I like the commentary of Ian Cheney when he states, “Seeing the stars is like seeing the earth from space. You suddenly realize the uniqueness and the fragility of life in the planet, which is a reminder, as well, that it’s more than just humans who are losing the night” (City Dark). This phrase shows how important the earth and the sky are for him. He also reflects about the fact that we are an insignificant little piece in space, but we mistakenly believe that we are above everything. Too, he shows us the value of the night sky as well as the universe because they are unique and irreparable.

Cheney’s comment helps me understand that we do not appreciate everything that we have because we only think about ourselves instead of seeing our human fragility. I could figure out all that we can lose along with the night sky because we are not just losing the night, but part of ourselves and our humankind too. We have the capability to decide for those that do not know how to protect themselves what we do to the planet. We should protect them, but instead we are failing in doing so due to our neglect.

I have found articles about light pollution, reflections on the cosmos and man, and reclaim the night from religious perspectives. I found them at the databases of Lee College Library; some of them are academic search complete and books. I also want to interview to a catechist because such interview could help me to integrate new solutions to my essay from another point of view. All the researches are going to help me prove the accuracy of my ideas and support them. They also indicate that other people share concepts or think similarly to me.