At the moment, I'm enrolled in a Bachelor of Science degree in
Auckland University on a part time basis. I have a lovely miniature
poodle, Jocko, who means the world to me. Not forgetting my dear
family! My elder brother currently is completing his dentistry
degree at Otago Uni and my elder sister too is studying at Otago
Uni completing her Nutrition course. As for me, I've shelved my
childhood ambition of becoming a vet for the time being since I've
been wondering if I'd be able to cope in the future with this "full
hands on" career. Even though I've always had the belief that if
you really want something in life, there's nothing stopping you - I
sadly have to admit that of recent my thoughts have been bugged
with practicality. Lucky for me though, I have another option which
I plan and would love to explore next year! Fashion Designing!
My History:
- In 2004, I was diagnosed with Craniopharyngioma.
- Following my diagnosis, I underwent surgery which was
followed by a full dose of radiation treatment.
- I am very lucky that my last MRI report done in Dec 2008 shows
that I am currently disease free. I will continue to be monitored
on a regular basis.
How this affected my life:
- One important part of my life that had been disrupted was
getting back on track with my education after the surgery. I found
this particularly difficult as I was unable to attend normal high
school on a regular basis.
- Overall, my schooling was very sporadic and as a result it
caused me tremendous stress. Therefore, I was advised to turn
to home schooling and correspondence in the interim to get me back
on track with life and at the same time allow me time to
recuperate.
- In 2008, I enrolled at Auckland University to do a tertiary
foundation course which enabled me to get university entrance. Even
though I had been excited to get back to socialising, I must admit
that it was a hard year for me. It was in this year that I realised
how much work I needed to catch up on!
- Now, I still struggle with my studies and I still find certain
things or tasks difficult to cope with - even though I am studying
part time. What annoys me is my inability to comprehend large
amounts of information at one time and thus following a
complicated lecture is especially challenging for me.
- The gap in my education is a setback for me especially more so
as I am a competitive person and have high ambitions set in life.
This is further complicated with my current ongoing health needs
such as chronic headaches and body fatigue. At this moment, I find
that I am unable to take on a full, normal semester, load of work
and this has led me to rethink my career goals and consider trying
a course that is less demanding in terms of memorizing for exams
but more practical. Fortunately for me I have a creative streak and
I hope to explore this next year by enrolling in a fashion design
course.
My life has never been the same since 2004 - I live life, one
day at a time and have learnt to value what I have. There are so
many young teenagers out there who haven't been as lucky as I have
been.
I must say that when you have gone through a life threatening
experience, your entire perspective of life changes; you learn to
value more non material things in life. Today spending valuable
time with my friends, helping strangers, caring for animals,
assisting the elderly are very important to me. CanTeen has helped
me not to judge other people but to accept them for what they have
to offer. The bonding sessions during team events are just
fantastic and very memorable. My bandanna design was selected as
one of the CanTeen bandannas launched last year. I embedded the
'piko piko' New Zealand icon in the design of my bandanna and
framed it in a heart. The tightness and closeness of the piko piko,
represents strength, team work and close bond that we CanTeeners
display and of course the heart represents the overflowing love we
have to offer!
CanTeen truly requires support in funding, as it is a voluntary,
nonprofit, organization. Therefore we appreciate all the help we
can get to keep CanTeen up and going! I for one don't know what
state and position I would be in, if such an organization like
CanTeen was not established!