The End or Beginning

We have feared this terrible thing for as long as we have heard others complaining about it. I never really understood how much it would affect me and the way my life would turn out. The Councilor flat out told us that it was just a test. As a sophomore I would watch the juniors stress about it and check out books to study. I had heard stories that they would hide in corners until early hours in the morning, trying to soak every bit of information into their practically fried brains. Not only would this determine my life, but throughout the weekdays eight more hours would haunt me. Not to mention how sleep deprived I would become. Now, I’m the one who is hiding in the corner until early hours of morning, trying to soak every bit of information into my practically fried brain. There is a time line, a set date, an end to all this stress. No, it’s not my death date, though that’s what it seems. This is all about the ACT test, school, and other stressful things. I would like to say it’s the end of stress, but in a way it’s just another beginning of it. Our score will determine what college to attend, what classes to take, and what to become. How can we let one test rule over our lives so much? We do it because our education leads us to who and what we become. We do it because we have been given the opportunity to get an education. We do it because without challenges in our lives we would go nowhere. In all honesty, it’s not the test that builds us. It’s the way that we prepare for it and how we face the fact that it has to happen. It's the way we look at it, through eyes of annoyance or acceptance.

A Mighty Heart

My hero, Anjeanette Armstrong, not wearing a mask, wears a smile instead. Underneath her smile hides the many trials and hardships throughout her years. Happily married to Brett Armstrong, they have two beautiful daughters by the name of Breann and Brooklyn. During the birth of her second daughter Brooklyn on August 27, 2001 Anj’s blood pressure raised rapidly, her doctors gave her a shot to bring it down, but it suddenly went so low that she felt like she was floating above her body. When the doctors heard this they gave her another shot to get her blood pressure back up. There were no other complications during the rest of the delivery.
In her early twenties, she began having migraine headaches, anxiety, and panic attacks. We didn‘t know the cause of this until a few years down the road, while getting ready for the 2010 Mini Triathlon. She began having chest pains and numbness in her arms. She started visiting doctors to see why this happened and they sent her to a Heart Specialist. They ran several tests and finally ran the Bubble Test. In the Bubble Test they use harmless saline bubbles. By injecting the saline bubbles in a persons heart the ultrasound camera takes pictures, and an I.V. line gets started in the arm. A saline bubble solution gets injected through the I.V. line while more images process. This test evaluates the correct flow of blood through the chambers of the heart. The bubbles proved that she had a hole in her heart. By having bubbles in her heart they became immediately worried because having bubbles in your blood stream can cause a severe stroke. While doing these tests, they also realized that she had an irregular heart rhythm. She went to another doctor who specializes in heart rhythms because they had to fix the rhythm before they could fix the hole. On May 5, 2010 she had her rhythm surgery everything turned out good. The next month on June 8, she had her final surgery. The doctors inserted a scope into her main artery in her leg and neck. The surgery lasted six hours. We all waited with prayers in our hearts to hear how it went. The news spread through the family like wild fire that all was well. Anj reported to us that the hole, being much larger then expected, was an inch in diameter. To fix the hole they inserted a metal and mesh corkscrew devise. Her body will now make tissue to cover the devise to seal the hole. This could take at least a year or longer. It has almost been a full year and she has to go in every couple of months and it isn’t completely sealed yet. It will though, in its own sweet time.
Being my sister, I look up to her and care about her so much. She always stays strong through the trials of her life. She truly has a mighty heart.