Everything went black for a few seconds. I heard voices fading in the distance. I opened my eyes and saw everyone staring at me. I was confused. The referee was asking me if I was okay and if I needed a minute to rest. I quickly refused and insisted we continue the game. In that moment, I didn't think anything was wrong, ignoring the fact that I was still in shock, and resumed playing. In my soccer games, we are taught to play aggressively and make physical contact with opposing players, which is what I normally do. Every game I have very minor injuries, which I thought was the case. I continued my day. After my game, I went to brunch with family. I had developed a headache during my brunch but didn’t think it was a big deal. Later on, as I was driving home, I knew something was not quite right. I had to turn down the radio! It was insane, I NEVER SIT IN A CAR WITHOUT THE RADIO ON! I didn’t even have the energy to sing. I just wanted to sleep. As soon as my mom and I pulled into the driveway, I ran up the stairs, went to my bedroom, slammed the door shut, and just slept for a few hours. When I woke up, my head was in extreme pain and I was very uncomfortable. I tried to remember everything that happened that day, and I was able to. I went downstairs and turned the lights on and started doing my homework. I noticed it was taking me a long time to read and just go over the actual assignment criteria. I started getting very frustrated and just decided to clear my head. The next day was worse. I was unable to concentrate. I forgot everything that happened the previous day. My responses were delayed when I was asked questions. I was irritable. Most of all, there was an uncomfortable feeling of pressure in my head. The thought of me having a brain injury was not even in the picture until then. All I wanted to do was sleep. Unfortunately, I was overwhelmed by the amount of homework I did not complete due to my ‘setback.’ After sitting in the ER for a couple of hours, I was told I had a mild concussion and needed to just rest. School. My biology assignment. My math test. The stress just kept building. I was told I needed to take a leave of absence from school in order to get better. I felt I was missing so much school and already falling behind. That Monday morning, while everyone was at school, I was sitting at home ’resting.’ I was off of school, soccer, work, and volunteering. I thought to myself this is absolutely ridiculous. Then, after a moment of realization, I learned that throughout this terrible experience, I have a lot of friends and family who really care about me. The teachers were very understanding, more than I expected them to be. This experience has taught me that people have setbacks in life, and there is nothing we can do. Most importantly, I gained an understanding of not always being in control of situations. Things happen, but all we can do is reset and think positive. Maya S
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