Laura Hydrick College Essay 6B 28 September 2014

Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe
their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your
story.
Ive been staring at this prompt now for about 20 minutes, trying to decide whether or
not I want to share this story, my story, with you. Im using this essay as an escape from my
story, from my busy life, however ephemeral that may be. Already, are probably a little

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concerned right now, maybe even afraid of what I may be about to share with you, so let me
start from the beginning.
In the beginning there was a boy, who in his college years decided to work for a radio
station. While he worked there he fell for a girl, a graduate of Brooklyn-Cayce high school. She
fell for him, and on June 6 of 1985, that boy married that girl. The girl was 21 and had
graduated from Columbia College just a month before. This beautiful couple had a love for life,
and more importantly, each other. The couple was invincible so it seemed, constantly visiting
Arizona and camping and traveling. Eventually, they settled down in Columbia, South Carolina.
In a little house in a quaint neighborhood, that couple had a bouncing baby girl in March of
1993. My sister, Kimberly, took her first breath of life, and this couple was happier than ever

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before. It was then they decided a smaller town and quieter surroundings were a better fit for
them. They built a house on Wash Lever Road, Nowhereville (Little Mountain). Then, in April of
1997, they brought to life a new chapter, entitled Laura Michelle Hydrick. This is where my

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chapter begins. It starts a little tragically because at the age of 4, in 2001, youll find me sitting

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in a hospital with my sister and grandparents, waiting for my mother to come out of surgery.
Then youd finding me not understanding the doctor as he told my family that my mother had
breast cancer. I didnt understand what this meant at the time. That beautiful BC graduate was
so strong, and her game face was infallible. The next years brought pain, and tears. (However
please dont get me wrong, there were times even I forgot she was even sick.) It brought
countless treatments, surgeries, and procedures. It made our little family seemingly bulletproof
and close. (Now we must skip forward to September of 2014. My condolences, of course, but I
have a limited number of words on these essays) After 13 years of procedures and treatments,
our little flame of hope was extinguished, as a teary eyed friend told us we were nearing the

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end of my mothers chapter of life. I didnt really believe it at first. But the downfall was faster
than I expected. That beautiful woman who had brought me into life in 1997 was weak and
frail. Her liver and most everything in her body were fighting against her. On September 14, at
11:12, (exactly 2 weeks ago in 1 hour and 39 minutes) while surrounded by that boy with more
love for her than anyone, and those two loving daughters, she lost her 13 year fight, leaving me,
but flourishing my own book of life thus far with love and light and gentleness. As I am
balancing school assignments to keep up as much normalcy as possible I realize what she has
already given to me, strength. Strength to wake up every day without fail and trudge through
school and still manage to keep up with assignments, and strength to be a crutch for my sister
and my dad. These characteristics are something I want to carry with me through all the pages
of my book, through medical school and all the exciting chapters on (hopefully) being an
oncologist myself, until the end of my last chapter.

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