An Immortal Life

I recently read a book that absolutely fascinated me. The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot left lingering questions of ethics in science and medical research, basic human morals, and immortality and the ability to live forever. This book has been haunting me, so maybe this is a good time to get some of these things off of my chest.

In the book Henrietta Lacks, a black woman born in Virginia on a tobacco farm, was diagnosed with and died from cervical cancer in 1951. Without her or her family knowing, while Henrietta was dying a brutally painful death, her cervix cells were being cultured in a lab located beneath Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Those cells were the first human tissue cells to be successfully cultured (usually referred to as HELA), and are still living today. In fact, they are used in almost every lab WORLDWIDE. Trillions, upon trillions of this woman's cell lines have been used for research. They have been used to develop drugs for cancer, MS, and cures for other diseases. They were used in the development of the polio vaccination.

So, how is it possible that not one of her five children, for most of their lives at least, were never able to afford health insurance? How is it that her children barely make it past fifty years old without dying, suffering from a stroke, or developing cancer? Her family did not even know they took and used Henrietta's cells until nearly forty years later?

It does not seem ethical or morally right to continue growing these cells and selling them all over the world for profits that are unimaginable over the past 60+ years, and Henrietta's family has never been able to scrape a dime together. Although the cells have done more work for medical research and had more success for medical research than any other cell line in history, the cells were stolen. Would she have wanted a part of her to used that way? Would she still want to be "living"?

If You Have Faith, Anything Is Possible.

A few years ago at Christmas, my mom gave me a bracelet and on it were the words "If you have faith, anything is possible..." I have sort of taken this on as my personal mantra. I tell myself this every day. At the time she gave it to me, I was unsure of my future, I wasn't in school, and I wasn't confident in any choices that I was making. She gave me this and I really starting thinking on what gives me my faith and where my faith could take me. I did some major soul searching and realized that my place is with children. When I realized this, I immediately enrolled in school and starting working hard to achieve my goal of being a teacher and a coach.

I could let myself get down about being behind in school, about not realizing what I wanted out of life, who I wanted to be, what my passion was, but I have faith in myself every day that I am doing the right thing now. I have faith that I am going to be a great teacher. That I have a passion and a desire that can change lives. I want to make a difference. My goal (for the near future, at least) is to teach at a charter school in St. Louis or Kansas City. I feel like I can provide students with an enthusiasm and a desire to learn, and be decent people, who strive to be successful. I went through some lows of not caring about what happened to me in the future, or where my life took me, and that effected my life in so many negative ways. I feel like I can catch kids before they get the the point I was at, and instill a desire to learn and be successful in them.

Those seven little words keep me going every day. I have faith. I have faith in myself, I have faith in the children I will one day teach, I have faith in humanity, and I have faith in God. That is all I need to get me from one day to the next, from one hurdle to the next.

I Believe...

I believe in myself.
I believe I am funny.
I believe I will be a good teacher.
I believe I should give myself a bit more credit.
I believe that everyone can learn.
I believe that I have finally found my place on earth.
I believe I have a great family.
I believe I have the best friends a girl could ask for.
I believe that I am taking the right path in life.
I believe in taking chances.
I believe in laughter.
I believe that you can't take yourself too seriously.
I believe in helping those who can't help themselves.
I believe in supporting those you love.
I believe in love.
I believe in God.
I believe you can do anything you set your mind to.
I believe in people.
I believe everyone has the ability to be kind.
I believe in equality.
I believe in children.
I believe in the St. Louis Cardinals.
I believe in exploring.
I believe that in two years I will live somewhere else.
I believe that being strong and healthy physically, makes you strong and healthy mentally.
I believe in shoes.
I believe that if you have faith, anything is possible.

Enthusiasm As A Driving Force

"Most great men and women are not perfectly rounded in their personalities, but are instead people whose one driving enthusiasm is so great it makes their faults seem insignificant." Charles A. Cerami


To say that I am an extravert is entirely accurate. I enjoy being in front of crowds, being in group situations, and expressing my feelings and emotions, and opinions. I love to talk to people, learn who they are, and how I can help them. When it comes to emotions and feelings I am the type that is completely sympathetic, and when others are in pain, I also feel that pain. I always want to help make a person feel better in any way that I can. I strive to make my life better through doing good on others behalf. That consoles me and gives me pleasure. 


All of these personality traits, are exactly why I am going to be a teacher. It is part of my nature to want to teach and learn. As extraverted as I can be, I also love to just sit back and listen, learn, and assess. Hopefully, through this I can really understand the needs of students and provide solutions to problems in their lives. 


I am by no means perfect, and I have a lot to learn. However, I do think that one of my greatest qualities is my enthusiasm for life. It is because of this enthusiasm that I am extraverted, sympathetic, able to express emotion, and be a bit selfless. I want to experience everything I can in this life, and that includes experiencing through others. I have an ultimate goal, but I do not intend to miss anything along the way.