A secret
Now I titled this a secret because it almost feels like it is one. I have been debating for the past two weeks whether I should or not post full-on details about what I was going through. After having a wonderful day I decided that I would. An exchange is a great adventure for someone like me but sometimes things go south. In my case two weeks ago on Wednesday, I ended up in the hospital.
I was in my last gym class for the day and we were doing sprints in the stadium. I was super hyped because as a runner, sprinting is just a thrill. So the first heat went, it was just three boys from the class. Once they crossed the finish line, my teacher gave my heat the go ahead. So we went. I was on the inside lane so I was the only one affected but what happened was the boys were coming off the track too slowly for how fast I was going. In a panic, I went to stop before running into them but that only resulted in me violently crashing into the track. I was on the ground, absolutely shocked and I couldn't move. I wanted to get up, but my legs wouldn't respond. A girl from my heat rushed to my side and asked if I was okay, that's when I started to cry. She held me in her arms. I truly appreciate her. The pain was hitting me all at once. The entire class was soon around me, and my teacher was trying to figure out what to do. I was asked if I could stand. That was out of the question because looking at my legs, I had scraped my knees in a way I have never seen and my ankle was busted, not broken but something was so very wrong with it. My teacher carried me from the stadium all the way to school. Once at school, girls retrieved my backpack and clothes. My teacher called my host dad. Another gym teacher helped out my injuries as well as a couple of classmates. Once my host dad arrived we went to the hospital. There I took my first x-ray. I was bandaged up for the scrapes, which even made the nurse wince, so that's saying something. Then they couldn't really bandage my ankle because it was best to leave it open the build its own strength back. After all this, I thought everything will be okay.
Although my next two weeks were awful. I had to stay home for the rest of the week because I couldn't even walk. I was stuck on the couch or in my bed. Now I play primarily leg sports: soccer, running and dance. So mentally I was feeling pretty low about myself for not even walking. There was a little voice in my head that convinced me that I was extremely lazy. When I went to bed, I was in pain if anything touched my knees. So I would wrap sweaters around both of them to prevent the most I could. If it just wasn't a good night I would eventually pass out from being so tired. The week after that I was allowed to go to school but not allowed to do any physical activity that was classified as unnecessary. That meant, no gym classes, no ballet classes and no going out with friends unless it was to do something small like dinner. So I had dinner with a friend of mine and that helped but I still felt pretty bad about myself because that little voice really got me. I cried a lot because of my injury but not even entirely because it was hurting but because of that little voice.
It was a really hard last two weeks for me. I don't ever want to have to do that again. My overall exchange is going great although I did want to write this blog as another point of view. The view of things can go bad but they'll get better. I mean tomorrow is my first ballet class since the incident so I am so excited about that. Exchange, in my opinion, is one big mental game. You really got to make sure that you keep yourself in a good mindset, or else when things come to a halt it can take a toll on you. Not many people bring this up about exchange, it's almost hidden like a secret. Please, be safe and check-in on yourself every now and then. I love you all.
I was in my last gym class for the day and we were doing sprints in the stadium. I was super hyped because as a runner, sprinting is just a thrill. So the first heat went, it was just three boys from the class. Once they crossed the finish line, my teacher gave my heat the go ahead. So we went. I was on the inside lane so I was the only one affected but what happened was the boys were coming off the track too slowly for how fast I was going. In a panic, I went to stop before running into them but that only resulted in me violently crashing into the track. I was on the ground, absolutely shocked and I couldn't move. I wanted to get up, but my legs wouldn't respond. A girl from my heat rushed to my side and asked if I was okay, that's when I started to cry. She held me in her arms. I truly appreciate her. The pain was hitting me all at once. The entire class was soon around me, and my teacher was trying to figure out what to do. I was asked if I could stand. That was out of the question because looking at my legs, I had scraped my knees in a way I have never seen and my ankle was busted, not broken but something was so very wrong with it. My teacher carried me from the stadium all the way to school. Once at school, girls retrieved my backpack and clothes. My teacher called my host dad. Another gym teacher helped out my injuries as well as a couple of classmates. Once my host dad arrived we went to the hospital. There I took my first x-ray. I was bandaged up for the scrapes, which even made the nurse wince, so that's saying something. Then they couldn't really bandage my ankle because it was best to leave it open the build its own strength back. After all this, I thought everything will be okay.
(Smiling through the pain for a picture for my blog.)
It was a really hard last two weeks for me. I don't ever want to have to do that again. My overall exchange is going great although I did want to write this blog as another point of view. The view of things can go bad but they'll get better. I mean tomorrow is my first ballet class since the incident so I am so excited about that. Exchange, in my opinion, is one big mental game. You really got to make sure that you keep yourself in a good mindset, or else when things come to a halt it can take a toll on you. Not many people bring this up about exchange, it's almost hidden like a secret. Please, be safe and check-in on yourself every now and then. I love you all.
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