It was the BSAL championship qualifying jump. I flew over the high jump bar, as I would any other jump. Standing up from my jump my arm felt increasingly numb and limp, unsure of what happened because nothing was in pain, I continued to jump only making my injury worse. This jump ended with partially paralyzing my right arm.

A trip to the hospital the next day showed minor injuries to my spinal cord, affecting the nerve that went down through my right arm. I could barely move my fingers and had trouble even lifting up my arm.

Trapped in a neck brace and my writing hand in an arm sling, I had to endure almost two weeks in this prison, while ending a promising high jump season early.

Not being able to write made things extremely difficult and eventually affected grades in most of my classes. Most teachers were able to print out notes for me, but classes like math and chemistry were nearly impossible to keep up with without writing.

I was not just unable to complete assignments but I could not keep up with what was being taught. I was confused and behind, trying to memorize a sheet of paper of formulas, which was all that I could have done.

Spending two weeks handicapped was hard, but I also had to relearn how to write. For a few weeks my handwriting was almost completely illegible. My teachers struggled to decode my scribbles and I spent time retyping worksheets with one hand.

Despite the annoyance and frustration at the beginning, I became a master at washing my hair with one hand, and even better at one handed cartwheels.