Student Writing: Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Jeannette Duran

In July, graduates Jeannette Duran and Sheena Donatien were honored at the Graduate Awards Ceremony for their original essays with the Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Award. Read Jeannette’s award-winning writing about her inspiring personal journey below.

This story is not a fairy tale; its purpose is not to cloud the reader’s mind with thoughts of happily ever after. You may shed a tear or two; however, it is absolutely necessary that it be told.

This is a story about a girl. The year is 1998, and it takes place in the fairest of all lands: Corona, New York. It was a foggy March morning, and the birds, although not seen, were chirping. The business owners were opening up shop, and mothers were walking with their children to school while some were just running late to work. Ana was a mother of five kids, three of which walked with her on their way to school. The oldest took a bus to his school, and the youngest was with the babysitter. Xavier, Luiny and Jay were the three middle kids who all attended the same public school.

Their mother Ana, with Jay (the youngest of the three) on one side and Luiny and Xavier on the other, was crossing the street when out of the fog approaches a double tire delivery truck. Not seeing the mother with her children, the truck rams into the youngest, Jay, for she was the closest to it. Ana and her two boys came out from under the truck, and Jay was thrown, unconscious, onto the curb. Her brothers and mother only had minor bruises while Jay continued to bleed out. They yelled, cried, and prayed, wishing they can do something to help her fragile little body.

Three long minutes went by, and a police car arrived at the scene. The police officer saw Jay lying there and did not think twice about picking her up, wrapping her up in his jacket to stop some of the bleeding, and carrying her into the backseat while his partner rushes them to the hospital.

Jay was in surgery for 13 hours. Doctors reveal to the girl’s family that if they had waited one more minute for an ambulance to arrive, she would not have survived, and if she had died in the police officer’s arms, he would have lost his job. After three days, Jay’s right leg got infected with Gangrene from the tires of the truck and had to be amputated. Jay was in coma for a few weeks, but she began to recover.

Five months later, she was released from the hospital. Jay’s new life as an amputee was not easy, especially reaching her teenage and high school years. She was quiet, sad, and a bit of a loner. She was bullied many times for the way she walked. Her schoolwork was a reflection of how she felt. She thought for many years that she did not have a purpose in life and that she would never achieve anything great. Although at a young age she had already experienced so much loss, there was one thing she never lost, and that was the love of her family.

Her family always believed she was destined to be great, and although it took many years, she now believes it herself. Many years have now gone by, and Jay has achieved many things in her life, like driving a car, becoming one of the fastest swimmers in her high school class, having many friends, getting acknowledged for her academic achievements, and graduating college this year with a GPA of 3.5 as part of two honor societies. She plans to do so much more with her life and become a great inspiration to many.

The purpose of this story is to inspire. The purpose of this story is to make anyone believe they can achieve anything, no matter what their ‘limitations’ are. This story is about a girl who came from such a negative past and is now looking to a positive and bright future. It is about courage to get up after so many falls. It is about ignoring the negative comments, ignoring the bullying and ridicule, and finally listening to what your heart has to say: that you are bound for greatness and that one day you will be heard.

This story is about me. Some might say “that is such an unfortunate situation,” but I say it is the best thing that has happened to me. I can use my story to help someone realizes that there are no limits to what you can do or what you can achieve. This event is significant to me because it has shaped me in who I am today. Everything I do goes back to that 12th day of March in 1998, when I was just 6 years old, and I just hope that one day it will be significant to society and the world.

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