|
|
|
Hospital Teacher 3
November 29, 2007
|
In January Jessie Fuentes was diagnosed with Leukemia. Since September the 18-year-old
high school senior has rarely left her hospital room. “We try to make it as much like home as we can. She loves her teddy bears. We try to go outside if we can but
that’s hard. It kind of makes you wonder you know how can a child go through that
and still come out with a smile,” say Jessie’s mother, Mary-An Anguilar. But there
is one thing that does keep Jessie smiling and that is her desire to learn. She
says, “Right now we’re working on Economics, we’re working on American Government,
we are working on Spanish Two and Psychology.”
Her mother says, “School is very
important to Jessie. I think that’s what gets her through every day is wanting to
graduate high school.” Jessie’s only a few credits away from donning a cap and gown
and she says her illness will not stand in the way of her success. “ I’m not worried
about not getting it done at all because with Miss Laurie’s help when I get up at
three in the morning or at five in the morning I can just continue working on it.
I think getting a high school diploma is something worth willing to fight for,”
Jessie says. And when her diploma day comes Jessie’s mom says her feelings will
be hard to put into words. “That is going to be one of the proudest moments of my
life.” And it will also be a monumental moment for Jessie. “I’ll be excited. I fought
so hard for it so it’s going to be worth it to me and a lot of people said I wouldn’t
do it I wouldn’t be able to make it and just being able to do it and be like Ha.
I did it, she says. After graduation Jessie plans to go to college and get a degree
in nursing and then begin a career as a midwife.
|
|
|
|
