Obstacles are part of everyone's life. Peoplecan either let them control their lives, or they can takecontrol.

When I was in fifth grade I noticed an ugly brown spotin my left eye. We went to an eye doctor, and he suggested steroids toshrink it. I used the medicine for a few months, but there was littleshrinkage. My doctor sent us to a specialist, who discovered I had IrisMelanoma, a potentially deadly form of eye cancer. Three days later, Ihad part of my iris removed. One of the side effects was the muscle thatcontrols the light entering my eye was cut, allowing light to enter mypupil without any contraction. I learned to ignore this problem; I didnot want it to control my life.

We visited my specialist severaltimes after the surgery and everything went really well for three years,and then he found that the cancer had come back. I thought my life wasover. The doctors allowed me to wait three weeks until basketball seasonended before I had my left eye removed.

Waking up after thesurgery, I decided to run right through my obstacle. When I run throughobstacles I try not to think about them, and don't let them bring meback to where I started. I use obstacles as motivation to work harder.Since I could only see half the world, I would need to compensate forthe half I couldn't. I would work harder than people with two eyes. Thisreally came into play with sports. I would work extra hard in practiceand always gave 110%. During basketball and track season, I always shotextra free throws or threw the shot-put a few more times, even after Icouldn't feel my arm anymore. I knew I had to work harder than everyoneelse.

Iris Melanoma is a type of cancer that usually occurs inpeople over the age of 70. I am the only known case at such a young age.Although the loss of my left eye has been a hindrance, it has made mestronger. Two quotes hang in my room that sum up my life so far."Success is measured by the obstacles that one has overcome."Everyone faces problems, but how they handle them determines howsuccessful they will be. The other is, "Things turn out best forpeople who make the best of the way things turn out." I have alwayshad a good attitude about things that would bring most people down. Thatis a big reason why I have been so successful. There are two options inany situation: run through it or let it stop you. Believe me, runningthrough it is much better.